Jewish community fasts ‘for deliverance’ for Israelis terrorized by Hamas

Harkening back to ancient times, the Jewish people are uniting – and fasting for deliverance for the besieged Israelis on Thursday.

Horrified by the inconceivable carnage at the hands of Hamas terrorists that claimed 1,200 Israeli lives and some 100 hostages, the Jewish community that normally connects over food is connecting over abstention.

“We have a traditional practice for moments like this one: ta’anit tzibbur [Hebrew for communal fast] – a fast that draws in the entire community to unite for deliverance for those in crisis,” Hadar Institute said on its Facebook page on Wednesday.

The Upper West Side-based Jewish educational institution, which on Wednesday spearheaded the fast, invoked the scores of Israeli hostages – “infants, toddlers, entire families, the elderly and Holocaust survivors” – noting “we have a religious and communal obligation to stand up for the victims and to cry out to God.”

Some 500 rabbis and leaders from around the world – including Canada, France, and Argentina – are on board with the Thursday fast that goes from dawn until nightfall.

Just as food is synonymous with Jewish days of celebration, fasting is synonymous with a commandment to commemorate past tragic events, serving as a reminder to improve one’s own ways.

“It is accepted practice for Jewish communities, in times of trouble and distress, to declare a public fast on a certain day or days, hoping that the power of prayer and charity, fasting and self-purification, will bring heavenly salvation,” wrote Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz in “A Guide to Jewish Prayer.”

Those looking to draw strength from one another and bolstering Jewish unity relish the initiative.

“Jews around the world are going to be fasting tomorrow. I don’t know the last time in history the Jewish community instituted a fast,” journalist and Jewish activist Daniella Greenbaum Davis wrote on X. “We are beseeching our god: please. Stop this bloodshed.”

And it’s not only Jews who feel compelled to participate. “As a Catholic, I will be joining in. I hope that’s ok!?” one user wrote on X.

“There’s a long standing tradition in Judaism of decreeing additional fast days in moments of communal crisis and need,” Hadar’s executive director and organizer of the fast, Rabbi Avi Killip, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

“In facing these attacks, which were so deliberately against Jews, it feels powerful to have an ancient Jewish ritual mode of response, and I just feel grateful to have that outlet.”

Mark Twain’s prophetic quote, “History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes,” evokes another Jewish communal fast that came together in haste.

Queen Esther tried to preempt Jewish annihilation by exhorting the Jewish people “not to eat or drink for three days, night or day,” and was ultimately successful in crushing their enemy in the ancient Persian empire, part of modern-day Iran. It’s a bitter parallel, given that it’s Iran roundly considered to be behind the despicable Hamas attack on Israel.

The fast is coalescing a sense of unity for those looking to constructively channel their grieving.

“In hours of extreme shock and helplessness, Jewish tradition turns to public fasts,” wrote NYC-based Katja Vehlow on Facebook.

“I quite like the idea of a communal day of prayer on behalf of the hostages in Gaza, especially for diaspora Jews. I invite you to dip your toes into this tradition, to grieve, and cry and gain hope as we gather our strength for what comes next.”