In the midst of this slow Fast
Sep. 21st, 2007 11:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eumeliaSo I'm now fasting, no food or water for 25 (or is it 26) hours is how it goes for this Nice Jewish Girl.
I think it's the only time in the Jewish Calendar where I actually do the "Jewish" thing.
Yom Kippur is a spacial day, not because it's a the Holiest of all "holy"days, which it is, but because it's the time of year, as it's been culturally cultivated in Israel, as a quiet day. Truly quiet. There isn't any mainstream radio, nor mainstream television, everything is shut down, and the streets are empty, no cars, no buses, no traffic. Nothing the the click-click-click of bicycles zooming down the empty streets as children make the most of the free roads that come sun-set will be filled with people coming home from Schul and dying for that cup of coffee they've been craving ever since they've stopped ingesting sustenance.
For me, it's a day of contemplation, meditation, soft music, poetry, family, lounging, walking, talking little, waiting, watching, listening, thinking about the meaning of food and water and thinking about my life in general.
The whole Atonement thing is old for me, it doesn't fit into the way I view my life; I try to take responsibility for my transgressions against people at the time that it happened or at least as near as possible. I don't think people deserve a clean-slate every year, or the impression of a clean-slate. We have to take responsibility for what we do and remember them. Though the Day of Atonement is meant as a time between GD and humankind, most take it to mean a time to wash away the "sins" of the past year.
Frankly, if a person needs a special day in order to try and make better about the things that may or may not have hurt another person, then there are serious issues there, is all I'm saying.
Last year I was depressed. Very. I wasn't aware of this, but looking back I can see that I was still very much trying to ignore the repercussions of the War. No easy. I had decided to try and live more ethically and became a vegetarian, I don't feel as though I'm punishing myself, which is how i felt last year, I'm able to recongnise this now.
I also thought I should try and become a little more religious when it came to Judaism, but quite quickly realised that my spirituality isn't to be found anywhere where I must bow down to anyone, corporal or otherwise. GD in this kind of setting is irrelevant, because my spirituality comes to fulfill me and GD, whether this entity exists or not, has no bearing on my spirit.
And so once a year I wear white, walk with my family to Schul, sing Kol Nidrei, the beautiful dirge which cleanses us of the years nastiness, sing the rest of the prayers with all the rest of the congregation and then walk home and admire the peace (crazy cycling kids and all), the half moon, the beginning of autumn and admire the fact that I'm really lucky to be a alive and feel it so much more acutely because I'm denying my physical needs for one day.
A holy day.
Double that.
It fell on Shabbat.
And now I part you with the words of one of my favourite poets/singer-songwriters:
Who By Fire by Leonard Cohen
And who by fire, who by water,
Who in the sunshine, who in the night time,
Who by high ordeal, who by common trial,
Who in your merry merry month of may,
Who by very slow decay,
And who shall I say is calling?
And who in her lonely slip, who by barbiturate,
Who in these realms of love, who by something blunt,
And who by avalanche, who by powder,
Who for his greed, who for his hunger,
And who shall I say is calling?
And who by brave assent, who by accident,
Who in solitude, who in this mirror,
Who by his ladys command, who by his own hand,
Who in mortal chains, who in power,
And who shall I say is calling?
In addition, the genocide in Darfur must be stopped.
וכמו כן, צריך לעצור את רצח העם בדרפור.
I think it's the only time in the Jewish Calendar where I actually do the "Jewish" thing.
Yom Kippur is a spacial day, not because it's a the Holiest of all "holy"days, which it is, but because it's the time of year, as it's been culturally cultivated in Israel, as a quiet day. Truly quiet. There isn't any mainstream radio, nor mainstream television, everything is shut down, and the streets are empty, no cars, no buses, no traffic. Nothing the the click-click-click of bicycles zooming down the empty streets as children make the most of the free roads that come sun-set will be filled with people coming home from Schul and dying for that cup of coffee they've been craving ever since they've stopped ingesting sustenance.
For me, it's a day of contemplation, meditation, soft music, poetry, family, lounging, walking, talking little, waiting, watching, listening, thinking about the meaning of food and water and thinking about my life in general.
The whole Atonement thing is old for me, it doesn't fit into the way I view my life; I try to take responsibility for my transgressions against people at the time that it happened or at least as near as possible. I don't think people deserve a clean-slate every year, or the impression of a clean-slate. We have to take responsibility for what we do and remember them. Though the Day of Atonement is meant as a time between GD and humankind, most take it to mean a time to wash away the "sins" of the past year.
Frankly, if a person needs a special day in order to try and make better about the things that may or may not have hurt another person, then there are serious issues there, is all I'm saying.
Last year I was depressed. Very. I wasn't aware of this, but looking back I can see that I was still very much trying to ignore the repercussions of the War. No easy. I had decided to try and live more ethically and became a vegetarian, I don't feel as though I'm punishing myself, which is how i felt last year, I'm able to recongnise this now.
I also thought I should try and become a little more religious when it came to Judaism, but quite quickly realised that my spirituality isn't to be found anywhere where I must bow down to anyone, corporal or otherwise. GD in this kind of setting is irrelevant, because my spirituality comes to fulfill me and GD, whether this entity exists or not, has no bearing on my spirit.
And so once a year I wear white, walk with my family to Schul, sing Kol Nidrei, the beautiful dirge which cleanses us of the years nastiness, sing the rest of the prayers with all the rest of the congregation and then walk home and admire the peace (crazy cycling kids and all), the half moon, the beginning of autumn and admire the fact that I'm really lucky to be a alive and feel it so much more acutely because I'm denying my physical needs for one day.
A holy day.
Double that.
It fell on Shabbat.
And now I part you with the words of one of my favourite poets/singer-songwriters:
Who By Fire by Leonard Cohen
And who by fire, who by water,
Who in the sunshine, who in the night time,
Who by high ordeal, who by common trial,
Who in your merry merry month of may,
Who by very slow decay,
And who shall I say is calling?
And who in her lonely slip, who by barbiturate,
Who in these realms of love, who by something blunt,
And who by avalanche, who by powder,
Who for his greed, who for his hunger,
And who shall I say is calling?
And who by brave assent, who by accident,
Who in solitude, who in this mirror,
Who by his ladys command, who by his own hand,
Who in mortal chains, who in power,
And who shall I say is calling?
In addition, the genocide in Darfur must be stopped.
וכמו כן, צריך לעצור את רצח העם בדרפור.
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no subject
Date: 2007-09-21 11:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-22 08:48 am (UTC)And blessings :)
no subject
Date: 2007-09-22 11:13 pm (UTC)Thank You
Date: 2007-09-22 11:29 pm (UTC)It wasn't that well written.