Torah and Jewish Idea > Torah and Jewish Idea
a question about fasting
Zenith:
You know, I know about Christian Orthodox people, and I think the Catholic are the same: they calling fasting the act of abstinence from specific foods, but not all, for a period of time, making it actually a diet. I'm convinced that fasting is not the same as a diet, and as far as I remember from all the Tanakh, no one has ever kept a diet and call it fasting.
As about "sackcloth and ashes", I believe that a man can fast without spreading out sackcloth and ashes.
So, I'd like to hear what you know and believe about fasting.
muman613:
--- Quote from: Zenith on March 01, 2011, 10:11:33 AM ---You know, I know about Christian Orthodox people, and I think the Catholic are the same: they calling fasting the act of abstinence from specific foods, but not all, for a period of time, making it actually a diet. I'm convinced that fasting is not the same as a diet, and as far as I remember from all the Tanakh, no one has ever kept a diet and call it fasting.
As about "sackcloth and ashes", I believe that a man can fast without spreading out sackcloth and ashes.
So, I'd like to hear what you know and believe about fasting.
--- End quote ---
Fasting is not eating or drinking for a period of time. Hashem commands the Jewish people to fast on certain days, the most famous being Yom Kippur. In Torah it says that we must 'afflict ourselves' on the day of Atonement. This 'affliction' happens a number of ways:
http://www.chabad.org/holidays/JewishNewYear/template_cdo/aid/995074/jewish/An-Overview-of-Yom-Kippur-Laws.htm
An Overview of Yom Kippur Laws
On Yom Kippur, the Torah instructs us to "afflict" ourselves, which means abstaining from an assortment of physical pleasures. There are two reasons for this: a) On this day, when our connection to G‑d is brought to the fore, we are compared to angels, who have no physical needs. b) We afflict ourselves to demonstrate the extent of our regret for our past misdeeds. (Click here for a more mystical explanation.)
Instead of focusing on the physical, the majority of the day is spent in the synagogue, devoted to repentance and prayer.
There are five areas of pleasure that we avoid on Yom Kippur—from sundown on the eve of the holiday until the following nightfall (click here to find out when Yom Kippur starts and ends in your location):
1. Eating or drinking.
2. Wearing leather footwear.
3. Bathing or washing.
4. Applying ointment, lotions, or creams.
5. Engaging in any form of spousal intimacy.
(These all are restrictions unique to Yom Kippur; we also abstain from all creative activities forbidden on the Shabbat, e.g., turning on lights, driving, and carrying in the public domain.)
We are compared to angels, who have no physical needsIt is also customary not to wear gold jewelry on Yom Kippur, as gold is reminiscent of the sin of the Golden Calf, and on the Day of Atonement – the day when we were forgiven for that egregious sin – we do not want to "remind" the Prosecutor (Satan) of our past sins.
The Details
Fasting:
* All adults over bar or bat mitzvah fast, including pregnant or nursing women.
* Healthy children should be educated to fast for a short amount of time, starting from the age of nine. They shouldn't be given to eat after sundown on the eve of Yom Kippur, and their breakfast should be slightly delayed.
* Fasting on Yom Kippur is of utmost importance. This is true even if in order to fast a person must spend the entire day resting in bed, and will miss synagogue services.
* Someone who is ill, a woman who has recently given birth, an individual who needs to take medication, or a person of advanced age who feels it difficult to fast should consult with a rabbi.
Someone who upon a rabbi's instructions (based on the recommendation of a medical professional) needs to eat on Yom Kippur need not be dejected. The same G‑d who made it a mitzvah for healthy people to fast on Yom Kippur also commanded that preservation of life and health is even more important than fasting. The healthy person fulfills a mitzvah by fasting; the ill person does a mitzvah by eating.
An ancient High Holiday prayerbook suggests that an ill person recite the following prayer before eating on Yom Kippur:
Behold I am prepared to fulfill the mitzvah of eating and drinking on Yom Kippur, as You have written in Your Torah: "You shall observe My statutes and My ordinances, which a man shall do and live with them. I am G‑d." In the merit of fulfilling this mitzvah, seal [my fate], and [that of] all the ill of Your nation Israel, for a complete recovery. May I merit next Yom Kippur to once again fulfill [the mitzvah of] "you shall afflict yourselves [on Yom Kippur]." May this be Your will. Amen.
Click here for more information on this topic.
Leather Footwear:
The healthy person fulfills a mitzvah by fasting; the ill person does a mitzvah by eatingWe don't wear shoes or slippers if they contain any leather at all—whether in their uppers, in their soles or heels, or in an insert.
The prohibition applies to footwear only. Wearing a leather belt, kippah, or jacket presents no problem whatsoever.
Children, too, should be taught to wear non-leather footwear.
Washing and Bathing:
The prohibition against washing or bathing applies whether using hot or cold water, and even to washing only part of one's body. In the words of the Sages: "Even to insert a finger in cold water is forbidden."
Nevertheless, there are several exceptions to this rule. They are:
* It is permitted to wash hands upon exiting the lavatory.
* It is permitted to wash any area of the body that has become soiled.
* Upon awakening in the morning, one performs the ritual hand washing—but washes only until the knuckles.
* Before they administer the Priestly Blessing, the priests' hands are ritually washed in the normal fashion.
* It is permitted to wash one's hands before handling food.
* Someone who needs to bathe or wash for health reasons should consult a rabbi.
