My Jewish blog

Tzom Gedaliah fast — I made it

For the first time in my life I fasted for Tzom Gedaliah. Before, I didn’t even know what it was. The tzom started at dawn, and as much as I promised myself to wake up before dawn, and have a small something to eat, I didn’t follow through. Not surprisingly, I woke up hungry!

At around noon, I started feeling very hungry. It didn’t help that I worked from home, where all the food that I like was at the tip of my hands. I jumped to the shower and managed to forget my hunger for half an hour. I got out to the smell of a freshly cooked meal from my Indian neighbors house. Boy, do I love Indian food, and felt that now more than ever. It was time to do something about it, I had to flee the apartment. I jumped in my car and drove around. It was 4:00 PM. and all of a sudden the destruction of the first temple, and certainly the assassination of Gedaliah were not so important to me (no offense), certainly not to deprive me of eating. I don’t think I felt that hungry in my life. Lucky me, I had a business meeting at 5:00PM and if it was interesting enough it could carry me all the way to the end of the fast.

My 5:00 PM meeting went well, and I managed to forget my hunger for an hour an a half. The fast ends at 7:30, so I had another hour to kill. The longest hour of my life!! I decided to go to the mall, where time is killed most efficiently. I had to remember to stay clear of the food court.

It was 7:30 I have been strolling around the mall for 40 min now. I knew I could eat now, but something in me just didn’t want to end the fast. I felt I could go for another day at least…
Eventually I ended the fast at 7:45 with a Chinese food on a paper plate. What a finale.