Yom Kippur

Today, according to the moon cycles, is the tenth day of the seventh month.  That is the day christians generally refer to as the ‘Day of Atonement’, which in Hebrew is ‘Yom Kippur’.  Yom is translated ‘day’ and ‘kippur’ is literally translated ‘covering’.  It means covering in the sense of ‘to cover over, to expiate, to cancel’.

Leviticus 23:27 gives instruction for this day, which is translated as ‘you shall afflict your souls’, ‘you shall humble yourselves’, ‘you shall deny yourselves’ or ‘you shall fast’.  Traditionally, the Jewish custom is to fast. 

Few people question this long standing tradition, or verify if this is really what ‘humble yourselves’ is intended to mean.  What exactly is the Hebrew word used, and how is it used elsewhere in the Bible?

Leviticus 23:27 uses the Hebrew word ‘anah’, Strong’s H6031.  Interestingly enough, it’s never translated as ‘fast’ in the sense of doing without food.  Its primary meaning seems to be to look downwards, to be humble.  It’s linked with words that mean to heed, to respond, to answer, to testify of, to bear witness to. 

The Hebrew word that means to ‘fast’ or to do without food in a religious context, is ‘tsum’, H6684.  That word means to ‘cover the mouth’, to abstain from food.  The first time it appears in the Hebrew Bible is Judges 20:26.  It’s not found in the Torah!

Leviticus 23:27-32 should be read as a whole.  There is not one command to fast from food.  There is, however, a very strong command to abstain from all work.  It’s actually mentioned 4 times!  If you add in the references to Shabbat, it’s mentioned 6 times.  If you consider that ‘humble yourself’ and ‘do no work’ may mean similar things in this context…then it’s mentioned 8 times!

If you fast on this Day, you aren’t fulfilling any commandment of Torah.  Is fasting wrong then? Not at all! To abstain from food in an effort to increase one’s awareness of humility before YHVH may be quite helpful.  But to fast simply to observe a religious ritual is to miss the point.  To ‘humble yourself’ according to the actual command is the point.  To fast from religious tradition and to feast on Torah’s command is perhaps a far better use of the Day.