Yom Kippur Sermon 2009

I have an Israeli friend and like most Israelis who are not ultra-orthodox, he is almost completely secular.  His family gather for big meals when they have a day off work for the festivals but the idea of attending Synagogue or observing Shabbat is completely alien to her.  He is Israeli before she is Jewish.

He once told me about a time when he had spent the summer in England and had picked apples with a group of other young travellers on a farm down in Kent.  One night, their caravans were raided by the Immigration police and those without work permits were put into prison cells for a couple of nights before being sent back to their own countries.

When I heard this, I was fascinated to hear what it must be like in an English prison.  I wanted to know everything!  How big was the cell?  What were the beds like?  Were there bars on the windows?  And finally, the most important question of all: What is British prison food like?

“Oh,” he said casually, “I don’t really know. It was Yom Kippur!”

I was amazed; firstly that he was put into prison on Yom Kippur; but then that he was actually fasting.  I assumed that maybe the extreme circumstances had made him decide to fast.  They do say that people turn to God in times of need.

But apparently not.  He went on to tell me that he fasts every year.  He might stay home and read a good book or meet up with friends; he may even continue to pick apples in a foreign land; but every year on Yom Kippur, wherever he is, whatever he is doing, he fasts.

What is it about Yom Kippur that draws in so many otherwise secular Jews?  Why, of all things, do people choose to fast one day a year when they are not inclined to adopt any other Jewish practices?  What is so powerful about fasting?  And finally, what is the point of fasting?

During the opening meditation, we heard a number of reasons why one might fast on Yom Kippur.  The primary reason and the starting point of this custom, of course, is that it is prescribed in Torah:

“It shall be a sacred occasion for you.  You shall practice self-denial.” 

(Levitivus 23:27)

Of course, as Liberal Jews, a single verse of Torah is unlikely to convince us.  We want to understand why such an observance might enhance our spiritual life and/or increase our ability to be a better human being.

The meditations went on to offer a number of different levels on which to understand the purpose of fasting.  Denying ourselves and experiencing discomfort can be one way of being repentant.  We are acknowledging our faults and effectively punishing ourselves for them as we ask for forgiveness.

Giving up food also helps us to think of others at this time of year, especially those less fortunate than ourselves and to experience just a little of the suffering that is part of their everyday lives.  It is both humbling and educational to be reminded just how lucky we are.

Finally fasting is a way of focussing the mind and body.  It is an act of self-discipline.  Much of the time our physical needs control when and how we run our days.  We feed them, so to speak, on demand.  But on Yom Kippur, our spiritual needs take top priority.  We will not break our state of prayer and contemplation today for anything.

These explanations are all very well but does it really work?  Are we really in a higher spiritual state when we don’t eat?  Or are we just miserably thinking about food all day and a little bit light headed?  Is there not a more effective way to feel repentant, fortunate and focussed without risking a migraine?

In the introduction to one of his cookery books, Lionel Blue writes the following passage about the Jewish year…

“And the changes in the liturgical year are marked out for the Jew by smell and taste, by the aroma of the kitchen.  Through the most basic sense, he feels the changing moods of the spirit.  Theologies alter and beliefs may die, but smells always remain in his memory, calling him back to his own childhood and to the childhood of his people.  Whatever prayers he may forget, the gastronomic cycle always remains.  Passover is the bread of poverty, with tears of salt water and the horseradish of bitterness.  Ruth is cream and cheesecake, and the New Year is the sweetness of apples and honey.  Esther comes with poppy seed, and the Maccabees with donuts.  The delightful litany only halts once or twice to mark the destruction of the past, or days which commemorate the sins of the present.  On these tragic and sad days there is a total fast, and the kitchen, the heart and soul of the Jewish home, misses a beat, and darkness covers this little world.”

Lionel Blue

Perhaps this explains why, despite it’s lack of obvious appeal, many unobservant Jews still choose to fast on Yom Kippur.  If it is quintessentially Jewish to celebrate with food; if food is the one feature of each festival that everybody remembers and relates to; if latkes, hamentashen and matzo are part of our cultural identity; if Jews do it best when they do it with food; then it makes perfect sense that our most effective form of penitence should be fasting.  And it makes sense that our unobservant but culturally Jewish Israeli would choose to opt into the fast of Yom Kippur.

Now, I could end this talk here.  We have asked ourselves what is the point of fasting?  Why do we all do it?  And we have found at least four good reasons.  That seems a pretty good outcome.  But that would be a mistake!  Because we do not all do it.

Young people, old people, pregnant women, diabetics and anyone who is ill and for whom fasting would be a danger, are all exempt from the fast under Jewish law.  There are Jews that choose not to fast because they find it to be an outdated and somewhat draconian custom.  There are others still that believe it contravenes modern medical concerns; for a perfectly well person to fast and put their good health at risk.

Perhaps the best way to understand the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law is to look at what one does or could do on Yom Kippur if one is not fasting for any reason.  Remember that the goals of fasting are self-denial, self-reflection, and self-control.  Fasting adds another sensory level to this process; that of taste – the sense that is closest to the Jew’s heart.

It is all to tempting to say, “Well, if I can’t fast or choose not to fast for some reason, I might as well just eat” and to go ahead and eat on Yom Kippur without thinking about it.  For our children too, who of course do not fast, the mealtimes of Yom Kippur can easily be normal mealtimes with normal food.

But if we are trying to capture the spirit of the law, there are numerous ways we can do so without necessarily fasting.  I personally have problems with insulin and glucose levels so there have been years when I have been unable to fast.  On some of those occasions, when it has been safe to do so, I have decided to eat one hard boiled egg at each regular mealtime.  Trust me, eating a plain boiled egg on an empty stomach is not fun and this practice certainly retained for me the spirit of the Yom Kippur fast.

I know families with children that eat filling but plain meals only on Yom Kippur.  Plain pasta, simple vegetables, plain bread without butter; and definitely no sweets, snacks or treats!  In this way, those children too can enter into the spirit of the fast while eating balanced and adequate meals.

So my challenge to all of us really is to think.  If we really want to gain from Yom Kippur as a day of repentance and atonement, then our actions must be carried out with intention and awareness whether we fast or not.

Fasting needs to add to our spiritual journey not detract from it.  If it makes us ill or prevents us from concentrating on the prayers of the day, it is senseless.  Please only fast if your body will allow you to use that self-denial as a means for contemplation.

On the other hand, failing to give any thought to food on Yom Kippur does a great disservice to a tradition that dates back many centuries and creates a unique space in the Jewish calendar.  Please think carefully about the food you do eat in the next 25 hours and the food you give to your children.

Rather than wishing everybody a Tzom Kal – an easy fast – I wish you all a meaningful and powerful multi-sensory Yom Kippur experience.