Question: What is the difference between a habit and a ritual?
Answer: About a hundred years.
Many things like fasting and feasting have become ritualized parts of religious practice. In Judaism we fast on Yom Kippur we feast on Rosh Hashanah. We wear clothes that suit particular holidays because they are part of the ritual. And they are part of the ritual because they have been followed by many people for hundreds of years. This makes no sense but I am willing to follow along. Rituals mean that the decisions have been made, we don’t have to think about it anymore. Life is good.