Fasting on Yom Kippur
Question:
Is fasting on Yom Kippur a minhag (custom) or a mitzva? Also, what’s the basic difference between a minhag and a mitzva? -- Danit, Central Israel
Answer:
In general, the word “minhag” refers to a custom which people began observing but which has no binding Scriptural source. In contrast, a “mitzva” is a compulsory law which was incorporated into the body of Halacha (Jewish law) in an authoritative halachic text.
Occasionally, however, a minhag is transformed into a compulsory law. For example, if someone commences a good minhag but does not declare that he is doing so “bli neder” (literally, without an oath), then - in certain cases - the minhag may be considered to be as binding as an oath.
Also, a minhag that has been observed by the Jewish people throughout the generations may sometimes be regarded as a mitzva as well. According to a rabbinic precept, “a minhag of Israel is a law.”
Nonetheless, there is a vast difference between a minhag and a mitzva.
Fasting on Yom Kippur is a mitzva – not a minhag. In fact, it is classified as one of the severest mitzvot. Not only is fasting on Yom Kippur expressly written in the Torah, but the Torah states that one who transgresses this commandment is punished with “kareit” (spiritual excision) – the harshest punishment of all.
Yom Kippur is designated as a day of atonement for our sins, and therefore, the fast is highly significant. However, the teshuva (repentance) process – which accompanies the fast – is even more important.
May we all be inscribed and sealed in the Book of Life.
(Rabbi Yaron Ben-David)
