Torah Study Blog

The tradition on Yom Kippur is that we fast. Today Rabbi Jaech led us on an exploration of how that tradition started.

One of the Yom Kippur readings is from Leviticus 16, which explains how to re-consecrate the Temple after it has become unclean. This includes the scapegoat ceremony where a goat is metaphorically heaped with the sins of the community and sent off into the wilderness to carry the sins away.

Starting in verse 29 we are told: “And this shall be to you a law for all time: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall practice self- denial; and you shall do no manner of work, neither the citizen nor the alien who resides among you. For on this day atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you of all your sins” (Leviticus 16:29-30).

In the Jewish calendar, the seventh month is Tishri, and the 10th day of Tishri is when we celebrate Yom Kippur. The day is considered the holiest day of the year.

The passage in Leviticus does not specifically say that we are to fast, the word it uses is “self-denial.” There are passages about fasting in the books of Samuel, Kings, Psalms, Nehemiah, and others, so it is not as if the writer was unfamiliar with the term “fasting.” But it is important that we practice this “self-denial” correctly, because Leviticus 23 tells us that, “any person who does not practice self-denial throughout that day shall be cut off from his kin; and whoever does any work throughout that day, I will cause that person to perish from among his people” (Leviticus 23:29-20).

As a reminder, Numbers 29 repeats that the tenth day of the seventh month is to be a day of “self-denial” but, again, no specific instructions.

Five times in the Torah we are told that this particular date is important, and we are supposed to “self-deny” out of respect for it. This is serious

business! But how do people know what to do if the details of “self-denial” are not specifically spelled out?

This is where the capital “R,” Rabbis come in. When we say The Rabbis, we mean the men (yes, they were all men), who sought to interpret passages in the Bible and provide their community with guidance after the Bible had been canonized, around 250 BCE, and no more text was added. The teachings of these Rabbis were collected in document called the Mishnah around 200 CE. The Mishnah is the older part of the Talmud.

Because the phrase “self-denial” occurs five times in the Bible, the Rabbis surmised that there must be five things which are not allowed on this holiday. They are: food & drink, washing oneself, applying anointment to your skin, wearing sandals, or having sex.

The Rabbis, facing reality, also spelled out some exceptions. Children were not expected to fast, but they could be slowly trained into it as they got older. Pregnant women and sick people were allowed to eat if they truly felt they needed it, but should abstain if possible. Pregnant women were also allowed to wear sandals.

Rabbinic law developed that people should not wear shoes on Yom Kippur at all. Or, to at least put pebbles in their shoes to experience some discomfort. Today you may see people abstain from wearing leather shoes, so they may show-up at their synagogue in their fairly comfortable sneakers. Rabbi Jaech pointed out to us that the idea of the prohibition was probably to make people feel uncomfortable for a day, so that they would be thankful of all they do have. It was pause to remember what is important in life and then, when the holiday ends, go out to do those important things.

These are the lessons our ancestors taught their children. We can learn from the lessons, but we can adjust for our own time and place. Rabbi Jaech wonders how each of her congregants experiences the fast of Yom Kippur. She realizes that not everyone is able to, or wants to, fast. But she hopes that everyone will pause and consider their place in the world. She wishes everyone a meaningful Yom Kippur.

I, your Torah Study blogger, was reminded of the song “By My Side” from the Stephen Schwartz song from the play Godspell, which mentions a pebble in a shoe. You can hear the song, sung during the 1973 movie of the same name here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX6dq7cNIOA And note the "Pebble Dare."

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misquotes or misunderstandings in what Rabbi Jaech taught us are the responsibility of Tara Keiter