Fasting and punishing the body is not a path for our generation. Today, we must lift the body up, rather than beat it down.
Not only because most of us are too fragile to weaken our bodies any more. Not only because the faintness of hunger can interfere with your ability to do good in the world.
But principally because now has come the time to reveal the divine within our own sinews of flesh and blood.
And to do that, you must work with the body, according to its needs.
When I am younger I am not so aware of nutrition; I only know my survival. I depend on others to teach me, and this aspect of living and knowing is not revealed to me. Like many aspects of living I evolve to learning how to live healthier and the Chabad outreach helps achieve this goal for wholesome being. Reply
About I must say that the discussion should not focus on fasting. Most people are not more fragile than our ancestors were, quite the contrary! Instead, with the whole idea of "change" sweeping our nation like a deadly virus, we must remain totally centered in who we are and what we believe in. We get taller, smarter, hairier, in many cases, less hairy - people always remain the same. So, this whole idea of change sweeping the nation is likened to a virus. If you say or suggest that someone must or should change, you are saying that the individual is not good enough, smart enough, does not look the way that they should. This is the absolute wrong message to be putting out there. People need to love who they are! People need to love that they are thinking, loving, unique individuals unlike anyone else who has ever existed, does exist and will ever exist. We should live life loving our G-d given body and mind and soul. People only have one life to live. Love it! Reply
fasting Fasting a few times a year is actually good for you. It gives your digestive system a rest, and some time for your body to make small internal adjustments almost like fine tuning. That's why we can follow every fast day in the Jewish calendar. It is healthy. Reply
fasting
As a young guy in my late teens and beyond, full of enthusiasm, fasting was part of our spiritual activity. Unfortunately , fasting was seen as an addition to our prayers, thinking it would please G-d and thereby place added pressure on G-d to answer our urgent requests.
Now 50 years later I still practice fasting, but now it' serves other purposes.
1. Personal discipline
2. After a three day fast ones mind is clearer (less toxins in the body ?) and Scripture takes on new depth and understanding.
3. G-d doesn't need pressure to back up prayer - He is always ready with an answer (His silence is also an answer).
The discipline of fasting makes one more alert and attentive, and enables the person to better LISTEN (to G-d)
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with the body
awesome!!!
if our 'bodies' are thought to be like 'temples', surely they are to be cherished, cared for and honored! (fasting on Yom Kippur and the very few other proscribed fasting days separate of course).
'punishing' and fasting' to excess - personally makes me want to turn around and run the other way particularly if it's forced on me!
every day i pray to G-d to keep me healthy to come and go and do what i hope He wants me to do!
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With the body
Nice article Rabbi Freeman. I had just thought about whether or not we still should fast.
Your article confirmed what I believed that it was not necessary but just to bring your body, soul, and mind under subjection of G-d's Spirit.
Thanks for sharing.
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Hurrah Hurrah for acknowledging the body finally. We need to have unity - body, mind and spirit. Reply
With the Body I'm not sure why fasting is seen as something that is done "against" the body. Fasting, if don't right, can be done just as much WITH the body as eating. I think the reason many of us are so weak in our generation is because of the diet of our generation. Earlier generations did not have sugar and processed wheat and boxed and frozen foods. It's partly the foods of our generation that "weaken" us. It can strengthen us to eat foods that are fresh and whole, but mostly to know that our nourishment comes directly from H-shem and nowhere else. Ironically, clearing our bodies of the toxic foods of our generation leads us to the realization that ALL comes from above. The toxins that we put into our bodies are as much a distraction from H-shem as any of the technology of our time. Reply
smart
I wish there was a definitive diet that every nutritionist could agree upon. It seems to be mainly business.Trans-fats and cigarettes, both with irrefutable evidence of ' bad ' for you. 1000 titles later on diet and we have arrived at diets of 8 glasses of water a day, cutting way back on sugar, processed foods and going gluten free. Not all nutritionists agree on this short list. Maimonides had good advice on eating : " eat when you are hungry. " I don't think they had anorexia or bulemia in his day. Basically I still like his advice except that not being hungry in the morning means missing out on the most important meal of the day. He also put forward exact foods that were good for you. Time has proven some of the foods to not be healthy, but in the 1500's Maimonides still had the best ideas.
Sometimes it seems that every single food is bad for you. An apple a day is good. i am up to 1 apple a week, sliced chunks every day. Broccoli is non-kosher.
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Some responses
Several have asked what has changed. For one thing, people are not as strong as they once were. For another, they are not as selfless. At one time, people would fast and become more enlightened, humble souls. Today, they become "holy rollers" deluded and obsessed with their own spirituality.
But the main point, as the Rebbe often pointed out, is that the mandate of our times, being so close to the times of the Moshiach, is to work with the body, not against it, to bring the soul, mind and body into harmony and elevate all to a higher, harmonized state--a foretaste of the state of our bodies in the time to come.
For those who have asked about established fast days, this was answered in one of my comments above.
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With the body (Daily Dose) Rabbi: In the light of your message, what about Yom Kippur and otherHoly fast Days? Reply
Fasting What has changed? Why is fasting no longer good? Why was it once good? Reply
Unity Great! Very deep! I guess the word is unity. No more classifications nor any kind of taxonomy for man. Human being is single, unique and one. Excellent message! Reply
i like it
let's give credit to our body who enables us to do mitzvoth
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Fasting on Yom Kippur...
...was obviously not included in this statement. Nevertheless, we should take care to feed the body properly before and after, and especially to drink as much as possible the day before.
Yom Kippur is meant to be a day of such rapture, your body doesn't even notice the missed meals.
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im confused i thought that this was a long lasting tradition and i am wondering if this is not a suggestive association with political correctness and how rude it may be for someone to fast when others on the planet do not have a significant food source to provide and what some may take for granted. a so called slap in the face of those who are literally starving in other countries. the problem is that this is EVEN MORE of a reason to fast. to honor and cleanse ourselves. after fasting one may feel an inclination to donate food to those who are without food and are hungry. fasting can remind us how we are blessed instead of the political correctness of the collective salvation approach. unless there is more to this quotation that i am missing or completely misguided which could be as i am not a perfect soul but am working on it. Reply
Heaven & Earth
You continue to amaze me with your broad scope and insights. This is the lesson of Chanoch - Enoch. Would like to have lots more dialogue about this...
Chanoch
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food
As you grow older , you are better off thin than obese. Don't starve yourself, but try to make it a goal to eat healthy portions. I think Maimonides is the physician who said "Only eat when you are hungry". I heard another good one: The HAM diet - half a meal.
That said i struggle with weight/food. Eating at night is such a diet killer! And yes i exercise. Any diet success stories out there?
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Thank you... Great It got to me. I've received the confirmation of a revelation I had about not punishing body to become more spiritual. The question is how about the desires of the body that goes against the commandments? Reply
With the body In my younger years, I attempted to fast during Yom Kippur ... I'm a juvenile diabetic and have to have food. In youthful exuberance, I thought I would be okay IF I ate right before midnight. HAH! I lasted until 14:30 and passed out in shul - a fact that scared everyone! As a result, and with years of practice, have reached the point of knowing the bare minimum that will allow me to function, not harm my body, while still depriving me ... I like coffee, so don't indulge; I also avoid "pleasurable foods" - food that I enjoy eating. Yes, I know it is not completely kosher, but I also took several lectures about taking actions that harm me.