A Day of Atonement

Day 262 – it is the holiest day in the Jewish world. Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. A day when every person suppose to reflect on the year that passed, ask forgiveness for all the wrong doing we committed, knowingly and un-knowingly and to try to re-connect with our creator and to try to be a little better in the coming year. We suppose to pray and fast, to avoid any pleasures and to totally be in that realm of the spiritual world and not the material world. I am not a religious woman but being here in my country during this holiday is very special. For one day it feels like the country is holding its breath. There are no cars on the streets; no TV or radio broadcastings, all the stores and restaurants and theaters are close. Nothing works, but emergency services and of course security services.

When you think about it, a day of atonement is something very wise. It makes us realize that as much as we want to live good and honest life, we fail in so many ways. We don’t always keep only to the truth, we gossip, we don’t always give the best advise (especially if we have an interest to the contrary) we make promises we don’t keep, we want things other have… it’s all very human and yet we want to live to higher standards. And so, once a year whether we are rich or poor, important or not we all stand on the same ground before a higher authority and have to reflect on what kind of a person we were last year and how can we do a little better in the year to come. How much, as important and rich as we are, we are still weak and human and we still make mistakes, we still have a place to improve.

A wise sage once said – an un-examined life is not worth living. So here we are, doing just that. to make our lives worthy.

And so today I decided to go to the synagogue for the opening prayer of the holiday and I decided to fast. It is not really between me and God as he appears in the prayer book. It is a very personal god, who feels me every day of my life with light and creativity, it is the higher force in my life and today just gives me the opportunity to thank him once again and to do my part at being humble and realize my short comings as a human being, and to renew my commitment to be a little better, every day of my life. 

I am thankful for this opportunity to reflect and examine my life. I am thankful for every moment I did not fail and acted as an enlighten person and I ask forgiveness for all my short comings. I am thankful that every day I have the opportunity to act differently and improve, ever so little, but improve. I am thankful for the presence of God in my life. I am thankful for all the good in my life that could not be there without forces so much more powerful than my own.