This year, as last year and at least three years before that, I’m fasting for Tisha B’Av because I consider it more of a national Jewish holiday than a religious fast like Yom Kipur, and I think it’s a shame that more secular Jews don’t participate in a day completely devoted to feeling depressed about the state of our people. (When I tried guilting Mr. B into fasting this year, he said he would “try to eat less.”)
IThe more I go along, the more I realize just how orthoprax I am: believing in the necessity of Jewish rituals to build community, without necessarily believing in the existence of a God that would enjoy my brain aneurism.
As usual, I’m skipping all the religious traditions that go with Tisha B’Av and traditional Jewish mourning rituals, such as listening to Eicha, sitting on low stools, and abstaining from work, but I am fasting (or at least trying to until I pass out head-first in a bowl of shrimp primavera,) which leads me to this list I made last year of foods I was craving at 11 am that day:
- Auntie Anne’s pretzels covered with chocolate soft serve
- Penne with tomato vodka sauce and bacon salt (why did I write this? I don’t even like bacon)
- Mango-strawberry smoothie with Oreos
- Cedar-plank salmon with a side of chocolate chips
- Falafel with a filling of olives and French fries
- Grilled cheese panini with kale chips
- Chicken shashlik the way my dad makes it
I’m off to eat all of those things before I fast. Tzom kal! And beteavon to me.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m glad you wrote this. I personally find Eicha to be much more moving than fasting, so even when I don’t fast I make a point of hearing Eicha read. Also, instead of Orthoprax you might consider the label datlaf (sometimes religious).
Thanks for letting me know about the label..interesting. Why do you find that Eicha works more for you than fasting?
I’ve tried to fast before because, as with many other rituals we perform (like lighting Shabbat candles & having Shabbat dinner, for example), I thought it would make me more connected to the Jewish people. Instead, I was more connected to anger. You see, when I don’t eat for a long time, I get super angry, cranky, nasty, and woe to any unlucky soul who dares to speak to me. So I’m in touch with that. I respect others’ beliefs and practices, but this one is not for me. (NB. I do fast on Yom Kippur.)
Good point. I find that the activity of fasting while others are fasting connects me, but not the actual fasting itself, which also makes me feel like I’m going to pass out second-to-second.
I used to feel like crap whenever I fasted, headache, nausea, etc. until about three years ago. What I do now is drink fluids like a maniac for about 2 days before the fast. I mean, like maybe a half gallon a day. Works like a charm. Maybe it’s just me, but I thought I’d pass it on.
Vicki, have you seen this?
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/20/author-as-idiot/
Gary Shteyngart turns himself into Borat.
Actually, yes, and I wrote a post about it for Jewlicious:
http://www.jewlicious.com/2010/07/gary-shteyngarts-super-sad-true-love-story/
On a Tisha B’Av related note: http://israelity.com/2010/07/19/tisha-b%e2%80%99av-with-helicopters/