Establishing days of mourning other than Tisha b'Av

Hi,

"The kinot of Rabbi Kalonymus state that it would have been appropriate to establish a fast for the decrees and destructions which have passed over us [since the destruction of the first Beit haMikdash], but the day of the Destruction includes all destructions. As Yeshayah 51:3 says, 'For He has comforted Zion, He has comforted all of her ruins.'"

(Rabbi Moshe Sofer, Torat Moshe II, Vayechi)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

It's not about the fast

Hi,

"When the Jews held fasts to pray regarding drought or other crises, the elder among them would speak words of rebuke:

"My brothers, It does not say regarding the people of Nineveh, 'Gd saw their sackcloth and fasts, but rather, 'And Gd saw their deeds, for they had returned from their bad path.' [Jonah 3:10] And so it says in the prophets [Joel 2], 'Tear your hearts, rather than your clothes.'"

הזקן שבהן אומר לפניהן דברי כבושין: אחינו! לא נאמר באנשי נינוה וירא אלקים את שקם ואת תעניתם, אלא וירא האלקים את מעשיהם כי שבו מדרכם הרעה, ובקבלה הוא אומר וקרעו לבבכם ואל בגדיכם.

 (Talmud, Taanit 15a)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Justice and Tzedakah will eliminate fast days

Hi,

"If you will engage in justice and tzedakah, you will not need to fast, for we will build the Beit haMikdash and you will ascend from exile and you will dwell in the land eternally."

(Radak to Zecharyah 7:5)

Have an easy and meaningful fast,
Mordechai

Why fast?

Hi,

"There are days when all Jews fast because of the troubles that have beset them on those days. The goal is to awaken the hearts, to open the paths of repentance...

"As we remember these things, we will return to do what is right, as it is written, 'And they shall admit their sins and the sins of their ancestors...'"

(Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Fasts 5:1)

Have an easy and meaningful fast,
Mordechai

The point of our fast

Hi,

"There are days when all Jews fast because of the troubles that have beset them on those days. The goal is to awaken the hearts, to open the paths of repentance...

"As we remember these things, we will return to do what is right, as it is written, 'And they shall admit their sins and the sins of their ancestors...'"

(Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Fasts 5:1)

Have an easy and meaningful fast,
Mordechai

Fasting which is not accompanied by good deeds

Hi,

"The completeness I desire is that which is recorded in Yirmiyahu, 'Let the one who is praised be praised for this: Have insight and know Me, for I am Gd who performs generosity and justice and righteousness in the land, this is what I desire.'

"This means: I desired for you to perform generosity and justice and righteousness in the land, to walk in My ways. Fasting and eating are not among My actions, for I neither eat nor drink. Fasting is non-eating, and it is not relevant for Me, for one cannot refrain from anything other than that which one normally practices."

(Abarbanel to Zecharyah 7, pg. 221)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Religious tension regarding fasting

Hi,

"One who fasts voluntarily [as opposed to observing halachically required fasts] certainly is called a sinner… but the mitzvah he performs by fasting is greater than the sin of fasting."

(Tosafot, Taanit 11a אמר שמואל)

Pitka tava,
Mordechai

Fasting due to a dream: Listen to your heart

Hi,

"Regarding observing a fast due to a dream: It is generally appropriate to give appropriate space in one's life for his spirit's feelings as they are, without over-analysis, for this is the wisdom of life. Therefore, it is appropriate to make space for one's spiritual state, which seeks that he fulfill its demands via some pain or infliction, of which the most natural form is a fast."

(Rav Avraham Yitzchak haKohen Kook, Igrot haRa'ayah I 79)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Why we fast

Hi,

"There are days when all Jews fast because of the troubles that have beset them on those days. The goal is to awaken the hearts, to open the paths of repentance...

"As we remember these things, we will return to do what is right, as it is written, 'And they shall admit their sins and the sins of their ancestors...'"

(Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Fasts 5:1)

Have an easy and meaningful fast,
Mordechai

All together now

Hi,

"R’ Chana bar Bizna cited R’ Shimon Chasida: Any fast which does not include some of the Jews’ [former] sinners is not a fast, for the smell of galbanum is bad and yet it is included with the ingredients of the ketoret [incese].

