{"id":891468,"date":"2025-09-29T13:33:31","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T10:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=891468"},"modified":"2025-09-29T13:33:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T10:33:31","slug":"how-to-have-a-meaningful-yom-kippur-when-fasting-is-off-the-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=891468","title":{"rendered":"How to Have a Meaningful Yom Kippur When Fasting Is Off the Table"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Wellness<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

How to Have a Meaningful Yom Kippur When Fasting Is Off the Table<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
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By <\/span>Hannah Jackson<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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Photo: Gosia Turczynska<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n
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On Wednesday night at sundown, Jewish people around the world will begin a daylong fast for Yom Kippur. I will not be one of them.<\/p>\n

In the years I\u2019ve been eligible to fast, I have rarely observed the Day of Atonement. In fact, I\u2019ve been discouraged from fasting. Since age eight, I have lived with chronic migraines. (As any fellow sufferer knows all too well, forgoing a healthy routine\u2014which includes eating regular meals\u2014is a fast-track to a terrible time.) While my parents have always cautioned me to avoid such an obvious trigger as fasting, it is also backed up by Jewish law: It is actually considered a mitzvah<\/em> (or good deed) to put one\u2019s health first. But even with a rabbi\u2019s blessing, sitting out the holiest day of the year can dredge up feelings of guilt and anxiety.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are really attached to fasting,\u201d says Rabbi Diane Rose, who leads the Santa Monica Jewish Humanistic Chavurah congregation. \u201cI had a congregant who was quite unwell, and he would not eat. I said to him, \u2018What are you doing? Literally the most orthodox rabbi would tell you to eat an egg right now.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

People who suffer from illnesses, like those in recovery from an eating disorder, may also find Yom Kippur (and other holidays that include fasting, like Ramadan or Lent) an especially challenging day. \u201cIt\u2019s important for someone contemplating [fasting] to really step back and decide if this is driven by the eating disorder\u2014trying to avoid food\u2014or if it\u2019s truly a way to honor the Day of Atonement,\u201d says Molly Perlman, chief medical officer for the eating disorder treatment organization Monte Nido.<\/p>\n

From both a clinical and liturgical perspective, there are plenty of other ways to observe Yom Kippur without fasting. For those who want to stick to tradition, Rabbi Rose notes that fasting is just one of the holiday\u2019s commandments, which also includes dressing humbly and forgoing perfume and leather. \u201cThe food is just one piece of it,\u201d she says. \u201cYou could still dress simply, not put on lotion, not wear perfume. In that way, you\u2019ve done the other aspects of traditional observance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Dr. Perlman and Rabbi Rose recommend interpreting the meaning of the holiday and considering how one can take action in other ways that don\u2019t involve fasting. \u201cStill take the day to be thoughtful, whether it\u2019s through prayer, intentions, or journaling,\u201d Dr. Perlman says. She suggests prompts like making goals for the upcoming year, or writing a letter to yourself to open on next year\u2019s Yom Kippur. \u201c[This] is always a nice activity for someone recovering from an eating disorder, or really other mental illnesses where there\u2019s hope for a future and they\u2019re not yet there,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Rabbi Rose looks to her work with children, who are not allowed to fast, for other examples. \u201cWhat\u2019s something that you could give up to just show that it\u2019s not a normal day for you?\u201d she asks her young congregants. \u201cDepending on your level of observance: social media, your phone, maybe you don\u2019t sleep with a pillow that night, maybe when you\u2019re at home, you sit on the floor and you don\u2019t sit on the couch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stepping outside of the bounds of traditional Judaism, Rabbi Rose suggests meditating, reading poetry, or writing one\u2019s own prayer as alternative interpretations. Dr. Perlman also finds that creating a vision board can be healing for clients\u2014especially younger ones. \u201cOne of the big key things that we help them focus on is forgiving themselves for what their eating disorder has done to their body,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Regardless of religiosity, one way to approach the holiday is to reframe atonement as restorative, rather than punitive. Rabbi Rose looks to the Jewish principle of teshuvah<\/em>, or \u201creturn,\u201d which underscores self-reflection and growth as part of repentance. \u201cCan you forgive those who haven\u2019t even asked for it, or who can\u2019t ask for it for whatever reason, to free yourself?\u201d Rabbi Rose posits. \u201cThe hardest part is forgiving yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Yom Kippur in years past, I have thrown myself into work to drown out my hunger; in other instances, I have taken pride in it because I thought it made me more righteous. But I think, deep down, I knew it would be easier than confronting the complicated feelings that arise when thinking about the holiday\u2019s true meaning. \u201cIt\u2019s a day to focus on forgiveness,\u201d Rabbi Rose says. \u201cThat\u2019s a really important aspect\u2014forgiving even when it\u2019s difficult. For Jewish tradition, to go through that process is more important than whether or not you ate.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

Source URL: http:\/\/vogue.com\/article\/meaningful-yom-kippur-without-fasting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wellness How to Have a Meaningful Yom Kippur When Fasting Is Off the Table By Hannah Jackson September 29, 2025 Photo: Gosia Turczynska On Wednesday night at sundown, Jewish people around the world will begin a daylong fast for Yom Kippur. I will not be one of them. In the years I\u2019ve been eligible to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":891469,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-891468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-vogue-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=891468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/891469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=891468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=891468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=891468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}