תענית דיבור

The weeks of שובבי"ם are coming to a close this שבת. To mark the occasion, The Sephardic Community of Greater Boston (SCGB) is holding a תענית דיבור.
The word “שׁוֹבָבִים” means “rebellious” in Hebrew. It appears in Jeremiah 3:23—“ שׁוּבוּ בָּנִים שׁוֹבָבִים”, meaning, “return, o rebellious children.” The context of the verse is that the prophet encourages Israel to repent and do שובבי"ם .תשובה is also an acronym for the names of the first six weekly Torah portions of the Book of Exodus, read around this time of year: שמות, וארא, בא, בשלח, יתרו, משפטים.
According to דברי קבלה, these six weeks are an auspicious time to repent, particularly for the sins relating to the אות ברית קודש.
Beginning at 5:26 AM, the program for the day features the recitation of the entire Book of Psalms three times in the time between the morning and afternoon prayers. Food is served and is open to the public, as eating is not prohibited whatsoever.
Naturally, nobody will be quoted for their comments on the תענית דיבור—I started following this story today. However, many people do perform this “fast” and repeat it annually. Rabbi Hamaoui traditionally holds the תענית דיבור on the last Sunday of שובבי"ם.
The fast is completely voluntary; it is not mandatory according to Halacha. However, for those who can commit, a תענית דיבור is equal to 65,500 normal fasts, according to the SCGB’s weekly newsletter.
For those who cannot complete an entire day of quiet, it is very appropriate to abstain from speaking לשון הרע and otherwise using the mouth in vain. One helpful exercise to abstain from speaking illegal parley is to wait five seconds before saying anything. During that short time, one should think whether what he or she was about to utter is really worth saying—one should consider all possible ramifications of his or her statement.
The fast ends at 5:49 PM.