Blog Schedule
Tonight and tomorrow is the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which (for otherwise healthy people) is marked most prominently by approximately 25 hours of complete fasting.
So, for those of you who are fasting, have an easy, safe fast.
If you're ill, were recently ill, are very elderly, are pregnant, you recently gave birth, or you have certain chronic health conditions like cardiac arrhythmias, a seizure disorder, or low blood pressure, etc., you probably are forbidden by Jewish law from fasting.
To determine if you are barred from fasting, ask a doctor who knows your health condition well. If s/he says don't fast, if possible, tell your rabbi and he'll rule that you must eat and drink.
If it isn't possible to ask a doctor or a rabbi, err on the side of caution and protect your health.
In honor of Yom Kippur, there will be no new posts until tomorrow night about an hour (or so) after sundown.
If it isn't possible to ask a doctor or a rabbi, err on the side of caution and protect your health.
Best heter ever!
גמר חתימה טובה לכל בני ברית הקוראים
Posted by: Maskil | September 25, 2012 at 08:38 PM
Is this rabbinically made-up tradition of fasting (nowhere to be found in Torah or in the history of the Temple -- Josephus etc) over yet?
Posted by: R. Wisler | September 26, 2012 at 07:30 PM
The torah says to "afflict yourself." Even non-rabbinic communities (Samaritans, Karaites) interpret this to mean fasting.
Posted by: Yochanan Lavie | September 26, 2012 at 08:13 PM
Thanks Yochanan for your comment on the Samaritan and Karaites. That gives credence to the fact that fasting on 10-Tishrei is not some made-up "tradition" from the Mishna, but actually existed in the Holy Temple.
The most ancient source that I found for "afflicting oneself" meaning "fasting" is the writing of St. Justin the Martyr, in his treatise "A Disputation With Trypho the Jew" from A.D. 160. He specifically mentions the two goats as types of the antoning power of the Christian Messiah. In his discussion, he specifically refers to Yom Kippur as "the fast".
This puts the proof that one fasts on Yom Kippur at least within 90 years of the the Churban. The Mishna didn't show up till about a century later (and they took great liberties with Torah when they invented the Jewish religion). Neither Josephus nor Philo, nor the apocryphal books in the Septuigent mention "afflication" as "fasting".
Posted by: R. Wisler | September 26, 2012 at 09:36 PM
The torah says to "afflict yourself." Even non-rabbinic communities (Samaritans, Karaites) interpret this to mean fasting.
Posted by: Yochanan Lavie | September 26, 2012 at 08:13 PM
That's right. It means anal sex. Read a concordance of the Tanach.
Posted by: Maskil | September 27, 2012 at 01:08 AM