Reflections
on Fasting in the Jewish Tradition
Growing up in Soviet Russia
where there existed a government-sponsored program of conversion to atheism,
any religious activity was forbidden. If one were to be discovered engaging in
a religious activity, such offender faced severe repercussions. It is in this
environment that I recall being a young girl witnessing my parents and older
brother fasting on two days[1] of the year: one in the
heat of summer without food or water and the other, also without food or water,
in the more moderate temperatures of early fall.
Years later, being older
and having immigrated to the US, where one may practice one’s religious beliefs
openly and freely, I started asking questions and learning about the customs
and rituals of my Jewish heritage, one of which is fasting.
What is fasting? In
Judaism, fasting entails refraining from any eating or drinking for the
duration of the fast. Fasts vary in
duration – they are either (1) from dawn to nightfall or (2) a 25-hour fast
from sunset to nightfall the next day, depending on the nature of the fast.
Though the origins of the
fasting ritual are obscure; it is, however, very much part of the Jewish
tradition with references to fasting found in Biblical literature.
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| The purpose of fasting is spiritual reparation, restoration, physical preservation and a determination to moving forward... |
What are the fast days in
the Jewish tradition? There are designated communal fast days that are treated
as “major fasts” which last 25 hours such as Yom Kippur and Tisha B’Av. There
are “minor fasts” lasting from dawn to nightfall; communal ones such as Asarah
B’Teveth and the Fast of Gedaliah and private ones marking life events such as
one’s wedding day.
What is the purpose of
fasting? On Yom Kippur—the Day of Atonement—treated as the holiest day of the
Jewish calendar, fasting along with prayer is a means of repentance. While
purposefully abstaining from sustenance and revisiting one’s misdeeds from the
previous year, one is supposed to reflect inward to scrutinize their own
motivations and look to emerge with a renewed sense of purity and peace to
embrace the coming year with active commitment and connection to those around
them.
Other fast days were established because of communal catastrophes and
suffering that occurred on those dates. For example, Tisha B’Av commemorates a number
of calamities that occurred on that date with the main ones being the
destruction of both Temples [the first by the
Neo-Babylonian Empire and then the second one by the Roman Empire in
Jerusalem]. The Fast of Gedaliah is in memory of the assassination of Gedaliah,
the Babylonian governor of Judah after the destruction of Jerusalem and the
Temple. The purpose of these fasts is to recall the negative behavior
and to focus our attention and make a personal accounting of our behavior and
resolve to take on a positive path.
There are a total of 25
holidays and events throughout the year which include the tradition of fasting.
Fasting, especially the communal ones, come with a litany of rules – they
include no fasting on the Sabbath, no fasting before the age of maturity, no
fasting for pregnant women, no fasting for the sick. A sick person is defined
as a person whose life would be imperiled by fasting and is therefore exempt
from fasting. Various yardsticks exist for defining sickness – determination by
physician or self-knowledge, the aim is for life preservation. The purpose of fasting is spiritual reparation,
restoration, physical preservation and a determination to moving forward; not
to cause illness.
It is with this knowledge
that I reflect back to the time when I, as a young girl, before the age of
maturity (in Judaism, age 12 for girls), witnessed my parents and older brother
holding true to our Jewish tradition and fasting on Tisha B’Av and Yom
Kippur. Fasts that they carried out for
spiritual preparation restitution and physical salvation under the challenges of
the Communist regime.
Esther E. Klein,
PhD
Professor of
Information Technology
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