Yom Kippur
Oct. 6th, 2003 06:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jbsegalI seem to have ended up fasting for Yom Kippur this year.
I'm not quite sure if this is the 1st time in /many/ years, but I think so.
I'm not entirely certain why I'm doing this. Kimberly asked me that last night and I couldn't really answer. She asked if it brings me closer to God and, as I pretty much don't believe in God, that's not really it.
The best I've been able to come up with is that it's serving as the aide to contemplation that it's meant to be...that in not eating, I've made more time to think about things - and in particular, about atonement and repentance.
I've made, and will continue to make, mistakes. I've wronged people and I've been an asshole. I will try to do better about it. I will quite likely fail in this and end up this time next year with more to think about. Judaism For Dummies (Yes, we've got a copy and I've been looking through it.) notes a couple of things that I've found memorable: That really, you're supposed to be dealing with your 'sins' all the time...but if there wasn't a deadline, really, would anyone ever get around to it? and that the hebrew for 'Sin' is etymologically derived from a word meaning 'to miss the mark' - IE: to actually fuck up (implied: while trying not to) - meaning that you've made a mistake, as opposed to the christian 'original sin' concept that takes no work.
Really, though I should have posted this a few days ago, let me take this opportunity to ask forgiveness of all I've wronged this year and in all past years. If you'd like to tell me exactly what I've done that you're forgiving me for, that's fine, too.
21 minutes til Break-Fast. Yay.
I'm not quite sure if this is the 1st time in /many/ years, but I think so.
I'm not entirely certain why I'm doing this. Kimberly asked me that last night and I couldn't really answer. She asked if it brings me closer to God and, as I pretty much don't believe in God, that's not really it.
The best I've been able to come up with is that it's serving as the aide to contemplation that it's meant to be...that in not eating, I've made more time to think about things - and in particular, about atonement and repentance.
I've made, and will continue to make, mistakes. I've wronged people and I've been an asshole. I will try to do better about it. I will quite likely fail in this and end up this time next year with more to think about. Judaism For Dummies (Yes, we've got a copy and I've been looking through it.) notes a couple of things that I've found memorable: That really, you're supposed to be dealing with your 'sins' all the time...but if there wasn't a deadline, really, would anyone ever get around to it? and that the hebrew for 'Sin' is etymologically derived from a word meaning 'to miss the mark' - IE: to actually fuck up (implied: while trying not to) - meaning that you've made a mistake, as opposed to the christian 'original sin' concept that takes no work.
Really, though I should have posted this a few days ago, let me take this opportunity to ask forgiveness of all I've wronged this year and in all past years. If you'd like to tell me exactly what I've done that you're forgiving me for, that's fine, too.
21 minutes til Break-Fast. Yay.
