“Public fasts should never be declared on Thursdays in order in not cause a sudden rise in market prices.” ~ Taanit 10a
We are attentive to our life’s movements. This means that when nature seems to declare war on humanity or when a spate of bad things happen to us we can become superstitious. Even if we disparage such thoughts at other times in our life it is hard to avoid wondering if something we did is bringing all this ill will upon us.
Remember the lucky rabbit’s foot? Throwing salt over the shoulder? Saying kana hara to ward off the “evil eye”? There must be hundreds of thousands of other superstitious action people take to keep them from powers of destruction.
The Rabbis of old recognized this human propensity. So they enacted laws to assist people with their impulse to “keep the demons at bay.” One of the ideas they brought out was that if a person feels afflicted they should engage in a fast to plead with God to remove the decree they believe has befallen them.
Even though the Sages understood the value of taking action to ward away evil spirits they also enacted other counter-measures so that society would be protected. In the instance of a fast they felt it was important to not allow a public fast to come on a Thursday as that was traditionally the day when everyone went to market. A fast would have the effect of seriously harming merchants, perhaps even causing some to go hungry.
Idea: We are important to God. How we feel, what we do, what happens to us matters a great deal. Yet, society is greater than the individual. The welfare of our community should always take precedence. Our humanity will be challenged when we place our concerns above our neighbors.
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