The Ninth of Av: Fasting and Self-flagellation

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Both Christianity and Islam have long and controversial traditions of penance that involve flogging oneself with whips or scourges that inflict pain.

Jeremy Rosen

The doctrine of mortification till the blood flows was and, in some quarters, still is, seen as an important form of penance. The ritual goes back to Egyptian and Greco-Roman cults. In Christianity its origins lie in the teaching of the apostle Paul who saw it as an imitation of the fate of Jesus, as well as atonement for sins (1 Corinthians 9:27).

In the 11th century the Benedictine monk Peter Damian encouraged those who wanted to be good Christians, to follow the story that Jesus was whipped on the way to the cross. Mortification of the flesh and asceticism became an important feature of much of Christianity in contrast to the indulgence and wealth of many of the clergy and the Vatican. In many monasteries and convents, self-flagellation was imposed as a form of penance for disobedient clergy and laity.

In the 13th century, a group of Catholics, known as flagellants, took this practice to extremes and paraded publicly as a way of combatting plagues by cleansing one’s sins. They were condemned by the Catholic Church as a cult. In 1349 Pope Clement 6th officially banned them. But the practice continued particularly amongst monastic communities. In recent centuries it has not played an important part in mainstream Christianity.

In Islam, on the other hand, particularly in the Shia denomination, flagellation remains a very significant part of religious life. The Shia counterpart to a Christian flagellant is a matamdar. The ritual is meant to reaffirm one’s faith. Many Shia communities march every year on the Day of Ashura to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussein. During these parades, devotees draw blood, whipping and slashing themselves with blades and chains called zanjerzani.

Thankfully there is no equivalent of this in Judaism. Mortification of the flesh goes against the spirit and law of Judaism. On the contrary, we are not allowed to injure ourselves or deface our bodies intentionally. Although some want to suggest that the custom of beating one’s breast on Yom Kipur and other occasions when we pray for forgiveness has its origin in such practices.

There have been Jewish ascetics during the times of the Greek Stoics. Amongst the Dead Sea sects there were ascetics . And some Kabbalists were influenced by medieval Christian and Muslim practices. At the height of the Mussar movement amongst Lithuanian Jews, self-denial and a degree of asceticism had its place in contrast to the joyful worship of Hassidism. But scourging one’s body for the sake of religion was anathema. Judaism encourages us to take care of our bodies, avoid self-harm and delight in the physical pleasures of life afforded to us. Joy is mentioned far more times in the Torah than pain or fasting.

My father liked to tell this joke to emphasize the pointlessness of asceticism.

A young man came to his Rebbe seeking rabbinical ordination. The Rebbe asked him what his spiritual qualities were in addition to his knowledge of the laws. The young man replied that he practised self-denial. He said every morning he bathed in freezing water. He would roll over naked in the snow and lash himself with whips to drive away the evil inclination. The Rebbe thought for a moment and then called the young man over to the window. “ Look outside” he said, “ and tell me what you see.” “I just see a horse in the field” the young man replied.” The Rebbe turned to him and said “ Yes, that horse drinks icy water, rolls over in the snow and gets whipped regularly. Are you any better qualified than he is to give religious guidance?”

Yet there is another side to Judaism. Yom Kippur is the only time when self-denial is mentioned in the Torah, although fasting is not spelled out. In ancient Israel praying for rain became an important ritual in an agricultural society. Fasting became more common to commemorate occasions of historical tragedies. To emphasize that too often we have been responsible for our failures and the disasters that have befallen us. There were many local fasts to commemorate disasters in different communities around the Jewish world. They have coalesced around the three universally accepted fasts commemorating stages in the destruction of the First and Second Temples. Culminating in the fast of the Ninth of Av, Tisha B’Av, that were about to observe next week.

Of the Post-Biblical fasts, only the Ninth of Av which begins this year on the evening of August 12th lasts for 25 hours like Yom Kipur.

Ashkenazim have the so-called Three Weeks of Mourning that started on the 17th of Tammuz. Sephardim follow the Mishnaic period of either the week in which the fast falls, or the Nine Days, beginning with Rosh Hodesh Av through to the Fast itself. Which this year begins on the evening of the Twelfth of August, when we do not celebrate happy events and limit our consumption of meat and wine . Even the pleasure of learning Torah is denied except for a few painful passages.

Many communities have combined the Ninth of Av itself with other disasters and catastrophes such as the Holocaust. But a lot of Jews do not bother with these historical laws of fasting and mourning. The past 70 years of peace have dimmed our memories and deluded us into thinking the days of diaspora enmity are over.

I believe this year we should be adding two extra elements to the fast. The unspeakable barbarity of October the 7th and the following loss of life of so many beautiful, spiritual, good people forced into war. As well as the almost universal desire to deny our rights and remove us from our land and heritage.

A sad footnote. If as the rabbis say we were to blame for the catastrophe because of our internal divisions and conflicts, it seems, looking at Israel today, that we have not learned from our history.