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Every fast day I struggle with the concept of why we fast. If the point is to elicit teshuva, how does not eating do this? Sometimes it seems counterproductive when I just end up counting down the hours to when I can eat and eliminate my headache. As opposed to making me feel more spiritual, it sometimes makes me feel more physical when I can only focus on these base needs. These issues are amplified for me on minor fast days when the practice is a minhag.
From Hakhel dot com
i asked my grandfather about fasting. He said, in the ‘olden days’ people didn’t have food like today, and didn’t eat like today. Fasting wasn’t a big deal physically. The purpose was to be able to daven, learn, do hisbodedus without stopping to go have a meal. The not eating meant no hefsek from the purpose of the day. He bemoaned the fact that nowadays people are focused on the food aspect and miss the tachlis of the day, and wondered if the purpose of fastinng has been lost in this generation.
The Tanakh makes many references to fasting as a means of spiritual elevation; freeing ourselves from material and physical attachments and needs makes us like angels, and elevates us to a level of spiritual consciousness which transcends the physical.
“As opposed to making me feel more spiritual, it sometimes makes me feel more physical when I can only focus on these base needs.”
This in itself can be, paradoxically, a spiritual experience. Although I know that fasting is difficult for me, I am still surprised every time at how hard I find it and how much I find myself looking at the clock and thinking about when I will be able to eat again. For me, fast days call my attention to the fact that I am, as a human, a very physical being. Realizing how much I rely on food, showers, and other physical attributes makes me aware of the spiritual void that this can create and helps me to refocus my energy on loftier spiritual matters.
On Rosh haShono, despite being judged between life & death, we eat festive meals.
From 1 aspect, this makes it very hard to get into the right frame of mind and really be in trepidation of Yom haDin as we have such festive family meals.
Yet this enables people with weak disposition to easily get to Shul unlike Yom Kippur when many people become bedridden to be able to complete the Tzom. But from the other perspective, it is much easier to get into a serious frame of mind on Yom Kippur than on Rosh haShono, when we are feasting.
“Every fast day I struggle with the concept of why we fast” that’s basically it. It gets you thinking about it, you wouldn’t have done that if it was just another regular day.
I’ve gotten in the habit of fasting Mondays and Thursdays. The hard part for me is going without water, but I find that this allows me to empathize with those in the developing countries who lack access to clean, potable water.
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