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
Atonement of atonement plays an important role with respect to criminal justice, where it is considered one of the primary goals of criminal rehabilitation. Philosopher Linda Radzik has proposed that there should be an "ethics of atonement", and that atonement is an underrepresented area of study in philosophy and a topic given absurd treatment in the arts. In religion, atonement is "a spiritual concept which has been studied since time immemorial in Biblical and Kabbalistic texts", while "[s]tories of atonement are ubiquitous in religious discourse and the language of atonement fundamentally reveals a redemptive turn". Concepts in religion include: Concepts of