Yom Kippur has come to an end, and what an amazing experience it was. Not only is it the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, it also fell on a Friday/Saturday which meant it was also Shabbat.
The holiday was started with a communal WUJS pot luck dinner, followed by attending a service in a park. The thing about Yom Kippur is that nobody does anything. It’s a day of rest, of repenting and forgiveness, a day for one’s self-reflection. Very few drive, the traffic lights are left flashing on amber, some people stay in bed all day to cope with the fasting, and everything is closed.
The walk to the Western Wall was amazing. Because there were few cars on the road we were able to walk the whole way there on the road! There was people scattered all across the roads, like one big Christmas street party.
Upon arriving there we were surprised to see such a small number of people praying to the wall. At around midnight we returned home. There was even more people congregated on the streets than when we left for the Wall!
My perceptions going into the fast was that it would be difficult. Despite the fact that my stomach was rumbling quite loudly. Surprisingly I wasn’t hungry at all during the 25 hours of non-consumption! I only drank a few drops of water due to dehydration.
Seemingly I felt worse once I started eating at the communal end of fast break-fast dinner. My stomach was so happy to have food in there, which I scoffed down, that all the blood rushed to it, leaving me with a slight case of dizziness, also referred to as a ‘food coma’.
The fast concluded with the viewing of Jewish themed films ‘Don’t Mess With The Zohan’ and ‘Borat’.
Lillian Altman 