Fasting

I understand that fasting on Yom Kippur is supposed to make me focus on my soul rather than my body. But by around lunch time I am so hungry that for the rest of the day all I can think about is food. Doesn't this defeat the purpose?

Why do we fast on Yom Kippur? A common perception is that it’s to de-emphasize our physicality on the most spiritual day of the year. According to chassidic teaching, the very opposite is the case.

The Jewish calendar contains several fast days, most of them commemorating various landmark events that revolve around the destruction of the Holy Temples. Learn how these days are observed.

Although the Jewish year is filled with wonderful holidays in abundance several times a year – six to be precise – we fast. Some people find fasting quite arduous, so there are some pointers that can help ease the fast-related hunger pangs.

Question: From what I understand, fasting is for the purpose of self-affliction and repentance. Can a person hold his or her own personal fast, in addition to the mandatory public fast days? If yes, are there special repentance prayers one can say on ...

"It seems," the horses surmised, "that we are not men after all, but angels, who do not partake of earthly food at all"

There is another aspect to the customs of the Yartzeit. There is a practice to fast on a Yartzeit and especially on the Yartzeit of a Tzaddik. However, we do not find such a practice recorded in the customs of Chabad nor in Chabad books.the Tanya, Torah ...

“In the human being,” explained Rabbi Schneur Zalman, “there are ‘rich’ organs, such as the mind and heart, and ‘poor’ organs, like the stomach. I refuse to remain in a city where they torture the poor!”

This year, I did not hear a rabbi give his annual dramatic speech about the fragility of life, and about our total dependence on G-d's mercy for that life. This year, instead, a microscopic virus flattened me down to the ground, so that I lived that Yom ...

The traditional procedure followed by the Jewish bride and groom on the day of their wedding.