Today is the start of Yom Kippur. Since I assume most of the people reading this either grew up in Skokie or a place similarly teeming with Jews OR have a ton of Jewish friends so they know more about the kippur than Jesus, this fact is not news. For those of you who have escaped the tribal influence, Yom Kippur is the day of atonement, where we ask for forgiveness for our sins and ask to be written in the Book of Life for another year. We also fast (no eating, drinking, "intimacy" with a partner, showering or wearing fine clothes) to symbolically cleanse ourselves and to abstain (if we're asking for forgiveness for our sins, we should be able to, you know, not sin for a day...).
That said, in Alaska, this is not a widespread fact. There are Jews here, but not many. Going to temple tonight for the start of Yom Kippur meant I had to miss "Zombie walk" (darn!). I've also had to tell people over and over again that I 1) can't go out tonight (or won't be going out) and 2) won't be eating all day tomorrow. These two facts seem preposterous. The Jews here LOVE me (go figure). I've already been introduced to the "young men" of the temple. One of them looked just like my friend, Simon, which made me kind of sad that it wasn't Simon. I think this new character was a little confused because I had this super disappointed look on my face as I was shaking his hand. Oops!
Anyhow, three hours into fasting, I'm already thirsty so the fun has begun. When my caffeine migraine sets in tomorrow, then the REAL fun will begin. We'll see if I have any self-discipline (probably not)...
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