316. The Other Side of the Story: The prohibition against eating or drinking on Yom Kippur

We have seen that when it comes to Shabbos and the various holidays, performing labor is the subject of both a positive mitzvah (to refrain from labor) and a negative mitzvah (against performing labor). When it comes to Yom Kippur, the same is true of food and drink. Mitzvah #313 is a positive one – an obligation to fast. Our current mitzvah is negative – a prohibition against eating and drinking.

As we said in Mitzvah #313, the reason for this mitzvah is that our bodily desires – notably eating and drinking, as well as the sexual urge, which is likewise prohibited – are sources of great temptation and sin. Yom Kippur is a day meant to cleanse us of sin, so we put those physical urges aside.

This mitzvah applies to both men and women in all times and places. It is discussed in tractate Yoma starting on page 73b. This mitzvah is codified in the Shulchan Aruch in Orach Chaim 611. It is #196 of the 365 negative mitzvos in the Rambam’s Sefer HaMitzvos and #152 of the 194 negative mitzvos that can be observed today in the Chofetz Chaim’s Sefer HaMitzvos HaKatzar.