The lack of ritual makes Yom Kippur's power elusive for many. How do we make meaning from the holiest but most daunting day on the Jewish calendar? By Rahel Musleah My friend Anat dreads Yom Kippur. Fasting makes her grumpy, and by morning she already has a headache. Nor does the synagogue setting encourage atonement, meditation or self-reflection for her. As a nonobservant Jew, she says, "my relationship with God is such that I can't even begin to atone for what I do—nor do I want to. What's left are my relationships with other people, and I try to take care of those on a daily basis." Still, says Anat, the strong aura of the day, redolent of childhood and community, draws her to spend Yom Kippur in the synagogue. "If this is a holy day I'll treat it as such and stand with others around me. Every year I think about the millions of people who are doing exactly what I am doing on Yom Kippur. It doesn't matter how secular I am. This is my commitme...
I get asked a lot why I have "suddenly" come out in the last few years as very Pro-Israel and Zionist leaning. My progressive friends know I lean their way on politics in the U.S. -- but can't understand why I lean so right on Middle East issues. They figure I must have some personal agenda. But I don't. Neither was my support "sudden." My reasons are multilayered and to express myself I must digress and seem to go off topic but its the only way I can explain. I was raised by a narcissistic parent. They've been dead 10 years this next September and only a year or so after they passed did I feel safe expressing, let alone feeling my rage at them for what they had done to me. I have no intention of forgiving the unforgivable but I do feel pity for them and hope that Hashem is giving them the healing and help they need now that they're in His care. However, that upbringing made me a magnet for people with personality disorders. I didn't know ...
Eliot, I accept your apology. I won't forget your behavior and hypocrisy but I am starting to forgive because of the stand-up way you've handled everything Because you did something very few men who get caught do. YOU OWNED YOUR BEHAVIOR. You didn't deny or act like it didn't happen. You didn't project that you were targetted and harrassed. You didn't put it all out there because of your family, that's understandable - but you admitted you did something wrong and you showed a lot of class in resigning. Now, work with your wife to heal your marriage, please. And don't cover up or smear anyone involved in this investigation. You seem to be a guy who made a HUGE mistake rather than one of the pathologicals running rampant in politics (and many other places) today. FACE those you hurt, admit what you did, ask their forgiveness, make amends, reframe the relationship, realize some people will never trust you again or ever get over it, but move forward...
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