About an hour and a half ago, we broke the Yom Kippur fast. It was the first Yom Kippur I have spent in Jerusalem, and I am so glad I was here. It was like nothing else I have seen.
People started getting ready for the holiday earlier this week. Monday was the last day of school until after the holidays of Sukkot, Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah - no school until Wednesday October 10 (G-d help us). The Emek was almost empty on Tuesday, as most of the stores were closed or operating with reduced hours. That is, almost empty except for the swamp of people in the bagel shops, presumably getting food for break fast. Holy Bagel had run out of bagels by 12:15 and closed earlier than expected. Tal Bagels was open until 1 pm, and I think the entire city of Jerusalem was in there. The bagels are excellent, but I was really angry at the prices Tal Bagel charges. (We got 4 plain bagels, a small container of tuna fish, and a small container of plain cream cheese. Our total was 86 shekels - that's close to $22! Each container was over $10 - they should be ashamed of themselves for charging that. If there had been time, and if there weren't 100 people shouting out their orders at the same time, I would have returned the food. Okay, Pentheus keeps telling me I should "let it go" but it makes me so angry.)
We had a low-key family dinner of panko chicken, rice, green beans and juice. We had been to 2 or 3 stores to look for chicken on the bone, but the only chicken we could find yesterday was boneless, skinless breasts. I guess the lesson we learned is to buy everything needed for Yom Kippur more than a day early. We started eating around 4 pm because candle lighting was at 4:57.
Although we had been watching the clock to make sure we lit candles on time, we needn't have. A long siren sounds in Jerusalem to let everyone in the city know that Yom Kippur is starting. Apparently, there is a siren every Friday afternoon to mark the beginning of Shabbat, too, but I had never heard it. This siren we heard.
About 20 minutes later, we walked to Shir Chadash to hear Kol Nidre, the prayer that begins Yom Kippur. (http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday4.htm) As we walked to shul, it was amazing to see so many other people walking as well. There were absolutely no cars on the roads, and everyone was walking in the middle of the streets. It is traditional to wear white on Yom Kippur and not to wear leather shoes. (I always thought we didn't wear leather on Yom Kippur because leather was a sign of wealth, and on Yom Kippur, we strip ourselves bare of material possessions so as to ask for forgiveness in our "lowest state." I just looked it up, however, and according to Chabad.com, we don't wear leather because it is seen as a "luxury" and something comfortable. The idea is that we should afflict ourselves to demonstrate the extent to which we are remorseful about our past deeds.
When I entered the women's side of the mecheetzah at Shir Chadash, it was almost shocking how much white there was. And, the array of non-leather shoes was almost amusing - lots of Crocs and flip-flops, a few fuzzy slippers and many canvas shoes. (I, of course, didn't have anything white, but I wore a black and white dress, with my white faux Keds.) Kol Nidre hadn't begun yet, and many of the women were talking to other women, hugging them, and asking for forgiveness for any sins committed in the past year. It was touching to watch the interactions, and it's clear the community at Shir Chadash is close.
(That being said, I have remarked to Pentheus several times that I think the men at Shir Chadash are more warm and welcoming than the women are. It's not that the women aren't nice, but very few have introduced themselves to me or asked me if we were new in the congregation. The men have made more of an effort, but maybe that's because Pentheus and the boys have made some friends, and I get introduced to them via the men in my family.)
Services last night were nice. It's always amazing to me to think that Jews all around the world are doing the exact same prayers for Yom Kippur as we are. I mean, technically, all Jewish prayers on all days are the same wherever one is, but on Yom Kippur, it feels particularly poignant. One of the rabbis at Shir Chadash gave a very interesting sermon on Jonah (which we actually read on Yom Kippur afternoon). His sermon discussed the idea that many people think the story of Jonah is about recognizing one can't escape from G-d and how if one repents for his/her sins, he/she can be redeemed. The rabbi's idea was something different. He talked about the lesson from Jonah is to learn compassion for others.The Rabbi argued that if Jonah had felt compassion for the people of Nineveh, then Jonah would have been happy that the people heeded his warning and repented to G-d. Instead, though, Jonah was angry that G-d saved the city of Nineveh after its people repented. Jonah didn't learn the concept of compassion until after the tree/bush he was sitting under died after only one day of life. When the tree/bush died, Jonah was sad and asked G-d why G-d had killed it. G-d, in turn, asked Jonah why he thought G-d should have compassion on a tree/bush that only lived one day and not have compassion for the people of Nineveh who had sinned but also repented for their actions. I'm sure I am not doing the sermon justice, but I thought it was very interesting.
Services today went pretty long - 8 am-2 pm and then 3-6:30. That's a lot of hours! I wasn't there for the entire time, but Pentheus was. I arrived this morning before the Torah service, which is my favorite part. Immediately after the Torah service, there was Yizkor, the memorial service. Many Jews have the custom to leave for the Yizkor service if one has not lost a parent, but, unfortunately, I stay for Yizkor. Rabbi Pear, the main rabbi of Shir Chadash, (he was the one who asked about my Mom at the yarzheit minyan the other day) requested that everyone come back for the end of Yizkor for prayers honoring Israeli soldiers who died defending the State of Israel and honoring Jews who were killed simply for being Jews (e.g., those killed in the Holocaust, terror attacks, etc.) Rabbi Pear also gave a great sermon this morning - I just tried writing and rewriting a summary of his sermon, but I can't seem to get it right. I'll email the Rabbi and ask for a pdf.
I was home for a couple of hours this afternoon before heading back to synagogue for the Neila service (http://www.chabad.org/holidays/JewishNewYear/template_cdo/aid/5349/jewish/Closing-Services.htm), the closing service of Yom Kippur. Neila was beautiful and moving at Shir Chadash. It's amazing to me that even after fasting 23+ hours, the services were still inspiring to me. When the women were praying, some of them had their eyes closed and held their palms up, beseeching G-d for forgiveness. (The men may have been doing similar things, but I couldn't see any of them, except for the cantor leading the service.) The voices of the community singing in prayer was powerful, and there was such joy and exultation in their prayers.
Services finished around 6:15-ish and two families sponsored a break-fast at the shul. We stayed for a short while and then headed home. We ate our bagels (and extremely overpriced tuna salad and cream cheese) and cleaned up the dishes. Pentheus tried to do some work, the boys watched some "Scooby Doo" videos, and I worked on this blog entry.
Before I go off to bed, please allow me to wish those of you who are still fasting an easy fast and a good year to us all.
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