Entry 25

Today was the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur. This is the biggest day of the year for Jews. This day is otherwise known as the “Day of Atonement.” Since 6:00 PM last night until 7:00 PM tonight, I fasted and spent my time in services. I went to three different places. Last night, I went to the Chabad house of University of Arizona with Rabbi Yossi Netter. This was an orthodox service. To give you some details, at this temple the men and women are divided in order to not be distracted while praying. The women all sit on the left side while the men sit on the right side. My girlfriend and I were not allowed to sit next to each other, yet luckily we both had friends to sit with. This morning we attended Anshei Synagogue. This is my favorite place to attend in Tucson since it makes me feel most at home. I would say over 600 people were there today and the songs are beautiful. It really made me sad to see other families together on this holiday, but it also made me feel more connected with them despite our distance. Tonight I went to the Hillel Synagogue on campus. The service was filled with students and people I knew, yet it was a very dull service and no one was singing. It was very silent and the Rabbi, I don’t even know his name, was not engaging or exciting. Regardless, I had three different experiences to celebrate this day of repentance.

I haven’t even gotten to explaining the fasting part yet. I did not eat any food or drink any liquid for 25 hours. This is a custom for all Jews to do on Yom Kippur to repent for all our sins and apologize to God, other people and ourselves. This is the day to repent for all the evil deeds or actions you did this year. You are asking God to accept your apologies and thank him for our existence on Earth. Fasting is not hard for me. Many days I go without eating till the late afternoon simply because I either wake up too late or have classes all throughout the day. However, knowing that you are unable to eat anything makes it challenging. You always want what you cant have and when someone tells you eating is not allowed, you crave anything. I swear. I was walking back from services earlier today and even Jack in the Box sounded good to me. I don’t even eat anything there but maybe the fries! Yet the taste of any food sounded delicious as the day continued on.

But I made it. I have been fasting on this day since I was 13 and know I am very capable of doing it. It shows will power and commitment to resist the temptation of food for an entire day. Yet it is a rewarding feeling. At the end of the day, I was very proud and satisfied with myself for repenting the entire day and proving to God I was sincere. Tomorrow is back to reality and I need to continue working in order to not fall behind in classes…