Jews & Fasting
What is Fasting?
For major fast days, there are five main prohibitions:
Eating and drinking
Bathing (some Jews don't even brush their teeth on major fast days)
Sexual relations
Anointing with oil (or lotion, perfume, etc)
Wearing leather (especially leather shoes)
Who Fasts?
In Judaism, communal fasting comes with a litany of rules. These rules include:
No fasting on Shabbat, or on any holiday or festival (Yom Kippur is an exception to this rule)
No fasting during the month of Nisan
No fasting for those too ill too fast
No fasting for pregnant women
In modern interpretations, if you hold a position of rabbi, teacher, security, or other essential personnel you should not fast, so that you are able to perform your duties at your best at all times
Why Fast?
Fasting is an ancient rite that was often used to express devoutness, induce visions, express sorrow, mourning or asceticism or as an aid in preparation for revelation or for a sacred meal. Judaism, which is generally not an ascetic religion, employs fasting as an expression of piety for purification, atonement, or commemoration, with the goal of leading Jews to more ethical behavior. Allowing the body to rid itself of the toxins eating produces mirrors our efforts on this day to purge ourselves of the impurities of unhealthy thoughts and deeds.
Types of Fasts
In Jewish tradition, there are three kinds of fasts: statutory public fasts that come every year (like Yom Kippur and Tisha B’Av), special public fasts decreed in times of calamity, and private fasts. Private fasts were often observed in times of threat or danger, to display piety or to mark lifecycle events.
In addition to the major public fast days of Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) and Tisha B’Av (the ninth of the month of Av, which commemorates the destruction of the Temples), there are four minor public fast days in the Jewish calendar. The minor fasts last only from dawn until sundown, in distinction to Yom Kippur and Tisha B’Av, which last 25 hours, from sundown until three stars can be seen in the sky the following night. The minor fast days also are not as restrictive in practice as the major fasts.
Major Fast Days
Yom Kippur
is the day at the conclusion of which, according to tradition, God seals the Books of Life and Death for the coming year. The day is devoted to communal repentance for sins committed over the course of the previous year. Because of the nature of Yom Kippur and its associated rituals, it is the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar.
Tisha B’Av
the ninth of the month of Av, is a day of mourning for Jews. It is the day Jews remember the destruction of both Temples that once stood in Jerusalem as well as a number of other tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people over the course of history.
Minor Fast Days
The 17th of Tammuz (Shiva Asar be-Tammuz)
commemorates the day on which the Romans breached the walls of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. It marks the beginning of the three weeks of mourning leading up to Tisha B’Av.
The Fast of Gedaliah (Tsom Gedaliah)
is in memory of the Babylonian appointed governor of Judah, who was assassinated by a fellow Judean following the destruction of the First Temple. It takes place on the day following Rosh Hashanah.
The 10th of Tevet (Asarah be-Tevet)
marks the beginning of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E.
The Fast of Esther (Ta’anit Esther)
is observed on the day before the joyous holiday of Purim, unless that day is a Sabbath. In fasting on this day, one is emulating the fast of Queen Esther and her fellow Jews before she went to the king to plead on their behalf.