We mentioned that on the last seven fasts for rain, they prayed in the public square. Why would they do this? – To show that "We prayed in private, and it did not help. Now we humiliate ourselves in public." Others say that it is to exile ourselves since an exile expiates the person's wrong deeds. What is the practical difference between the two explanations? According to the second one, we would be able to "exile" ourselves to another synagogue, but only a public place would suffice, according to the first one.
On fast days, people visited cemeteries to show that "We are considered like dead before God." Others say that it is to influence the dead so that they should pray on our behalf. What is the practical difference between these two explanations? According to the first one, any cemetery will do, but one needs to go specifically to a Jewish cemetery according to the second one.
A prototypical fast is the one people did in Nineveh, in the days of Jonah – except that they had different arguments. For example, they tied animal mothers and offspring separately and proclaimed, "If You, God, do not have mercy on us, we will not have mercy on them." They also argued, "The righteous usually yield before the wicked. You, God, are righteous, and we are wicked, so You should yield before us and pity us." But they also did good deeds: for example, if one of them stole a beam and built a palace for himself, he would now repay the money and dismantle his palace to return the stolen goods.
Art: Leverington Cemetery by William Trost Richards
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