Rabbi Shimon began [his discourse] by saying: "My beloved is Mine [I chose Him alone], and I am His [for He chose me from all the peoples], He feeds among the roses". (Song of Songs 2:16) Who caused my Beloved to be mine and I to be His? Because He runs His world with [the qualities of] roses. The rose has a scent and it is red, yet [cook it so that it one can] pour it and it turns white. Yet its scent never leaves, and G‑d runs his world in this way [to punish one who sins so that he will repent, thus turning the red of his sins to the white of atonement] for otherwise the world would not endure because of the sinner. And the sinner is called 'red', as written: "Though your sins be like scarlet, they shall be white as snow". (Isaiah 1:18)

When one brings his offering to fire which is red, then sprinkles the blood which is red, around the altar. So it is for the attribute of Justice which is red. Pour it [the red blood at the base of the altar] and the smoke [of the heavenly fragnance] arises all white. Then the red [meat of the sacrificial offering] turns into white [of ashes, to show that] the attribute of Justice turns into the attribute of Compassion. Come and see: the attribute of Judgment needs its scent only from the redness [of the meat]. And Rabbi Yehuda said that it is written [concerning the priests of idolatory]: "And they cut themselves according to their fashion [with swords and lances] till the blood gushed out upon them" (I Kings 18:28) but they knew that they would not get what they wanted from the attribute of judgment, except with red [of blood].

Rabbi Yitzchak said: moreover, red and white are always offered [on the altar] and the scent arises from them both. As the rose is red and white, so is the scent of the offering and the offering [composed both] of red and white. Come and see from the scent of the incense, some of the spices are red and some are white, like the frankincense which is white, pure myrrh is red, and the scent rises from red and white. Therefore, He runs His world with roses [in plural form], which are red and white. And it is written: "To offer Me the fat and the blood" [i.e. red and white]. (Ezekiel 44:15)

Correspondingly, a person who fasts [for his sins] and offers his fat and blood and is granted atonement, one [his blood] is red and the other [his fat] is white. Just as the rose, which is red and white, is not cast to become completely white save in fire, similarly the offering is not cast so as to become completely white except in fire. Now one who fasts and offers his fat and blood does not shrivel so as to become completely white, save in fire. For Rabbi Yehudah said, through the fasting of man his limbs become weakened and the fire gains control over him, and at that time he must offer his fat and blood in that fire, and that is called 'the Altar of Atonement'.

This is what Rabbi Elazar would pray and say when he fasted: It is revealed and known before You G‑d, my L-rd and the L-rd of my fathers, that I have offered up before You my fat and blood, and I have seethed them with the heat of the weakness of my body. May it be Your will that the scent that rises from my mouth at this moment shall be as the scent that rises from an offering in the fire of the altar, and You shall favor me.

So we find that a person offers in his fasting the fat and blood, and the scent that rises from his mouth is an altar of atonement. Therefore, they instituted prayer in place of the offering, with the stipulation that one should intend that which we said [for he reduces his fat and blood with the heat of his effort and causes it to ascend with the vapor of his mouth]. Rabbi Yitzchak said: From here and further it is written, "Everything that passes through the fire" [every effort made in learning Torah or fulfilling commandments that heats his fat and blood] "you shall make it go through fire" [the heat of his efforts] "and it shall be clean" [purifies him from sin] (Num. 31:23) Rabbi Yosi said: When the Temple was in existence, a person would offer his sacrifices in this manner [of red and white] and he was granted atonement. Now, the prayer of a person atones for him in place of the offering in this way [similar to the manner of the sacrifice].

BeRahamim LeHayyim: We are a spiritual people, "a nation of priests.' And we are at origin alchemists, who are sensitive to mystic energies. Red and White are not merely colors: they stand for blood and fat, myrrh and frankincense, the rose, and the "sweetened" rose.

Why do we fast? We no longer have a Temple where we can bring offerings that bring us closer to G‑d after a mistake. So instead of offering up bullocks, we give up from our own fats and blood. Yes, we are not of the same level of the ancients who would fast frequently to atone. But, if done with sincere intention, plus subsequent action on the part of the repentant, fasting can play a significant part in one's return to centeredness and balance. In fact, it is during these 6 weeks of Shovavim (see Sefer Ben HaOlam HaBa), that our Sages recommend a regimen of restriction, in food and drink and other physical pleasures.

If we do not change our ways, our fasts are detested, as we learn in the Haftara of Isaiah read on Yom Kippur. But if we combine intent and deed, the untasty smell of our hungry breath, we are told, rises up as a soothing savor to the Eternal One. Now that secret you won't find on the side of your mouthwash bottle!

Bracketed annotations from Metok Midevash and Sulam commentaries
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