Yom Kippur: What if I can't fast?

These helpful thoughts for Yom Kippur are shared by my associate Ariella bat Ariyeh haCohein. We wish all my readers a meaningful fast and my you be sealed for a good, healthy and productive New Year.

To those who are fortunate to be well enough to observe the fast, my wish for you is to have a meaningful fast.

If you can't fast for Yom Kippur-I am sharing some advice that was given to me over the years.

These are not my ideas. They were penned by sages much wiser than myself.

 

Abstain from things other than food.

If your health dictates that you must eat and/or drink, you still can refrain from these other activities.

When fasting is not feasible, here are some other ways to observe Yom Kippur.

Eat precisely.

What I mean by this directive is to eat exactly what you are supposed to eat – no more and no less. If you’re supposed to eat five vegetables, eat five vegetables. If you’re supposed to leave refined sugar alone, leave it alone. If you’re supposed to eat three balanced meals, don’t do just one or two. Following your doctor’s orders exactly is a discipline, too.

Abstain from things other than food.

Traditionally, we refrain from five things during the 24 hours of Yom Kippur: eating and drinking; engaging in sexual relations; anointing ourselves with cream, oils, and other products for pleasure; bathing and shaving; and wearing leather. If your health dictates that you must eat and/or drink, you still can refrain from these other activities.

Attend services.

The Yom Kippur services are some of the most moving of the entire year. From Kol Nidrei in the evening to N'ilah, the day’s closing service the following evening, the services carry us on an arc of spirituality and emotion that must be fully experienced to be understood.

Use the day for serious reflection.

The true purpose of Yom Kippur is to examine our lives, individually and communally, and to seek out ways to be better Jews and better human beings. You can do this whether you fast or not.

Use the day for prayer.

  גְּמַר חֲתִימָה טוֹבָה

Good final sealing!

 

Shana Tovah!

 

 

 Wishing all my readers and followers a Happy 5784! May have a meaningful fast this Yom Kippur. May you be inscribed and sealed for Health, Happiness and Prosperity!

 

New post will be coming soon! Thank you for reading.

Making a Fresh Start

The High Holy Days can be a challenging time for everyone. It is a time of intense introspection and "self-adjustment." When we add in the tension that comes with living through a pandemic, we can easily become totally overwhelmed emotionally and spiritually, Here are a few suggestions to help us all benefit the most from this sacred time.

Focus on being better, not on how "bad" you've been!

When we make our way through the penitential prayers that are so important to our liturgy, it can be tempting to focus on the negative. The list of sins enumerated is huge! None of us is perfect. We all have faults and failings that we need to work on, but it is important to realize that our focus should be on how we can improve. Ask yourself, "What practical things can I do to become the person God wants me to be?" Then follow through on those ideas.

 Write your own Avinu, Malkeinu.

 Put down on paper what you want from God this High Holidays. Here are a few suggestion to help get you started: Avinu, Malkeinu, keep me safe and well through this pandemic. Avinu, Malkeinu, help us to survive financially. Conclude you list with the traditional words: Avinu, Malkeinu, have mercy on us and answer us. Make these High Holidays very personal. Get reacquainted with God!

Take a Walk.

 I'm not kidding. Go outside. Walk around your neighborhood. Pay special attention to nature: sky, the breeze,sun or rain, whatever is around you at the time. Realize that God made this world. God is there with you. Spend alone time realizing that you are never really alone. Whatever the challenges you are facing, God is there to guide and to help.

 In this strange and frightening time, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur can be days of reassurance and spiritual refreshment. We can become new people, stronger, happier and more secure than before. I wish for you and those you love Shanah Tovah!

 

 Related links:

 "How Will I Celebrate Rosh Hashanah Alone?"

How to Celebrate the High Holidays at Home 

Rosh Hashanah Guidebook 

 

Selichot: Seeking Forgiveness

What are selichot?

Selichot are special prayers of repentance that are recited on fast days and during the High Holiday season. As the High Holy Days draw near, Jews around the world gather in their synagogues to recite Selichot. In the Ashkenazic tradition, the recitation of selichot begins on Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah. Selichot are drawn from biblical and rabbinic sources and may also include special poems of hymns composed especially for the occasion. The actual prayers are usually published in small books whose contents are limited to the selichot ritual itself. They are rarely found in sidurim.

When are selichot recited?

As I mentioned above selichot are often thought of in terms of the High Holy Days. Ashkenazi Jews begin the recitation on the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah. Sephardim recite selichot during the entire month of Elul. In most communities selichot prayers continue through the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Special versions of selichot are recite on the fast days of 3 Tishrei, 10 Tevet, 17 Tammuz, and on the Fast of Esther. In some communities selichot are recited during other times. You should consult your rabbi and follow the customs of your own community.

A Time for Introspection.

While reciting selichot one should concentrate on searching his or her own heart and soul. Where have I fallen short of Divine expectations? What could I have done better? Use the inspiration of selichot to communicate with G-d, seeking repentance for past wrongs and strength to improve in the year to come. Sincere repentance will not be turned away! "A broken and contrite heart O L-rd You will not cast aside."

