Intermittent Fasting for the Soul
Question
My Orthodox buddy told me at the gym the other day that he’s going to be fasting one day this week. Is it true that Orthodox Jews fast a few times a year besides for Yom Kippur? What’s so Jewish about fasting?
Answer
As you’ve probably already assumed, ritual Jewish fasts are simply there to make up for all the crazy Jewish eating we do.
Ok, that’s not actually true. But Jewish fasts are not a fad diet, not purely about self-inflicted suffering to atone for our endless sins, and not a monk-inspired self-denial practice, as many might assume. That's just not how we roll. I don’t blame you for wondering what those fasts are all about. So let’s bbbbbreak it down.
There are six communal fasts on the Jewish calendar:
The Fast of Gedalia, on the day after Rosh Hashana
Yom Kippur, ten days after Rosh Hashana
The Tenth day of the month of Tevet (the one your friend referred to at the gym, which takes place this year on January 7)
The Fast of Esther, on the day before Purim
The Seventeenth day of the Hebrew month of Tammuz
The Ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av
Each of these fast days has its own mood, flavor (uh, figuratively speaking), thought process and remembrance. One or two are heavier on mourning, one leans more toward atonement or purification... There’s really just one thing you need to know that they all have in common: introspection.
Jewish holidays (happy or sad) are not pompous, ceremonious observances or commemorative rituals, where we “remember” events that happened way before we were born and try (or pretend) to feel the appropriate joy or sadness. You’d need a teen soap opera to manufacture emotions like that. Jewish holidays are all about honest self-evaluation and personal growth in the present. Some holidays take a more celebratory approach, while fast days are generally on the somber side. But it’s all about the spiritual realignment.
And yes, I can hear your gears spinning. You’re thinking about that time your wife went on that intermittent fasting fad diet thing that her girlfriend did and how terrifyingly hangry she was all the time… Truth. Fasting can definitely make people kvetchy. So how can it also facilitate contemplation and character development?
The great medieval Jewish philosopher, Maimonides, teaches that fasting can actually facilitate introspection by acting as a recurring reminder throughout the day to refocus on the significance of the day and the spiritual opportunities it presents. I mean, if I would have an introspective moment for every time I thought about food even on non-fasting days… I’d probably be a towering paragon of transcendental spiritual perfection (cue angels singing and halo-clad emojis). In short, the way into man's soul is definitely through his stomach.
Maimonides then takes it a step further -- he even guides us toward what exactly we’re supposed to be introspecting about. He encourages us to look at the historical events that the fast highlights and analyze the contributions made by the Jewish people toward those events; and by extension, how to rectify them.
Looking at the fast being observed this week, Asarah B’Tevet, we’ll be fasting in remembrance of the siege that was laid around Jerusalem that ultimately led to its destruction and the Jewish exile to Babylonia. But remember the golden rule above -- fasts are not just about remembering (#throwbackfastday), they’re about experiencing and developing in our immediate present.
The Torah is guiding us to collectively take a hard look at ourselves. To internalize the messages of the events of those days -- how the animosity between segments of the Jewish people turned them against each other and weakened them toward their adversaries. Their physical and spiritual wellbeing was compromised because they let their ideological differences get in the way of seeing themselves as one people and one family. They were polarized, politically antagonistic, suspicious of each other. Raise your hand if you see that pattern still repeating itself today? Yup. Me too.
So on Asarah B’Tevet we can’t just remember those sad events of the past. What we can do to utilize the spiritual opportunity is -- you guessed it -- fast. Welcome the hunger pangs. Let them remind you here and there throughout the day that there’s something missing from our people and from our world right now that we haven’t quite been able to bring back. We’re repeating and perpetuating those mistakes, still looking askance at some of our fellow Jews just because they don’t look exactly like us. A few hunger pangs later, take a few moments to think about how you can do something small to reach out to another Jew in your own life. Even if they don’t dress or observe exactly as you do.
Oh. And don’t worry about your gym friend or anyone else opting to fast. This one’s the shortest fast of the year. We’ll all be fine. But maybe you should invite him to hang out outside the gym sometime…
We got this. Let’s make this fasting thing a thing of the past -- I’m Jewish after all… I’d so much rather eat!