בכל לבבכםThe Heart Before the Fast

bekhol levavkhemIn Gamatria ↗

The fast is only a vessel; the heart is the flame.

Joel says 'Return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping and lament' (2:12). De Vidas notes a pause in the cantillation after 'with all your heart': the heart comes before any fast or tears. A whole heart holds the four conditions of Chovot HaLevavot — regret, leaving the sin, confession, resolve. One who cannot fast but sincerely takes it on is counted as having fasted (Ta'anit 8b; Daniel 10:12). The fast itself exists to humble a heart that eating makes proud.

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