Teaching Team
Reflections on My Fast
As I mentioned in my previous blog, I successfully weaned myself off of coffee this year, making my fast a much more enjoyable experience. I finally was able to get beyond the headaches and pains and use the fast as an opportunity to focus more on God and spiritual matters.
As Tisha b'Av approached, I felt almost a sense of excitement for the fast (strange, I know, but true). As I woke up to pray Shacharit, I immediately felt a stronger sense of kavvanah that I normally have in the morning (which, honestly, is typically next to none). After Shacharit, I read through Lamentations. I drank in the words deeply, strongly connecting with the sorrowful words of Jeremiah and his lament for the people and city of Jerusalem. I pictured the words in my mind and recalled the devastation of the young and the old.
Then I came to chapter three. Even in trials such as those, Jeremiah was still able to declare that the steadfast love of Hashem never ceases. Even though Jerusalem received exactly what she deserved, Hashem would not utterly destroy her. There was still hope, things will be better one day. This is not the end of the story.
We all go through personal trials and testings everyday. Sometimes it feels like too much to bear. We are tempted to walk away. Deny the Master. Abandon the Torah. Forget our communities, families, and friends. Defy God. At different points in my life, I have probably felt all these things. But what this fast impressed upon me was that these trials are normal. We can't avoid them. But we must rise above our external circumstances and find our joy and delight in Hashem and our salvation in Messiah Yeshua. This life isn't it people. Something much better, far more grand and wonderful is coming. And when that day comes, we will look back at every trial and hardship and realize that it was all worth it.
The fleeting hardships of this life cannot begin to compare with the glory and majesty that awaits us in eternity.
Grace and peace,
Seth Michael Dralle
10 Menachem Av 5767
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Visitor Feedback:
I am very new and just learning. Thankyou for your post. I have been a "Christian" for many years, and have read Lamintations many times but its meaning has never ment much to me until this year. Your post brings it to even more focus. Thankyou from my heart.
Alice_N | July 25, 2007 9:49 AM
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences. This was my first fast and the headache was so excruciating I honestly thought I was going to throw up. I thought it was just me and G~d wasn't honoring my fast for some reason. Is there a way to prepare to fast so you won't get the headaches? Is there a way to get rid of the headache without breaking your fast. Don't worrying about posting this, just please reply!! Thank you so much!!
Rhonda | July 25, 2007 9:43 PM
Just cut down on the coffee a week ahead of time...if you are a frequent drinker (see my previous post).
If it is just due to lack of food, try to avoid as much activity as possible and stay out of the heat. My wife got a headache and took a nap. That seemed to help her.
Seth | July 26, 2007 10:21 AM
Here are some really good tips for fast days.
http://www.chabad.org/theJewishWoman/article.asp?AID=431178
Thess tips have helped out our family this year BIG time!!! :-)
***Seth: Thanks, that is a really helpful article!***
Cocoa | July 26, 2007 2:55 PM