Us and Them

“Public fasts should never be declared on Thursdays in order to not cause a sudden rise in market prices.” ~ Taanit 10a

We are attentive to life’s movements. This means that when nature seems to declare war on humanity or a spate of bad things happen to us we suddenly become superstitious.  Even if we disparage it at other times in our life it is hard to avoid wondering if something we did is bringing all this ill will upon us.  Remember the lucky rabbit’s foot?   Throwing salt over the shoulder?  Saying kana harato ward off the “evil eye”?  There must be hundreds of thousands of other superstitious action people take to keep them from powers of destruction.

The Rabbis of old recognized this human propensity.  So they enacted laws to assist people with their impulse to “keep the demons at bay.”  One of the ideas they brought out was that when a person feels afflicted they should engage in a fast to plead with God to remove the decree that they believe has befallen them.

Even though the Sages understood the value of taking action to ward away evil spirits they also enacted other counter-measures so that society would be protected.  In the instance of a fast they felt it was important to not allow a public fast to come on a Thursday as that was traditionally the day when everyone went to market.  A fast would have the effect of seriously harming merchants, perhaps even causing some to go hungry.

Idea: We are important to God.  How we feel, what we do, what happens to us matters a great deal.  Yet, society is greater than the individual.  The welfare of our community should always take precedence.  Our humanity will be challenged when we place our concerns above our neighbors.

Respect people and their boundaries.  No one is exempted from this mitzvah.  G.K Chesterton wrote: “You can free things from alien or accidental laws, but not from the laws of their own nature…Don’t go about…encouraging triangles to break out of the prison of their three sides.  If a triangle breaks out of its three sides, its life comes to a lamentable end.”

Do Not Let Your Kids Read This

Do not let your kids read this article.  In this sentence I am going to mention a VERY dirty word, carbohydrates.  The diet de jour is abstaining from carbohyrates. Atkins must have died a very rich - if thin- man.  So many people throughout America are now skinny, thanks to him.

In every generation a new diet arises that the previous generation knew not.  Personally, I would like to make my own (copyrighted) suggestion for America.  I recommend fasting.

Actually, I read in the news that people are already catching on to the idea that fasting can reduce weight.  As the New York Times reported recently, "While millions of high-fat, low-carb devotees are gorging themselves on steak and butter, a small group of the body-conscious have opted to eat nothing at all."   No doubt in paying many dollars for instructions on “how to fast”, some gurus will get fat, thick wallets.

I fast for about 25 hours each year.  So do you.  I guess that puts us on the cutting edge of the latest fad.

I also fasted for other people; those throughout the world for whom hunger and thirst are features of everyday life.  Isaiah instructs that the fast is valueless without alleviating the horror of everyday hunger.

True, there was a moment or two during services on the morning of Yom Kippur when I prayed for a large cafe latte... Even a cup of joe from the 7-11 would have been welcome.

But then I pushed the idea from my mind as we stood once more for the al cheyt. Spiritual hunger is a stronger force than stomach rumbling.  The great vacuum of the soul is far more compelling than any physical discomfort.  As my teacher, a survivor of Auschwitz, was told by his father “We can survive food and water deprivation but not loss of hope.”  In the absence of all material need, we find wholeness.

Once a year, we forgo the worry about the next meal and join in a communal act of contrition.

“We don't do this to lose weight, or "detox" the body of all sort of imagined, invisible intrusions. We don't pay thousands of dollars to expensive spas to eat virtually nothing at all, or to nutritional consultants who promise to coach their clients in the "art" of prolonged self-denial. We're not living on nut butter and apple-chard juice and pretending to be healthy,” as one commentator put it.

Health, for Jews, transcends the physical realm.  What good is a healthy body inside a mind of skewed values?  Mind you, I am not advocating obesity or callousness about one’s health but the body houses the pinnacle of every human being, not vice versa.  In other words, we are soulful beings, not lusting animals.

An anomaly: Only the rich can afford to indulge in this kind of purging the body.  While thousands will hungry tonight and many die of starvation, thousands of others will pay for the privilege of fasting.

What humanity needs continual reminding of is to feed and nourish the soul.  Too often it is left out to shiver in the cold.  Life is meaningful....  As we say on Pesah, “Let all who are hungry, come and eat...”.  This time, the food is of a different sort.

And best of all, there are no dishes.