LEV179 Yom Kippur is the preeminent Jewish fast, and the only one indicated in the Torah. Leviticus 16: 29 states, “In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall practice self-denial.” Throughout the ages, scholars, interpreters and the Jewish people have considered “self-denial” to mean abstaining from food and water, in part because of its use with the more widely used root tzadi-vav-mem in Psalm 35:13 and Isaiah 58:3-5. Both terms, which appear throughout the Tanach, refer to both communal and individual expressions of petition and penance. A communal fast has great power to both create and sustain community. Just as sharing food is an essential tool for bringing people together, a sense of shared intention in eschewing food can forge connections between people. Eating together brings individuals to a shared table, and once together, not only food, but also ideas are shared. This dynamic is enhanced and extended in a communal fast. When individuals commit themselves to a shared fast, there are three clear opportunities for connection: gathering for a shared meal to prepare for the fast, gathering for mutual support and perhaps commiseration during the course of the fast, and coming together once again to conclude or break the fast. Yom Kippur offers an excellent and the most familiar example of communal fasting. Most who fast gather with others for a meal that precedes the Kol Nidrei prayers, and many who fast find community in synagogue, where the fast is mentioned in the liturgy and is often referenced in non-liturgical comments, messages, d’rashot, or sermons. Yom Kippur also affords a unique opportunity for worshippers to stay for extended hours in synagogue and a distance themselves from socializing and from food. Finally, the break fast is an essential aspect of any fast, whether communal or individual. The fact that many synagogues hold communal break fasts, offering either small or substantial meals, or arrange for congregants to gather in one another's homes reflects the importance of ritualizing not only the beginning but also the conclusion of this major fast in the Jewish year. The Yom Kippur fast has been the most consistently observed throughout Jewish history by observant and nonobservant Jews alike, in part because it provides an opportunity for individuals to claim connection with tradition and community by engaging in a powerful yet time bound spiritual act. (By Sue Levi Elwell, "Tzom: Fasting as a Religiolus/Spiritual Practice")