Religious Jews will be fasting this month during the fast of Esther which occurs this year on Thursday March 17...
http://www.hebcal.com/holidays/taanit-esther.html
--- Quote ---http://www.jewfaq.org/holidaye.htm
There are five minor fasts on the Jewish calendar. With one exception, these fasts were instituted by the Sages to commemorate some national tragedy. The minor fasts (that is, all fasts except Yom Kippur and Tisha b'Av) last from dawn (first light) to nightfall (full dark), and one is permitted to eat breakfast if one arises before dawn for the purpose of doing so (but you must finish eating before first light). There is a great deal of leniency in the minor fasts for people who have medical conditions or other difficulties fasting. The date of the fast is moved to Sunday if the specified date falls on Shabbat.
Three of these five fasts commemorate events leading to the downfall of the first commonwealth and the destruction of the first Temple, which is commemorated by the major fast of Tisha B'Av.
Following is a list of minor fasts required by Jewish law, their dates, and the events they commemorate:
The Fast of Gedaliah, Tishri 3, commemorates the killing of the Jewish governor of Judah, a critical event in the downfall of the first commonwealth.
The Fast of Tevet, Tevet 10, is the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem. It has also been proclaimed a memorial day for the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust.
The Fast of Esther, Adar 13, commemorates the three days that Esther fasted before approaching King Ahasuerus on behalf of the Jewish people. The fast is connected with Purim. If Adar 13 falls on a Friday or Saturday, it is moved to the preceding Thursday, because it cannot be moved forward a day (it would fall on Purim).
The Fast of the Firstborn, Nissan 14, is a fast observed only by firstborn males, commemorating the fact that they were saved from the plague of the firstborn in Egypt. It is observed on the day preceding Passover.
The Fast of Tammuz, Tammuz 17, is the date when the walls of Jerusalem were breached, another major event leading up to the destruction of the First Temple.
--- End quote ---
muman613:
See this Aish.com article for good information on why we fast:
http://www.aish.com/h/9av/oal/Connecting_Through_Fasting.html
How can being hungry help us create a spiritual connection?
Why do we fast? What function does it serve in our spiritual life? How can being hungry and thirsty help us connect?
There are six regular fast days in the Jewish year, (seven if you count the fast of the first born before Seder night). Two of these days, Tisha B'Av and Yom Kippur, are "full" fasts. They begin at sunset and end the following day when the stars appear. The rest are "half" day fasts, lasting from sunrise to stars out. During these times, adult Jews may neither eat nor drink -- even water (there are exceptions for people with health issues).
Except for Yom Kippur, these fast days were established because of the catastrophes and suffering that occurred on those dates. Their purpose is to help us recall the negative behavior of our ancestors that led to those calamities, and to focus our attention on our own parallel behavior that continues to drive our nation into similar negative situations.
During these days, each person is meant to make a personal accounting of his or her behavior and resolve to return to the positive path.
According to Eliyahu Kitov in The Book of Our Heritage, one who fasts and spends the day idly without repentance, misses the point. That person is emphasizing the fasting, which is secondary, and de-emphasizing the repentance which is primary. He quotes the book of Jonah (3:10) where it says about the people of the city of Ninveh, "And G-d saw their actions." Our sages point out that the verse doesn't say that G-d saw their sackcloth and fasting, but their actions (Babylonian Talmud, Ta'anit 22a). The purpose of fasting is to bring one to repent, and true repentance brings about a change in actions.
However, repenting without fasting is not enough. The fast days were ordained either in the Torah or by our prophets, and throughout the generations, they have been accepted and observed by the nation of Israel. Since Judaism eschews asceticism for its own sake, there must be something unique about fasting that serves as a vehicle for repentance.
A distinctive feature of Judaism is its philosophy of integrating the spiritual with the physical. Jews do not reject the physical in favor of the spiritual; rather, they recognize the opportunity that living a physical existence provides for the exercise and strengthening of the spiritual. In this world, the physical and the spiritual are inextricably intertwined and we must use both to activate our ultimate growth and to achieve our raison d'?tre.
We use the physical as a doorway through which we access the spiritual. This is one of the reasons that we clean the house, prepare delicious foods and wear beautiful clothes for Shabbat. The sense of tranquility that stems from dwelling in an orderly environment, the fullness and pleasure that good food engenders, and the touch of majesty that one feels when dressed in one's finery, all help create a sense of separation from the routine of the mundane and heighten one's ability to connect to God. We manipulate the physical to gain access to the spiritual.
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http://www.aish.com/h/9av/oal/Connecting_Through_Fasting.html
Kahane-Was-Right BT:
--- Quote from: Zenith on March 01, 2011, 10:11:33 AM ---You know, I know about Christian Orthodox people, and I think the Catholic are the same: they calling fasting the act of abstinence from specific foods, but not all, for a period of time, making it actually a diet. I'm convinced that fasting is not the same as a diet, and as far as I remember from all the Tanakh, no one has ever kept a diet and call it fasting.
As about "sackcloth and ashes", I believe that a man can fast without spreading out sackcloth and ashes.
So, I'd like to hear what you know and believe about fasting.
--- End quote ---
Fasting in Torah refers to a period of time without food or drink. I'm pretty sure that is the definition of the English term too. I don't think "abstaining from french fries for 3 days" can be called a 'fast' in English.
Zenith:
--- Quote from: Kahane-Was-Right BT on March 01, 2011, 10:24:37 PM ---Fasting in Torah refers to a period of time without food or drink. I'm pretty sure that is the definition of the English term too. I don't think "abstaining from french fries for 3 days" can be called a 'fast' in English.
--- End quote ---
I also thought the same. however, it seems that fasting is also translated as:
--- Quote from: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fasting ---to eat only sparingly or of certain kinds of food, especially as a religious observance.
The act or practice of abstaining from or eating very little food.
A period of such abstention or self-denial.
--- End quote ---
Perhaps because of what other people (like orthodox christians and very probably catholics as well) call fasting.
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