“Thus said Avinu of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace.” (Zec 8:19 )
17 Tammuz Shivah Asar B’ Tammuz
9 Av-Tisha B’av
3 Tishrei- The Fast of Gedaliah
10- Tishrei- Yom Kippurim
10 Tevet- Asarah B’Tevet
13 Adar- The fast of Esther
You want to know why you deserve this series of financial woes. Why do you see each thing as a punishment? Perhaps, on the contrary, it became time for you to receive much more than ever before from Above. Only that in order to receive such good, you must first become small.
Like the seed, you must first come down from your tree and lose yourself within the earth before you can sprout and grow into a mighty oak. Like a metal spring, you must first become small before you can unleash your power. Like the olive, you must allow yourself to be crushed to discover your oil. And all these travails are His way of helping you along that path. If so, you already know the remedy: Make yourself small on your own, and relieve Him of the task. The truth be said, you will find that you can do the job much better—far less painfully and with faster results.
Refraining from deriving pleasure – in the fullest sense – from this world, is only a fine preparation for avoda. Avoda itself is transforming the physical into a vehicle for Holiness.
“And he said to all, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Lu 9:23 RSV)
“2 And you shall remember all the way which Avinu Elohekah led you these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, and to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or no. 3 And he humbled you, and suffered you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you knew not, neither did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of Avinu does man live.” (De 8:2-3)
“1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. 2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of Elohekah: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to Elohim. 3 Why have we fasted, say they, and you see not? why have we afflicted our soul, and you take no knowledge?
Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exact all your labors. 4 Behold, you fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: you shall not fast as you do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Avinu? 6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? 7 Is it not to deal your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? when you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you hide not yourself from your own flesh? 8 Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your health shall spring forth speedily: and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of Avinu shall be your rear guard. 9 Then shall you call, and Avinu shall answer; you shall cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If you take away from the middle of you the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; 10 And if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall your light rise in obscurity, and your darkness be as the noon day: 11 And Avinu shall guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and make fat your bones: and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. 12 And they that shall be of you shall build the old waste places: you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.” (Isa 58:1-12 )
Repentance is in no way synonymous with fasting for a sin that one has committed; repentance merely entails abandoning the sin for all time. This is so even with regard to transgressions — those punishable by excision or by execution — whose atonement becomes complete through suffering. Even in these instances the suffering is not intended to be self-inflicted through fasting, but is brought on from Above. All this refers to atonement and forgiveness of the sin — [the offender] is pardoned completely for having violated the command of the King once he has repented fully.
Atonement and forgiveness thus not require fasting. If the individual repents fully: No charge nor semblance of an accusation is mentioned against him on the day of judgment so that he should be punished for his sin, Avinu forbid, in the World to Come; in his trial there he is completely exonerated.
Nonetheless, in order that he should be acceptable before Avinu, as beloved of Him as before the sin, so that his Creator might derive delight from his service, — [in past times] he would bring an Oleh offering, n addition to his repentance, even for [transgressing] an ordinary positive commandment that involves no excision or execution. In this spirit, we interpret the verse, “It shall be acceptable for him,” — that the Oleh offering causes a person who violated a positive command to become acceptable to Avinu.
Thus too we find in additional writings, 3 that the Oleh offering atones for [the violation of] positive commandments; it is a “gift” [that is offered] after one has repented and been pardoned his punishment.
This is like the case of a man who displeased his king, appeased him through intercessors, and was forgiven by him; still he will send a gift, so that the king might consent that he appear again before his sovereign.
The Oleh offering was similarly brought as a gift to Avinu after the offender had repented and had been granted a pardon, in order that he once again find favor in His eyes, and be beloved by Him as before the sin.
The expression “atones” in the verse, “It shall be acceptable for him, to atone for him,” does not refer to the soul’s atonement for the sin, for this is accomplished through the blood sacrifice of Meshiach, but rather (so to speak) to provide “access” to Avinu for restoration before Avinu, so that he will bring his Creator spiritual Todah (Thanksgiving) and Tehilot (Praises) offerings; no vestige of the sin will remain, and the former offender will be beloved of Avinu as before, as the additional writings teach there — that once the person has been pardoned, then comes the gift of the Oleh offering,and as the verse states: “It shall be perfect, so that it be acceptable.”)
Today, when we have no animal offerings to call forth Avinu’s pleasure, fasting replaces the offering. As the additional writings say, that the prayer of one who is fasting is: “May my loss of fat and blood brought about through fasting be regarded as though I had offered it to You [as a sacrifice on the altar].”
The purpose of fasting, then, is that one become acceptable to Avinu just as before the sin. The former sinner and his Maker restore the relationship. On this basis, that fasting substitutes for an offering, and as such has a place even when an individual does not need to undergo suffering in order to attain complete forgiveness.
The general rule, the mystery of fasting is wondrously effective for the revelation of the Supreme Will similar to an offering, of which it is said, “An aroma pleasing to Avinu.” Thus in Isaiah we find, “Do you call this a fast and a day desirable to Avinu?!” Obviously, an acceptable fast is a “desirable day.”