"Abbaye brought this source (from Amos 9): ‘And He established His group upon the land.’"

(Talmud, Keritot 6b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Avoid a hypocritical fast

Hi,

Sorry for the lack of an email yesterday; I let the day get away from me.

"They seek me day by day, and they desire to know My ways, as though they were a nation that had performed righteousness and not abandoned the law of its god.

"They ask me for judgment of justice and they desire to be close to Gd. 'Why have we fasted and You have not seen, we have oppressed our spirits and You do not know?' But on the day of your fast you pursue your own needs, and you oppress people for your payments."

(Isaiah 58:2-3 - and see more there)

Note: One must fast, even if one does not feel it inside. The goal is to work on both the fast and the sincere feeling.

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The purpose of a fast day

Hi,

"There are days when all Jews fast because of the troubles that have beset them on those days. The goal is to awaken the hearts, to open the paths of repentance...

"As we remember these things, we will return to do what is right, as it is written, 'And they shall admit their sins and the sins of their ancestors...'"

(Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Fasts 5:1)

Have an easy and meaningful fast,
Mordechai

Repentance matters more than fasting

Hi,

"Know and understand that although the sages have said, ‘Fasting is good for a [bad] dream like fire for flax,’ that is only if one repents along with the fast."

(Sefer Chasidim 226)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

On eating before prayer

Hi,

"Rav Pappa decreed a fast [to pray for rain], and rain did not arrive. He felt weak, so he swallowed a spoonful of cereal, and then prayed. Rain still did not come.

"Rav Nachman bar Ushpazti advised [sarcastically], 'Perhaps if the master would swallow another spoonful of cereal, rain would come!'

"Rav Pappa was embarrassed and became upset - and then rain came."

(Talmud, Taanit 24b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The Fast of the Tenth of Tevet

Hi,

The fast of Asarah b’Tevet, the 10th day of Tevet, marks the beginning of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem. It led to the destruction of the First Beit haMikdash, and the exile of the Jews to Babylon.

Tuesday January 6th is Asarah b'Tevet. Here in Allentown we fast from first light, at 6:13 AM, until the stars emerge at 5:33 PM.

As we are taught regarding every fast other than Yom Kippur, the main merit of the fast is in donating to charity the money we would have spent on food.

May the merit of our charity, prayer and fasting aid the IDF in its efforts.

(Talmud, Berachot 6b; Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 549:1; Mishneh Berurah 549:2)

Have an easy and meaningful fast,
Mordechai

The Ideal Yom Kippur

Hi,

"This is the fast I will choose - Open the chains of wickedness, untie the ropes of tyranny, set free the crushed and release all who had been under tyranny. Break your breead for the hungry, and bring the desperately poor into your home; when you see an unclothed person, clothe him, and do not ignore your flesh [family].

"Then your light will break forth like the morning, and your healing will speedily sprout, your justness will travel before you and the glory of HaShem will gather you in. Then you will call and Gd will answer, you will cry out and Gd will say 'Here I am.'..."

(Isaiah 58:5-9 - The Haftorah of Yom Kippur morning)

May we all be sealed for a great new year, and have an easy and meaningful fast,

Mordechai

The Fast of Gedalyah

Hi,

We fast on the day after Rosh haShanah; this is called "Tzom Gedalyah," "The Fast of Gedalyah."

The Meaning of the Fast: After the Babylonians destroyed the Temple, they appointed Gedalyah as governor of Israel's Jews. A group of Jews, supported by another nation, wanted the Jews to rebel against the Babylonians, and they accused Gedalyah of sympathizing with the Babylonians. They ambushed him and killed him, and in the aftermath, the remaining Jewish community in Israel went into exile.

This day is commemorated as a public fast from first light (5:48 AM this year in Allentown) to the emergence of the stars (7:24 PM this year in Allentown).

Have an easy and meaningful fast,
Mordechai

A goal of fast days

Hi,

For Tisha b'Av, which is observed Saturday night and Sunday:

"There are days when all Jews fast because of the troubles that have beset them on those days. The goal is to awaken the hearts, to open the paths of repentance... as we remember these things, we will return to do what is right, as it is written, 'And they shall admit their sins and the sins of their ancestors...'"

(Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Fasts 5:1)

Be well,
Mordechai