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...
IT'S BAAAACK! Welcome to the May 6, 2007 edition of Haveil Havalim. All week I had a lot of ideas about how I wanted to organize this carnival - but of course, I then realized that current events were going to dictate it, not me. Therefore I gathered some posts about the Aftermath of the Winograd Report together. I am sure future hosts will have a lot more to say about it as events continue to unfold in Israel. One thing I did want to take an opportunity to say here was to thank everyone at JBlogs , those I've met, those I'm getting to know and those getting to know me - for being so welcoming to me. Despite blogging for almost 4 years now I was very hesitant to join a blogging "community" for a long time. Over the summer I joined the Progressive Faith Bloggers and went to their BlogCon. It was very motivating and something I would love to see the JBlogosphere get together on. But still I dragged my feet, preferring to keep my little personal blog to mysel...
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 ...
Comments