Jewish Fast Day – Other days to Nullify the Ego

Jewish Fast Days (Ta’aniyot) in the annual cycle, including their date, origin, and spiritual purpose—especially in the mystical and historical frameworks of the Jewish year.

I hope to turn this into a study in the near future. This is important at this time of year because, beginning on Nisan 14, we will begin the Festival of Unleavened Bread. During this time, we endeavor to nullify the ego that elevates itself against G-d.  From the 16th of Nisan, we will begin the “Counting of the Omer.” I will be uploading a systematic path towards Shavuot daily and nullifying the Eho before we reach Sinai.

Jewish Fast Days and Their Deeper Purposes

🔹 Major Fast Days (Full Day, From Dawn to Nightfall)

1. Yom Kippur – The Day of Atonement

• Date: 10 Tishrei
• Source: Biblical – Leviticus 23:26–32
• Status: One of the holiest days of the year. The only Biblically mandated fast.
• Purpose: Atonement (Kapparah) and return (Teshuvah); complete immersion of the Neshamah in Divine Oneness.
• Mystical Significance:
  • Five tefillot = Five levels of soul.
  • Day of Bittul (annihilation of ego/self).
  • Soul dresses in white, angelic garments—nullifying the physical.

2. Tisha B’Av – The Ninth of Av

• Date: 9 Av
• Source: Rabbinic, rooted in prophetic lamentations (Jeremiah, Lamentations).
• Purpose: Mourning the destruction of both Temples, exile, and collective Jewish suffering throughout history.
• Practices: No eating, drinking, bathing, anointing, or marital relations. No Torah study except sections of mourning.
• Mystical Significance:
  • Day of Shevirat haKeilim—the breaking of vessels.
  • Kabbalists see it as the deep exile of the Shechinah.
  • Moment of deepest darkness that contains the seed of Tikkun and rebirth (Mashiach is born on this day – Midrash Eichah Rabbah 1:51).

🔹 Minor Fast Days (Dawn to Nightfall)

3. Tzom Gedaliah – Fast of Gedaliah

• Date: 3 Tishrei (day after Rosh HaShanah)
• Event: Assassination of Gedaliah ben Achikam, governor of Judah under the Babylonians—ending Jewish autonomy post-Temple.
• Purpose: Mourning internal betrayal; national collapse due to sinat chinam (baseless hatred).
• Mystical Significance:
  • Reawakening conscience after Rosh HaShanah.
  • Confronting the danger of internal ego, division, and leadership collapse.

4. Asarah B’Tevet – Tenth of Tevet

• Date: 10 Tevet
• Event: Beginning of the Babylonian siege on Jerusalem (588 BCE).
• Purpose: Recognizing the first breach in spiritual defense.
• Mystical Significance:
  • Asarah B’Tevet represents the day where Divine concealment (Hester Panim) began in earnest.
  • The “first crack” in the spiritual armor of Israel.

5. Ta’anit Esther – Fast of Esther

• Date: 13 Adar (day before Purim)
• Event: Esther’s fast before going to the king; fast of the Jewish people before their deliverance.
• Purpose: Preparation for hidden redemption; aligning the inner and outer vessels before Divine reversal.
• Mystical Significance:
  • Time of Hester Panim (Hidden Face of G-d) transforming into Gilui Panim (Revealed Face).
  • Esther represents Malchut in exile—reconnecting with Keter Elyon through self-nullification.

6. Shivah Asar B’Tammuz – 17th of Tammuz

• Date: 17 Tammuz
• Event: Five tragedies, including:
  • Breach of Jerusalem’s walls (586 BCE, 70 CE)
  • Cessation of the daily Tamid offering
  • Burning of the Torah by Apostomus
• Purpose: Beginning of national mourning; spiritual breach.
• Mystical Significance:
  • Start of the “Three Weeks” (Bein haMetzarim) of spiritual constriction.
  • Corresponds to the sefirah of Netzach—disruption of Divine Flow to Malchut.

🔹 Special Fast Days (Variable)

7. Ta’anit Bechorot – Fast of the Firstborn

• Date: 14 Nisan (Erev Pesach)
• Participants: Only firstborn males.
• Purpose: Gratitude for the miracle of surviving the 10th plague in Egypt.
• Mystical Insight:
  • Firstborns represent Da’at—the channel of Divine knowing.
  • Fasting before Pesach ensures spiritual humility before receiving the bread of faith (Matzah).

8. Ta’aniyot Tzibbur – Communal Fast Days

• Declared: In times of national crisis—drought, war, plagues, etc.
• Purpose: National Teshuvah and intercession.
• Examples:
  • Fast days declared in the Talmud (Taanit 14a).
  • Modern: Fast for victims of tragedy (e.g., Holocaust Memorial Fasts).

9. Ta’anit Chalom – Dream Fast

• Date: Personal, following a disturbing dream.
• Purpose: Fast as a spiritual remedy or purification.
• Sources: Talmud Berakhot 55b.
• Mystical Insight: Dreams as portals of Nevua. Fasting clarifies the soul’s channels and removes distortion (klippot).

🔹 Other Related Observances

• The Three Weeks (17 Tammuz – 9 Av)

• Period of semi-mourning, ending in the Ninth of Av.
• Mystical Function: Spiritual exile of the Shechinah; descent into the Kelipot for eventual elevation.

• Ten Days of Teshuvah (1–10 Tishrei)

• Includes Tzom Gedaliah and culminates in Yom Kippur.
• Focus: Return to unity with Y-H-V-H, the removal of ego (bittul ha’yesh).

Summary Table