Here is something else to consider: “For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.” (Ps 109:22). The Hebrew can be more accurately understood as “…my soul is slain within me.” This “slaying of the soul”, (yeitzer Hara – the evil inclination) which is part of our “soul” is also accomplished through fasting.
“13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into my own bosom. 14 I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourns for his mother.” (Ps 35:13-14 )
“Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came to the house of Elohim, and wept, and sat there before Avinu, and fasted that day until even, and offered Ola offerings and peace offerings before Avinu.” (Jud 20:26 )
“And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth on his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.” (1Ki 21:27 )
“And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek Avinu, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.” (2Ch 20:3 )
“21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our Elohim, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance. 22 For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken to the king, saying, The hand of our Elohim is on all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him. 23 So we fasted and sought our Elohim for this: and he was entreated of us.” (Ezr 8:21-23 )
“And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the Elohim of heaven,” (Ne 1:4 )
“Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackcloths, and earth on them.” (Ne 9:1 )
“Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast you for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in to the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.” (Es 4:16 )
“When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.” (Ps 69:10 )
“My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh fails of fatness.” (Ps 109:24 )
“Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of music brought before him: and his sleep went from him.” (Da 6:18 )
“And I set my face to Avinu Elohim, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:” (Da 9:3)
“Sanctify you a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of AvinuElohekah, and cry to Avinu,” (Joel 1:14 )
“12 Therefore also now, said Avinu, turn you even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn to Avinu your Elohim: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repents him of the evil. 14 Who knows if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering to Avinu your Elohim? 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:” (Joel 2:12-15 )
“So the people of Nineveh believed Elohim, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.” (Jonah 3:5 )
“Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did you at all fast to me, even to me?” (Zec 7:5 )
“16 Moreover when you fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men to fast. Truly I say to you, They have their reward. 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face; 18 That you appear not to men to fast, but to your Father which is in secret: and your Father, which sees in secret, shall reward you openly.” (Mt 6:16-18 )
“14 Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but your disciples fast not? 15 And Jesus said to them, Can the children of the bridal chamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.” (Mt 9:14-15 )
“However, this kind goes not out but by prayer and fasting.” (Mt 17:21 )
“And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served Elohim with fastings and prayers night and day.” (Lu 2:37 )
“And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing,” (Ac 10:30 )
“2 As they ministered to Avinu, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. 3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.” (Ac 13:2-3 )
“And when they had ordained them elders in every congregation, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to Avinu, on whom they believed.” (Ac 14:23 )
“Defraud you not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.” (1Co 7:5)
Now the mitzvah of repentance as required by the Torah is simply the abandonment of sin where it is stated that if a potential witness simply abandons and does not repeat the transgression that had previously disqualified him, he is once again able to testify.
This means that he must resolve in perfect sincerity never again to revert to folly, to rebel against Avinu’s rule; he will never again violate the King’s command, Avinu forbid, neither a positive command nor a prohibition.
This is the basic meaning of the term teshuvah (“repentance”) — to return to Avinu with all one’s heart and soul, to serve Him, and to observe all His commandments. For so does Scripture state: “Let the wicked abandon his path, and the sinful his thoughts, and return to Avinu….”
In the Torah portion of Nitzavim it is likewise written: “You shall return unto Avinu Elohekah and hearken to His voice…with all your heart….”
[So, too:] “Return, O Israel, untoAvinu Elohekah…”; [and elsewhere:] “Bring us back, OAvinu, unto You….”
Repentance, then, entails returning to Avinu, performing his commandments and refraining from sin. This differs from the popular conception that repentance is synonymous with fasting on account of one’s sins.
Even in the case of sins punishable by excision or execution, where atonement is made complete by suffering, means that it is Avinu Who brings suffering upon the sinner, in order to complete his atonement. (as the verse clearly specifies, “With a rod shall I remember [their sin]”).
That is to say: When Avinu finds his repentance acceptable, as he returns to Him with all his heart and soul, out of love, then following the initiative undertaken from below, and “as water reflects the countenance…,” there is an awakening Above, arousing Avinu’s love and kindness, to scour his sin and entirely cleanse him of it through affliction in This World, in the spirit of the verse, “For he whom Avinu loves He chastises….” This is something quite different from any fasts or afflictions that an individual undertakes himself.
It is for this reason that there is no mention whatever of fasting as related to the mitzvah of repentance, even in the case of sins punishable by excision or capital sins. I.e., fasting is not equired even with regard to those sins whose atonement is completed through suffering.
They cite only confessing [verbally] and requesting forgiveness; as the Torah prescribes, “They shall confess their sin….” Why are confession and requesting forgiveness indeed part of repentance?
Every sin consists of a body and a soul. The actual misdeed itself is the “body” of the sin, and the bodily pleasure and ensuing desire with which it was committed are its “soul”. Repentance involves eliminating both these elements.
The “soul” of the sin is eradicated by the earnest regret of the individual, who is mortified and pained by his past. Inasmuch as pain is the opposite of pleasure, it negates the pleasure which had earlier aroused his desire to sin, and thereby obliterates the “soul” of the sin.
