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Post by gazelle18 on Sept 20, 2023 21:54:38 GMT -5
What’s on your mind — how to make kugel? This week’s Torah reading? Life goals? Prayer? We are all engaged in weight loss/weight maintenance journeys and we are all Jewish or at least interested in Judaism. We like to eat, we like to discuss. It is our goal here to provide each other support on our journeys, to share experiences, to call on our rich cultural heritage and texts, and to help each other grow spiritually.
Some of us take weekly turns starting the thread:
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy
And for those of you who stop by to read this thread without posting — you are welcome to, but you are also welcome to chime in. Don’t be shy!
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Post by gazelle18 on Sept 20, 2023 22:13:59 GMT -5
Hi everyone,
Today’s subject: Fasting on Yom Kippur. I know that many folks, including some of you, do not fast on YK for reasons of health, and that is totally understandable. I am still healthy enough to fast, and therefore I do.
Wait, what? I mean, I’m not sure I even believe in God. I don’t keep kosher, I look for excuses to avoid shul, and frankly, one of my favorite things about being Jewish is the food aspect, not the lack of food!! So why, exactly, do I fast?
I have theories:
1. I fast in solidarity with my DH, and my entire family, and my ancestors, all of whom fast(ed) on YK.
2. I’m hedging my bets on the God -belief thing. As one writer who feels similarly ambivalent put in an essay “May the God I do not believe in forgive me for my sins.”
3. Fasting, and the sensations of hunger that come with it, are physical reminders that I am mortal, I am lucky to be alive, and that others are not nearly as fortunate as I am.
4. Food is a distraction. Without it, it is easier to focus on the meaning of the holiday.
Even if you do not fast anymore, what are your thoughts on all of this? Even if someone doesn’t fast completely, is there value in substituting one’s usual yummy fare for something basic ? What does all of this mean for you on a personal, spiritual level?
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Post by gazelle18 on Sept 20, 2023 22:30:51 GMT -5
Also:
Louise, yesterday you posted that you have come to some “clarity” on an issue which had been troubling you. This is good! (And feel free to share more if you are comfortable doing so.)
P.S. This is me, trying not to sound too obviously nosy!
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Post by hollygail on Sept 21, 2023 7:16:17 GMT -5
I'm in the category of "can't fast" because of health. There's some anomaly in my blood chemistry; in a manner of speaking, it's similar to diabetes (and in another manner of speaking, it's like the opposite). If I go too many hours without eating, there are symptoms and if I don't pay attention to the earlier ones, the symptoms just get worse until my knees buckle and I can't stand. So I eat every few hours. It's difficult (Im being polite here) to try to talk to me before I've had breakfast, since I haven't eaten for somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 hours...
And no, I don't substitute. And typically I don't think about poverty or its side effects, or about people who don't have enough to eat on a regular basis, nor about spirituality in place of eating. Yom Kippur in and of itself puts me in a place of contemplation and everything else that the holy day brings up.
Prior to the holy day, I'm involved in planning for it. Only one example: I'm in charge of rounding up people to read Torah for services, both morning and afternoon Torah readings. I'll be reading the first aliyah at afternoon services, and I found one many who doesn't chant but can read Hebrew well enough to read the other two aliyot in the afternoon that used to be chanted by two people who aren't at my congregation any longer. And don't get me started about who I'm still trying to find to read three of the morning aliyot... I still have the first, second and sixth without readers... I've asked two people who are still in the "will get back to you, Holly" stage and I've decided just not to get frantic about it. (Actually, I'm gonna email 'em both in a few minutes...)
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Post by louise on Sept 21, 2023 8:31:14 GMT -5
I spend the whole day in the synagogue and generally don't mind the fasting. I'm high by the end of the day (I think that didn't hapen last year, but still okay). I have been bingeing and am concerned that this will make the fasting harder. Usually it takes me 3 days to really feel back in the groove with food and I have 4 days between me and the fast so I know what I need to do and also feel ready to do it.
About the clarity. I say somewhat sheepishly this is still about my therapist who as you all know has been the love of my life for many years. I was telling him something the other day and I could feel his sadness over it through the phone line. I realize that what I have from him is already what I need and that relationships that can have such finely tuned connection are rare. I'm grateful for the relationship I already have.
I have just about finished all my YK responsibilites - fortunately the break fast falls to someone else. I am only reading the afternoon haftarah and the maftir aliyah in the AM and I have been doing both for many years so do not need much work. I am also leading the opening ma'ariv before Kol Nidrei but that isn't taking much brush up either - it is just weekday minyan stuff. I would like to find one more usher for the afternoon service, but I'm not stressing over that.
So the thing I need to work on most the next few days is eating clean. I am considering it part of my spiritual preparation and a perfect self nuturing opportunity.
Will be thinking of Freida YK!
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Post by peachymom1 on Sept 21, 2023 8:42:26 GMT -5
Fasting is a 100% method to bring on horrible migraines for me now, so my doctor told me to stop. But I did fast for many years, for solidarity with the community, and to be reminded of those who don't have enough to eat, or reliable sources of sustenance. During my adult life, even the worst economic times we faced were better than what I grew up with. I'm grateful. I cannot take it for granted that we have enough to eat, and contributing often to our shul's food bank is very important to me.
As for believing in God, that is a personal decision, IMO. Nobody can agree on what God even is, but nobody can deny that we are alive and breathing. I'm grateful every day for the paradox of the gift of life.
Oh, and BTW, since I didn't gt here yesterday, contemplating the meaning of life and God and community and sin and forgiveness...all of that is what makes these Days of Awe awesome for me every year. What makes it awful? Cell phones in shul...people giving their kids Cheez-Its in the row behind me on Yom Kippur (when I was fasting)...
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lee058
This space for rent
Posts: 23,289 
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Post by lee058 on Sept 21, 2023 10:57:46 GMT -5
It's still barely morning, so good morning everybody. Hope you are all well and SAFE!
Re today's topic: I can't fast on YK for medical reasons. This morning, I had fasting lab tests, and by the time I got home, I was practically in tears. Fortunately, my DS made me a tremendous breakfast, and that helped me feel a LOT better. He is such a blessing in my life.
Have a peaceful day, Lee
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