I love October in New York City!! working at a public school, we got two days off last week for Rosh Hashanah, and we get off tomorrow for Yom Kippur...
Its just from sundown today until sundown tmrw night....24 hrs...give or take depending on how religious you are, bout to head to temple go rockets and astros!
I don't do these things myself, but it's my understanding that... Rosh Hashanah is fun. Yom Kippur is not fun. (but it's good for you)
BLESS YOU. Gesundheit. Salud! Now, what is Yom Kippur (in your own words) and what can and can't you do? I always call my English teacher (who is Jewish) and wish him a great holy day, but to heck (oops) if I know what it is (by the way, this is the first time I do 3, now 4, parentheses in one sentence).
It's not meant to be fun. Please...if you're Jewish...correct me if I'm wrong...but it's the day where you seek God's forgiveness for your sins from the year. A day of atonement. Back in the sacrificial system, the priest would prepare for months for this day. He had to be as pure as he could be...they wouldn't let him sleep the night before for fear he might have an impure dream, for example. Jews would come from all over the world to pray at the walls of the temple. They would get a goat and lead it into the temple. The priest would pray that the sins of the community would fall on the goat...and not on them. Literally, the scapegoat. They would place a band around its head that was white..and they believed it would turn white after the sins were placed on the goat's head and the goat was walked out of the temple. The goat...carrying the sins of the Jewish people...was led out of the temple and away from the community by a Gentile. He would be usually be thrown over a cliff or something of that nature...because the last thing you wanted was that goat coming back into town...wouldn't be a good sign. This went on until the temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. I do not know how the event is observed today, however. What happens at synagogue on this day? What does the ceremony look like? What are the customs???
i'm referring to a ceremony that ended in 70 A.D. the sacrificial system before the Jewish temple was destroyed in Jerusalem.
Hang in there buddy! I am hungry too Happy Yom Kippur to all our fellow Jewish BBSers, and I genuinly feel your pain (at least you do it for one day, I am doing it for a month, but the idea behind both seems to be similar).
I'm not sure I have ever fasted for Yom Kippur. Maybe when I was a child and when my parents did those things. Once my brother and I had our Bar Mitzvah's, our family pretty much quit going to temple. We'd still take the day off from school/work, but we didn't really do anything. Now, my parents health will not allow them to fast. Oh well. I never really stuck to keeping Passover either. No way I can eat only Matzoh for 8 days.
"We Jews have Yom Kippur the DAY of atonement for our sins. Catholics have Lent, 40 DAYS of atonement... Even in SIN you're paying retail!" -- Jon Stewart
Hang in there Yom Kippur and Ramadan observers. I admire your dedication. (the rest of us may try it during Lent a few months later, but there are so many loopholes in the rules that it's not really fasting anymore)
Forgive me for my ignorance, but would you guys mind filling me in on the Jewish population in Houston? Is it a small minority compared to the other major religions? Obviously Christianity is the largest here, but are there a good number like there are Muslims? Are there "Jewish Areas" of town that are mostly Jewish like there is in New England and the NE? I find the religiously driven neighborhoods facinating and think it is a great part of America's history is why I ask. I've lived in Houston nearly my entire life and have only met a handfull of Jews and I know the greater Houston area like the back of my hand and it suprises me that I have never really recognized a Jewish neighborhood or area. Thanks in advance for any and all feedback!
I'm a Baptist, which in Hebrew roughly translates to "Lazy Christian..." so thankfull I don't have to fast
