After a full belt-loosening lunch of cheese lasagna with all the extras, including a piece of chocolate cake with vanilla frosting, I desire to be in the Land-Of-Fasting. To abstain from water, without feeling overly dehydrated, to abstain from all foods, to feel a gnawing hunger deep down in my gut, to abstain from food and drink as a way to detox the kidneys and liver, to do a Yom Kippur Fast to get closer to God. To feel the hunger of the poor man, the man who lives from day to day without knowing where his next meal is coming from. To feel the deprivation, to concentrate on emptiness, to abstain from perfumes and lotions. To wear only white clothing, to feel the purity and goodness of the color white on my body like the costume of an ascending angel. To lift my wings into freedom, as my tummy yearns for more emptiness, to know how it is to not always get material satisfaction, instead to concentrate on spiritual wealth to fill your tummy, through an open heart and an open mind. To carry The Torah and to delve into every word without an accompanying snack. To open one's heart instead of one's mouth. To salivate in the imagination as you try to find HASHEM instead of your next meal. Looking and searching, but not for something to eat, instead for a sign from God. Fasting is good for the soul and good for one's attitude toward those-who-have-not. Knowing the plight of those-who-have-not will open your heart to give to them, and not to be selfish. Fasting cleanses, detoxes and brings one a greater understanding of societal social reform issues, and brings you closer to God as you become compassionate with others, begging for forgiveness for any wrongs you may have committed against others, and receiving a new clean break, a time to start a new year with a clean slate.
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