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Positive fasting, or merely abstention from food and drink?
In Agnon's short story "Mazzal Dagim", the orphan boy Betzalel Moshe bemoans the fact that although he fasts more often than the great ascetic rabbis, they get credit for their fasts, and he does not -- for their fasts are planned, for religious reasons, whereas his are involuntary, and due merely to the fact that he cannot afford food every day.
In Judaism, religious fasting is accompanied by thought. Let us look at the mandatory fastdays:
On Yom Kippur and the Fast of Esther, the thought is about repentance.
On the Ninth of Av, the thought is about mourning.
On the remaining three fastdays -- the Fast of Gedaliah, the Seventeenth of Tammuz, and the Tenth of Teveth (today), the thought is both about fasting and repentance.
This is reflected in the Selihoth liturgy for these days, which discusses the tragedies which befell our people on these dates, and begs God to be merciful (in the language of the 13 Attributes of Mercy [Exodus 34:6-7), forgive us for our sins, and restore our losses.
Because these fastdays are called תענית ציבור -- public fastdays -- this liturgy may be recited only in the presence of a minyan. Traditionally, it is recited inside the berakha סלח לנו "forgive us", in the cantor's repetition of the ‘Amida. (In the past 150 years or so, many communities have removed the Selihoth from their context, and placed them after the ‘Amida. However, some traditional Ashkenazic communities, and, randomly, Congregation Orach Chaim on East 95th St. in Manhattan, have retained them in their proper place. Note that in the context of the ‘Amida, the Selihoth really may not be recited by an individual, for an individual can't just randomly throw in anything he or she wants into the holiest of prayers, when no interruption is permitted.)
But what about for those individuals who don't make it to synagogue on the morning of these fastdays?
Unlike 9 Av, when the synagogue service lasts until noon, and Yom Kippur, when the service lasts the entire day, the service for the other fast days is short, and is over by 8 AM.
The individual who oversleeps does not have the opportunity to *think* about the day, or to be part of the community -- but merely to starve. What good is this? It is extremely frustrating, and feels random.
In many hasidic communities, women do not fast on any day other than 9 Av or Yom Kippur. This is usually explained as being an extension of the rule that pregnant and nursing women should not fast on any days other than those two.
However, many women (even in hasidic communities!) are neither fasting nor nursing? So why should they not fast on these days?
Perhaps part of the answer is that women do not attend synagogue on most days in these communities. They do attend on Yom Kippur and the Ninth of Av, so they get the connection to the ideational and emotional content of those days. But on other days, it's just denying themselves calories, so why should they do so?
I (Gabriel) woke up at 8 AM today, and missed synagogue services. I was really frustrated and angry. Did I eat? No. I keep halakha even in pointless situations, to keep me grounded in the appropriate ones.
So next 10 Teveth, if the Temple has not yet been rebuilt by then, it will again be a fast day. And hopefully, I will be in synagogue, reciting the Selihoth. And I will fast. And I will not have to think: "Last year, I did not fast."
Doing pointless activities makes sense, if its goal is to keep the continuity.
But if I were a hasidic woman, and never had any hope of going to synagogue on 10 Teveth in the future, I might think very differently.
Incidentally, this is the first time that a Public Fast Day has fallen on a Friday in ten years. Woo-hoo! [Jen adds: More about that at Mah Rabu.]
In Agnon's short story "Mazzal Dagim", the orphan boy Betzalel Moshe bemoans the fact that although he fasts more often than the great ascetic rabbis, they get credit for their fasts, and he does not -- for their fasts are planned, for religious reasons, whereas his are involuntary, and due merely to the fact that he cannot afford food every day.
In Judaism, religious fasting is accompanied by thought. Let us look at the mandatory fastdays:
On Yom Kippur and the Fast of Esther, the thought is about repentance.
On the Ninth of Av, the thought is about mourning.
On the remaining three fastdays -- the Fast of Gedaliah, the Seventeenth of Tammuz, and the Tenth of Teveth (today), the thought is both about fasting and repentance.
This is reflected in the Selihoth liturgy for these days, which discusses the tragedies which befell our people on these dates, and begs God to be merciful (in the language of the 13 Attributes of Mercy [Exodus 34:6-7), forgive us for our sins, and restore our losses.
Because these fastdays are called תענית ציבור -- public fastdays -- this liturgy may be recited only in the presence of a minyan. Traditionally, it is recited inside the berakha סלח לנו "forgive us", in the cantor's repetition of the ‘Amida. (In the past 150 years or so, many communities have removed the Selihoth from their context, and placed them after the ‘Amida. However, some traditional Ashkenazic communities, and, randomly, Congregation Orach Chaim on East 95th St. in Manhattan, have retained them in their proper place. Note that in the context of the ‘Amida, the Selihoth really may not be recited by an individual, for an individual can't just randomly throw in anything he or she wants into the holiest of prayers, when no interruption is permitted.)
But what about for those individuals who don't make it to synagogue on the morning of these fastdays?
Unlike 9 Av, when the synagogue service lasts until noon, and Yom Kippur, when the service lasts the entire day, the service for the other fast days is short, and is over by 8 AM.
The individual who oversleeps does not have the opportunity to *think* about the day, or to be part of the community -- but merely to starve. What good is this? It is extremely frustrating, and feels random.
In many hasidic communities, women do not fast on any day other than 9 Av or Yom Kippur. This is usually explained as being an extension of the rule that pregnant and nursing women should not fast on any days other than those two.
However, many women (even in hasidic communities!) are neither fasting nor nursing? So why should they not fast on these days?
Perhaps part of the answer is that women do not attend synagogue on most days in these communities. They do attend on Yom Kippur and the Ninth of Av, so they get the connection to the ideational and emotional content of those days. But on other days, it's just denying themselves calories, so why should they do so?
I (Gabriel) woke up at 8 AM today, and missed synagogue services. I was really frustrated and angry. Did I eat? No. I keep halakha even in pointless situations, to keep me grounded in the appropriate ones.
So next 10 Teveth, if the Temple has not yet been rebuilt by then, it will again be a fast day. And hopefully, I will be in synagogue, reciting the Selihoth. And I will fast. And I will not have to think: "Last year, I did not fast."
Doing pointless activities makes sense, if its goal is to keep the continuity.
But if I were a hasidic woman, and never had any hope of going to synagogue on 10 Teveth in the future, I might think very differently.
Incidentally, this is the first time that a Public Fast Day has fallen on a Friday in ten years. Woo-hoo! [Jen adds: More about that at Mah Rabu.]