Why fast on yom kippur

What follows are the traditional rules concerning who should fast — and why. When is Yom Kippur ? Click here to find out. Females over the age of 12 and males over the age of 13 are to abstain from food or beverage for the duration of the holiday. Children under the age of nine are not allowed to fast and from nine until the age of religiously recognized maturity should gradually learn to forego eating or drinking usually by postponing breakfast for longer and longer periods of time.

If a doctor asserts that fasting could endanger your health , you need not fast. There is a famous story about a rabbi who insisted that his entire congregation eat on Yom Kippur during a cholera epidemic so that the worshippers would not lose strength or succumb to the disease.

Related Stories. Already a print subscriber? Go here to link your subscription. Need help? Visit our Help Center. Go here to connect your wallet. Fasting on Yom Kippur provides the key to our inner awakening.

When is Yom Kippur ? Click here to find out. On Yom Kippur we seek reconciliation with God and humanity. Repentance Teshuvah involves a critical self-assessment of the past year and the resolve to avoid lapses in sensitivity in the future. Teshuvah requires discipline. Our fasting on Yom Kippur demonstrates our willingness to submit to discipline. How can we atone for our excesses toward others unless we can curb appetites which depend on no one but ourselves?