Tisha B'Av is rapidly approaching. I have never had a very easy time with the fast days in Judaism. On the one hand, I am relatively open to fasting, don't find it to be the hardest thing in the world, nor is it all that impossible to me. On the other hand, and this is where the challenge lies, I don't typically find the reasons that I am usually given for fasting to be compelling. The combination of not eating because we are sad about the events that occurred on Tisha B'av and the idea that we need to somehow afflict our souls via our bodies is not in the least compelling to me.
For some people it works. If you can make the fact that you are fasting a natural consequence of the past events, it makes sense. You think to yourself, "I'm hungry, I wish I could eat—oh, if only we had not been kicked out of Spain, if only our temple had not been destroyed—then I'd be eating today instead of fasting!" My thought process is different. I can't make the immediate connection. It just becomes a distraction for me.
Furthermore, I don't really see how injuring my body or soul (not that fasting is injurious, but since there is the idea of afflicting, well...) is going to help anything. After all, if my body is created in the image of G-d, how is denying it food and water going to bring back the temple in Jerusalem? Wouldn't trying to damage it be counter the values of Judaism?
So, in trying to understand, I have been going back and looking at the root events that are connected to Tisha B'Av and also looking at the various examples of fasting that are discussed in early Jewish sources and see if I can find something more meaningful.
First, I noticed that there is a very strong correlation to Tisha B'Av and wicked speech (Loshon Hara, in Hebrew). The first tragedy of Tisha B'Av is not the destruction of the temple, but rather the return of the scouts sent by Moshe that discouraged the people from trying to enter ancient Israel. They slandered the land of Israel, sowed doubt among the people that G-d would fulfill g-d's promise. Similarly, the fast which begins the mourning period that culminates on Tisha B'Av is the day that Moses returned from Sinai to discover the golden calf. Why did the Israelites build the calf? They'd gotten to idle chatter and gossip and come to fear that Moses and G-d had abandoned them, so they needed a new god.
The theme repeats itself: destruction of the temple—punishment for senseless hatred and gossip among the Israelites. Expulsion from Spain—only happened because the Catholics were able to convince themselves that the Jews were a threat to the church. More Libel.
So, let's hold on to that for a moment and now look at fasting. The major fasting texts that I looked at relate to fasting to end a drought, and in the story of purim. In the case of fasting to end a drought, two things caught my attention. 1) during a major drought in an agricultural community, people are already pretty close to fasting. There isn't any food or water! Enacting a community wide fast is more than just having everyone be hungry/thirsty. It's having everyone put aside physical needs and allow their energy to focus elsewhere. 2) In the stories where droughts end because of a fast, there always seems to be some sort of direct communication with G-d that is enabled by the fast. This resonates with what I have read about and experienced during detox. You gain access to a certain clarity when you fast that is very difficult to achieve otherwise. Revelations can hit overwhelmingly.
So, Purim rather connects these issues. The whole story of purim begins with people using language to achieve selfish goals. Haman uses words to convince the King to allow him to kill the Jews. At the end, Esther saves the Jewish people by beseeching the King and asking him to intervene on her behalf. Before going to him, she fasts, (and asks all the Jews to fast with her) for 3 days. She is then able to show the King that he has been led astray. The Jews are able to defend themselves and Haman finds his downfall.
Many people, especially those that do extended fasts will find that moments of great clarity and insight come. This is an amazing opportunity to bring clarity to matters that have been obscured by lies, slander, libel and propaganda.
For those of us observing Tisha B'Av, I hope that rather than being stuck in the past we can use the day as an opportunity to think about how we and our communities have allowed ourselves to be distracted by falsehoods and the potential consequences. May we fast for clarity and understanding so that we may understand the issues that are preventing us from having the full relationship that we could enjoy with ourselves, eachother and G-d.
