Yom Kippur is over, and the Sukkos festival is a few short days (5, to be exact) ahead. I wish my married kids would let me know which days of the holiday they plan to come for. (One has, two haven’t.). I usually cook fancier for the festivals than for Shabbas (ie., I make desert…), and I like to prepare what I know the arriving guests like. So it would help to know in advance.
Guess its time to make some phone calls…..anyway, I have to call my daughters –in-law and asked how they fasted.
Meanwhile, everyone I talked to had an easy fast. Perhaps because it was cooler than usual.
Meantime, it is already 4 hours since the end of the fast. Everyone has eaten; I have to go wash the dishes. Outside I hear a few hammer blows as the younger fathers of the neighborhood start working on their Sukkoth-booths. The air has a crisp fall edge to it. The skies are clear except for a few small clouds. Happy sounds come from nearby homes: everyone is glad and relieved that the fast is finished; we are looking ahead to Sukkos.
This year the prayers for substance had a stronger ring. The illusion that “I am safe, I have money in the bank” has been seen to be an effervescent dream-wish. There never is a guarantee of prosperity; this year it was easier to feel it. There is so much we need to pray for, and like a beggar with so few good deeds, and not nearly enough “hard cash” of true repentance, I came knocking at G-d’s door with a whole list of requests. But the essence of the Jew, and perhaps much of mankind, is to believe in the kindness and mercy of the Creator. So amazingly, after the fast, everyone is positive, confident, and hopeful that he was sealed for a “good year”.
1 comment:
I also had a easy fast this year, I dunno what was up with it, if I always found it easy, or it was just this year. But it seemed like a great moving Yom Kippur that went by pretty great.
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