As you recite the prayers of selichot, may you be drawn ever closer to Hashem and prepare yourself to meet G-d on the Holy Days with a sense of awe and repentance. May you merit a favorable decree. Shanah Tovah.

Related Links:

What Are Selichot?

What Are Selichot? (Reform)

Selichot

Reflect, Recall and Repent: The Month of Elul

On the Hebrew calendar we have arrived at the month of Elul. Elul is a time for reflection and repentance as we prepare for the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Tradition teaches that this month is a special period when we prepare ourselves for the intense time of introspection and prayer that is fast approaching. There are several traditions and rituals that help us in our spiritual preparations.

Reflect: Sounding of the shofar.

Our rabbis have decreed that the shofar (ram's horn) is to be sounded after the Shacharit (morning) service every day of the month except Shabbat and the day before Rosh Hashanah. The purpose of this sounding is to awaken us from our complacency and arouse us to the need to repent. While on Rosh Hashanah the shofar is traditionally blown 100 times, during Elul it is sounded only four times each day, thus ensuring a difference between the biblical commandment to blow the horn on the Holiday and the rabbinical requirement to sound it during Elul.

Repent: Seeking forgiveness.

During this month it is proper to seek forgiveness from those whom we may have wronged during the year. We are taught that G-d will not forgive us for sins against other people if we do not first seek forgiveness from them.This may not be an easy thing to do but it is essential that we reconcile with those whom we have harmed in any way. This is the first step in spiritual healing.

Recall: Visiting the Cemetery

The tradition of visiting a cemetery may seem strange, but it is a very moving and strengthening experience. Often a service is held in the cemetery or individuals a offer personal prayers. These traditions offer us a special time to reflect on our own frailties and mortality. We recall the merit those whose lives are represented here. We experience a powerful incentive to renew our own commitment to living a righteous life and to repent of our wrongdoings.

As this very special month comes to a close, we recite the penitential prayers known as Selichot, which will be the subject of my next post.

As we continue through this season of repentance may you feel and know the Presence of G-d very near and real.

Related links:
The Month of Elul and Selichot
"The Secret of Elul"
"Leading Into the High Holidays"

"Sound the Shofar" Thoughts for the High Holidays

For me the High Holidays have always been a very intense time. This is the time of year to look at ourselves, our actions and motivations and evaluate how well we have lived and what we must do to correct our missteps. During services this Rosh Hashanah I became very intensely aware that I was doing so in the presence of G-d! Hearing the shofar blasts, I realized again that we were declaring Hashem to be the King of the Universe.

Sounding the Shofar

The sounding of the shofar awakens my mind and soul to the humbling realities of this awesome day. First that we are standing in the presence of Sovereign G-d. One of the profound themes of Rosh Hashanah is the crowning of the Divine King (malkuyot). Several years ago, I adopted the custom of wearing white during High Holy Day services, beginning on Rosh Hashanah. For me this attire symbolizes my desire to appear before the King of Kings as one seeking cleansing and purification. I am better able to focus my thoughts, intentions and prayers toward seeking atonement and a renewed sense of my own role in the mission of bringing holiness into the world.

The second great theme is that G-d remembers (zichronot). G-d remembers all our deeds. Even the little things that we have long forgotten are alive in G-d's memory. The purpose of our confession is to tell Hashem that we are aware of our own imperfections. As I prepare myself for Yom Kippur I know that I will be asking for forgiveness and atonement from One Who knows me well! But the prayers of zichronot  remind us that G-d also remembers His covenant. We are His people! It is G-d's desire to forgive us, heal us, grant us atonement. I have confidence that sincere repentance is always accepted.

The final shofar blasts (shofarot) not only declare Hashem King and awaken me to the reality of my need for atonement. They summon me to stand before G-d as the Gates of Repentance are opened. Over these next days I humbly approach the King's throne. On Yom Kippur I stand before the Divine Sovereign and confess the litany of sins that I - and we - have committed during the last year, knowing that G-d will hear my prayer and grant atonement.

"The Gates are Open"

As the Neilah service brings the Holy Days to a conclusion and the Gates of Repentance slowly close, I will realize with a new intensity that this is a time for rejoicing. There is no more fulfilling experience than to stand with my fellow Jews as the Gates close and declare aloud, "Hear O Israel, Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One." Then loudly we proclaim what before we could declare only in a whisper,  "Blessed be the Name of His glorious Kingdom forever." Seven times we shout together as one, "Hashem, He is G-d!" And one final time the shofar sounds, not to announce the closing of the Gates of Repentance, but to declare open the Gates of Fellowship. Immediately after breaking the fast, I will return home and symbolically begin erecting my sukkah. In just a few days, the King of Kings will dwell with us all in our sukkot and dance with us on Simchat Torah!

This year may the Holidays bring to you and yours a renewed sense of the Presence of G-d in your life.May you know only good things in 5774. And may you be inscribed and sealed for a good, sweet, healthy and happy New Year! Shanah Tovah!

Related links:
The Meaning of the Shofar
All About the Shofar
"The Joy and Anxiety of Teshuvah" (video)