But the “body” of the sin also needs to be nullified. Simply refraining from further transgression lacks the action that would negate the sinful act itself, its “body”. This is accomplished through verbal confession, for “verbalization is also considered to be an action.”
At any rate, verbal confession is thus a component of repentance — while fasting is not. As to what we find in the Book of Yoel, “Return to Me with all your hearts, and with fasting and weeping…,” which would seem to indicate that fasting is in fact part of return and repentance, this was to nullify, while repentance involves forsaking the past’) the heavenly decree that had been issued, to expunge the sin of the generation through the affliction of locusts; it was not part of the act of repentance. This is the rationale for all fasts undertaken for any trouble threatening the community, their purpose being to avert the impending harsh edict, as in the Book of Esther, where we find that the Queen asked that a fast be proclaimed in order to nullify Haman’s evil decree. hence the numerous fasts prescribed.
All this might lead us to assume that the purpose of fasts is suffering — this being the manner through which atonement is brought to completion by those who are guilty of sins punishable by excision. But it has been previously stated that the suffering which completes forgiveness is specifically that which comes from Above, and not man-made suffering incurred through fasting and the like:
These above-prescribed fasts and mortifications are intended to avert the punishment of suffering at the hand of heaven, Avinu forbid. Fasting relates to the future, unlike repentance, which relates to the past.”) This means that if, Avinu forbid, the punishment of suffering had been decreed upon an individual, he is able to exempt himself from it through these self-imposed fasts. Another reason [for these fasts] is to urge on and expedite the conclusion of his soul’s forgiveness. Also, perhaps he is not returning to Avinu with all his heart and soul out of love, but only out of fear.
Such a penitent would not enjoy the Divine reaction that comes “as water reflects the countenance,” and would not be granted the completion of his atonement through suffering. Accordingly, he might undertake these fasts in order to secure this alone. Essentially, however, the suffering that brings about complete forgiveness (for those guilty of sins punishable by excision and death by Divine agency) is not meant to be self-inflicted, but rather — heaven forfend — imposed from Above.
“You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits broad; the altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits.” (Ex 27:1 RSV)
“You must make the Altar.”
The Outer Altar was used for offering three types of animals: cattle, sheep, and goats. The animal sacrifices we offer up in our personal, inner sanctuaries are the various facets of the animal side of our personalities. Our inner cattle are our impulses to be confrontational, to oppose the directives of the Divine side of our personalities. Our inner sheep are our impulses to conform, to follow the crowd in pursuit of creature comforts because we are too weak to assert our Divine nature. Our inner goats are our impulses to be stubborn, brazenly refusing to budge from our preconceived notions.
We slaughter our inner animal by renouncing our animalistic orientation toward life. We sprinkle its blood and place its fat on the Altar by re-orienting our enthusiasm (warm blood) and sense of delight (fat) toward Holiness. We burn up our inner animal on “our Altar” by prayer and fasting – allowing the Divine side of our personality to take control of our animal drives.
The fact that the sacrificial Altar was situated outside the Tabernacle, in the Courtyard, teaches us that refining the animal side of our personalities is prerequisite to entering the realm of holiness and Divine consciousness, represented by the Tabernacle itself.
Fasting is a “means” of “coming to ourselves”. Thus we find in Yiov, “1 ¶ Then Yiov answered the LORD: 2 “I know that thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of thine can be thwarted. 3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 4 ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare to me.’ 5 I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees thee; 6 therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”” (Yiov 42:1-6)
Fasting’s primary consequence is the dimunition of our “Yeitzer Hara” which allows our yeitzer Tov to be “stirred up” within us. Thus resulting in the bringing of ourselves to a higher awareness of our spiritual condition. This higher awareness is sometimes referred to as “coming to ourselves” which is a pre-condition to repentance.
Fast Breaking
“13 And David said to Nathan, I have sinned against Avinu. And Nathan said to David, Avinu also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 However,, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of Avinu to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die. 15 And Nathan departed to his house. And Avinu struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it was very sick. 16 David therefore sought Elohim for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night on the earth. 17 And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them. 18 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he would not listen to our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead? 19 But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said to his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead.
20 Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of Avinu, and worshiped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat. 21 Then said his servants to him, What thing is this that you have done? you did fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, you did rise and eat bread.
Make yourself small and you will be great.
Know you are nothing and you will be infinite.
At the very least, don’t make such a big deal of yourself
and you will be all that much closer to the truth.
These fasts were not undertaken for the sake of repentance, nor as self-inflicted suffering in order to complete a process of atonement; these were not sins of the kind that required this. The sole purpose of these fasts was to restore the bonds of love between the former sinner and his Maker. On this basis, that fasting substitutes for an offering, and as such has a place even when an individual does not need to undergo suffering in order to attain complete atonement.
As a general rule, the mystery of fasting is wondrously effective for the revelation of the Supreme Will, similar to an offering, of which it is said,
12 “An aroma pleasing to G d.”
Obviously, an acceptable fast is a “desirable day.”.
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