Fasting at Home? Some Tips!

Posted on September 15, 2021

This Yom Kippur, many of us will be fasting in our homes. It can be a real challenge to be close to the kitchen while fasting!

I hope you were able to create a mikdash m’at in your home for Rosh Hashanah. If you were not, I encourage you to do so for Yom Kippur, as it will give you a special place for prayer, contemplation and atonement on this most holy of days. Our Yom Kippur fast is not meant to be easy, but this will be a different level of difficulty for many of us. I hope the ideas in the list below will help you have a meaningful fast at home this year. And if you are not fasting, may you find other tools to help you have a meaningful Yom Kippur.

May you be sealed in the Book of Life for peace, health, prosperity and blessing.

— Rabbi Rubin : )

Rabbi Rubin’s Top Ten Tips for Fasting at Home

1. Go to TBAY’s services on YouTube and Zoom, dressed as you would for shul.
2. Set your dining room table with books, not dishes.
3. Put caution tape on the fridge (enclosed!).
4. Put “CLOSED FOR YOM KIPPUR” signs on your cupboards. (Children can get in on the action by drawing pictures for the signs.)
5. Do a scavenger hunt in your home for items that you could donate to a local nonprofit.
6. Ask a family member how they are and listen intently.
7. Read the English readings in your machzor, particularly the supplementary readings from page 844 to page 860.
8. Take a walk in a park or other quiet place where you can reflect.
9. Sing or listen to music that helps you connect to the holiday, such as cantorial music.
10. Take a nap. 😊