EXOD1053 The most significant individual fast in the Torah is Moses's abstinence from food and drink for forty days and nights on Mount Sinai. (This verse). When Moses retells the story in Deuteronomy 9, he reports a second forty-day period of fasting. The midrash teaches that this supernatural abstinence raised him to the status of celestial, non-corporeal beings and prepared him to meet with the Holy One. Embodied readers know that a fast of several hours produces a somewhat altered state of consciousness; how much more so a fast of days and weeks! “As Moses came down from the mountain bearing the two tablets of the Pact, Moses was not aware that the skin of his face was radiant, since he had spoken with God” (Exodus 34:29). Both his body and his spirit were transformed by his fast and his encounter. While Jewish tradition focuses on communal, rather than individual fast, a full or partial fast to mark singular personal events, particularly one’s wedding and the observance of a parent’s yahrzeit, offers a unique opportunity to focus on and be attentive to one's relationship with oneself, one’s beloveds, and with the Source of all love. In addition to the fast of the firstborn that is observed primarily by traditional Jews on Erev Pesach, some may choose to refrain from eating or drinking to prepare themselves for communal service, such as serving as sh’lichei tzibur [i.e., communal prayer leaders—AJL]. And some contemporary Jews may fast as a way to atone for or distance themselves from negative behaviors or actions. It is not uncommon today to fast in preparation for medical tests or procedures. We may consider these periods of intentional abstinence as an opportunity for reflection or spiritual growth. At times of intense engagement or at times of stress, we may find ourselves forgetting or unable to eat. Recognizing the spiritual energy of such times may help us to be more intentional about naming and claiming this abstinence as intentional rather than accidental. (By Sue Levi Elwell, “TZOM: Fasting as a Religious/Spiritual Practice”)