yom kippur
FOOLISH TALK. HAUGHTY DEMEANOR. SH*T,
I REALLY DO NEED TO ATONE.
It’s easy to have a love/hate relationship with Yom Kippur. The anticipation of being hungry all day is enough to cause at least a little dread in most of us. Don’t let that stop you. Yom Kippur is a chance to take an exquisite deep dive inward so you can focus on the big picture, like what kind of person you were this past year and where you can use some fixing up. The opportunity for this type of introspection is rare and beautiful and TBH, the hunger pangs are never as bad as we think they’ll be.
no more grudges
we all SERIOUSLY NEED
A RESET ONCE A YEAR.
Think of Yom Kippur as a transformational retreat, a little like a fabulous yoga get-away without the yoga. By the time Yom Kippur rolls around, you have theoretically asked for forgiveness from everyone in your life and forgiven anyone you were mad at, e.g. no more holding grudges. This leaves you with one last person to deal with… yourself. It’s powerful stuff and the reason that so many Jews who don’t observe any other Jewish holidays, except maybe Rosh Hashanah, observe Yom Kippur.
synagogue or nah?
Fasting while catching up on emails will only get you so far. At its core, Judaism is a communal religion. So even though you’re dealing with yourself and God on Yom Kippur, it’s hard to get the most out of the holiday by yourself. Here's what to expect at Synagogue.
customs and traditions
Does "not eating" count as an tradition? Yes it does. It's true, introspection, fasting, and prayer are the biggies, but don’t stop there. Here’s a list of other ideas to help make the most of your spiritual reset:
forgiveness
Many people say that between the fasting, which can help put you in kind of an altered state, in a good way, and the focus on being a better person, Yom Kippur is also when we are closest to God/Spirit/the essence of our souls. If it sounds a little new-age-ish, that’s okay – it kind of is. Forgiveness is powerful stuff.
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