Fast of the Firstborn tends to precipitate contrition in the one who fasts (see Joel, 2:12–18). This is why the Bible requires fasting (lit. self-affliction) on Yom Kippur (Jewish holiday of atonement) (see Leviticus, 23:27,29,32; Numbers, 29:7; Tractate "Yoma", 8:1; ibid. Babylonian Talmud, 81a). Because, according to the Hebrew Bible, hardship and calamitous circumstances can occur as a result of wrongdoing (see, for example, Leviticus 26:14–41), fasting is often undertaken by the community or by individuals to achieve atonement and avert catastrophe (see, for example, Esther 4:3,16; Jonah 3:7). Most of the Talmud's Tractate "Ta'anit" ("Fast[s]") is dedicated to the protocol involved in declaring
Governmental theory of atonement scope of the atonement. According to governmental theory, Christ's death applies not to individuals directly, but to the Church as a corporate entity. Individuals then partake of the atonement by being attached to the Church through faith. Under this view, therefore, people can fall out of the scope of atonement through loss of faith, a consequence which contrasts clearly with the "punishment" theory, which holds that Jesus's death served as a substitute for the sins of individuals directly (see also limited atonement). And if Christ died for specific individuals and paid the price for their sins, then it may be