The 10th Day of Tishrei. That’s tonight’s (and tomorrow’s) Hebrew Date, which means it will be Yom Kipur. (The Tora [the bible] says – it was evening, it was morning; one day. All days start when the sun goes down.) The end of 40 days of introspection, repentance, and preparing ourselves to be better humans and to make the world a better place- with renewed vigor.
Yom Kipur also means that we neither eat nor drink for some 25 hours. This abstinence begins before sundown tonight (we need to be in the synagogue to hear the all important prayer- Kol Nidrei- which starts at the moment of the holiday) until 45 minutes after sunset tomorrow.
Yom Kipur is also the 10th day of the 10 days of T’shuva. Too often in English, this period is translated as the 10 Days of Repentance. Of course, that is one potential translation of the phrase.
But a more appropriate choice would be a return. A return to our intimate conversations and relationship with Hashem, the Supreme Being. That return makes it possible for us to truly the see the good in everyone (yes, sometimes that is very hard); after all, we are all children of Hashem. It makes it possible for us to try that little bit harder to make this world a better place.
(Yom Kipur is also known as the “Day of Atonement”, which can also be considered the “Day of At One Ment”…)
No matter what your religion, may you find that return, that intimate conversation and relationship with the Supreme Being.
Given the state of the world today, we all could use that counsel and see our way to making the state of the world better for all of us.
G’mar Chatima Tova… May you be sealed in the book of health, happiness, and prosperity.
G’mar Chatima Tova to you also. On the 25 hours of no food or drink, does that mean water too? Your religion is so interesting.
No water, no food, no shower, no sex. Only discussions with the Supreme Being.
Roy, my heart is in a dark place right now, realizing that certain communities in Brooklyn and Rockland County, NY seem to be driving some of the spikein the NYC Metro, where I grew up and where I still have family in or near some of these areas. What happens when our mission is to repair the world and we make it worse in the name of- tradition? Culture? Of course we aren’t the only ones, but those populations are quite visible.
Alana recently posted..Compassion for Ourselves
I have tremendous problems with these folks, too. (Check Israel- the same obtains there.) They forget how we fought off a plague in Warsaw Ghetto and during the Middle Ages. Or, perhaps, like TheDonald, they prefer alternative facts.