JEWISH WORLD

By MAAYAN JAFFE- HOFFMAN F asting is the most common- ly known Yom Kippur ritu- al. According to a 2016 Pew survey, 40 percent of American Jews and 60 percent of Israeli Jews fast on the Day of Atonement. Of course, fasting is not exclusive to Judaism. It is an ancient practice whose purpose and benefit span across the three Abrahamic faiths — Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Fasting is mentioned in the Bible and the Koran, and although its practices differ across these religions, they each use food restriction and/or abstinence as a means of growing closer to God through repentance, increased gratitude, mourning, and study. Fasting is broadly defined as the partial or total abstinence from food. In Judaism, one refrains entirely from eating or drinking on major fast days (Yom Kippur and Tisha B’Av) and on the four minor fast days (the Fast of Gedaliah, the Fast of the 10th of Tevet, the Fast of the 17th of Tammuz, and the Fast of Esther, right before Purim). Aliza Bulow, a Colorado-based Jewish educator, and the author and founder of WICK (Women in Chizuk and Kiruv), said that fast- ing in Judaism generally centers around atonement for previous wrongdoings, mourning, or grati- tude, in that by abstaining from food, one realizes his/her depend- ence on God and appreciates the sustenance God provides. “Fasting that is not on Yom Kippur is so we will feel a sense of lacking,” she explained. “The lacking of food will lead us to feel we are lacking a closeness to Hashem, and we want to get it back.” She said that the Jewish people see the physical as “a gateway to the spiritual.” “On Shabbat, we wear pretty clothes, clean the house, enjoy delicious food … because we want to create a physical environment that helps shift our spiritual per- ceptions,” she said. “Fasting is no different.” Except on Yom Kippur. This 25- hour fast from sunset to nightfall is solemn, humbling, and repentant, but also happy in that repentance brings redemption, said Bulow. On Yom Kippur, which is spent most- ly in prayer, fasting aims to elevate Jewish souls to the exalted level of mal’achay hasharait, or “minister- ing angels.” “Yom Kippur is our aesthetic day,” said Bulow. “On Yom Kippur, we suffer physically to achieve a spiritual height.” Faith And Fasting A look at the practice of food abstention and restrictions on Yom Kippur This 25-hour fast from sunset to nightfall is solemn, humbling, and repentant, but also happy in that repentance brings redemption. continued on page 30 JEWISH WORLD • SEPTEMBER 14-20, 2018 9 ANALYSIS An Ultra Orthodox Jewish man prays at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, at the end of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and the holiest of Jewish holidays. Israel comes to a standstill for 25-hours during the high holiday of Yom Kippur when Jews fast and public transportation is closed.