Hi everyone, I hope you are all well!
While searching for information on today's Day of 17th of Tammuz, I found the following article in the Jerusalem Post, which also recommended not to fast if you are positive for Covid-19 or feel symptoms thereof: https://www.jpost.com/judaism/fast-of-th...oms-634287
I was wondering how fasting during such times is generally handled within your communities, traditionally/philosophically and what you personally think about it.
My gut feeling would be that at times with a higher risk due to ongoing pandemics or other extraordinary circumstances, being at the best possible state of health would be wise. Fasting would be detrimental to the idea of preserving life at all costs. So this would mean to preemptively not fast, in order to not weaken the immune system in case of a possible infection.
Or, for example, if you live in an area of ongoing wildfires and have a risk of needing to evacuate, not to fast so that you can take the required actions if needed. And this goes for all situations of a potential threat that is not imminent, but sort of looming on the horizon, with uncertainty if you will be affected or not.
If you would follow this train of thought, where to draw the line? For example, I might not feel unwell, had no risk contacts, but might get coughed on tomorrow at the supermarket. My future me would profit from being well nourished. But you never know which circumstances might happen to you tomorrow, the risk for a very specific situation is just higher during the times of a crisis, be it a pandemic or other situation. Could you ever have the certainty that fasting is safe and not reducing - dramatically spoken - your chances of survival, how ever minuscule the amount might be?
(I'm not seeking advice on whether or not to fast personally, I am more interested in the philosophical (or pragmatical) approaches and point of views to this questions).
Looking forward to hear your thoughts!
While searching for information on today's Day of 17th of Tammuz, I found the following article in the Jerusalem Post, which also recommended not to fast if you are positive for Covid-19 or feel symptoms thereof: https://www.jpost.com/judaism/fast-of-th...oms-634287
I was wondering how fasting during such times is generally handled within your communities, traditionally/philosophically and what you personally think about it.
My gut feeling would be that at times with a higher risk due to ongoing pandemics or other extraordinary circumstances, being at the best possible state of health would be wise. Fasting would be detrimental to the idea of preserving life at all costs. So this would mean to preemptively not fast, in order to not weaken the immune system in case of a possible infection.
Or, for example, if you live in an area of ongoing wildfires and have a risk of needing to evacuate, not to fast so that you can take the required actions if needed. And this goes for all situations of a potential threat that is not imminent, but sort of looming on the horizon, with uncertainty if you will be affected or not.
If you would follow this train of thought, where to draw the line? For example, I might not feel unwell, had no risk contacts, but might get coughed on tomorrow at the supermarket. My future me would profit from being well nourished. But you never know which circumstances might happen to you tomorrow, the risk for a very specific situation is just higher during the times of a crisis, be it a pandemic or other situation. Could you ever have the certainty that fasting is safe and not reducing - dramatically spoken - your chances of survival, how ever minuscule the amount might be?
(I'm not seeking advice on whether or not to fast personally, I am more interested in the philosophical (or pragmatical) approaches and point of views to this questions).
Looking forward to hear your thoughts!