GEN237 (Continued from [[NUM44]] Numbers 6:11 guilt COHON 161-2). R. Jose teaches that “An individual is not allowed to afflict himself by fasting, for he might become dependent upon the public [by reason of incapacity for work] and find no mercy on their part.” The biblical grounds for his opinion is found in [this verse] "'And man became a living soul’; the Torah means to say, keep alive the soul which God gave you.” Taanit 22b, Tosafot Taanit 2:12  Fasting on the Sabbath was condemned as sinful. A fast day other than Yom Kippur which occurs on the Sabbath is postponed to Sunday.  The leaders of Hasidism fought excessive asceticism as a species of melancholy. The discipline which Judaism recommends must enhance and enrich life. Anything that blights life and its joys possesses no religious value.  COHON 162