Thursday, October 21, 2004
Sparks From Israel
Yom Kippur in Israel
The delivery man arranges to bring your bookcase to you after the Chag and wishes you an easy fast ‘Tzom Kal’. The security guard at the passport office answers a few questions you had and he too wishes you a Tzom Kal. So does your neighbor, the shop owner and the street cleaner. Your workplace has a Sukkah and Etrogs are available for the employees to purchase. Your co-workers put customers on hold, in order to finish their Torah discussion. After work, half of the staff stays behind to do Selichos. In the exile, we are like a secret society, but here it feels so good to be in a normal environment.
A friend of mine recalled how when he was young a gentile would ask him what his Nationality was and he would say ‘Jewish.’ His friend would answer, ‘not your religion, your Nationality!’ The truth is, we were never meant to be a ‘religion’, nor were we meant to be a Hebrew speaking Scandinavia. Whether one is religious or not, our National holidays were written long before 1948 in the constitution of the Holy Torah. As our Religious Nation takes shape and comes of age, may we be privileged to see its light revealed and reflected to the world thirsty for its light.
Yom Kippur in Israel
The delivery man arranges to bring your bookcase to you after the Chag and wishes you an easy fast ‘Tzom Kal’. The security guard at the passport office answers a few questions you had and he too wishes you a Tzom Kal. So does your neighbor, the shop owner and the street cleaner. Your workplace has a Sukkah and Etrogs are available for the employees to purchase. Your co-workers put customers on hold, in order to finish their Torah discussion. After work, half of the staff stays behind to do Selichos. In the exile, we are like a secret society, but here it feels so good to be in a normal environment.
A friend of mine recalled how when he was young a gentile would ask him what his Nationality was and he would say ‘Jewish.’ His friend would answer, ‘not your religion, your Nationality!’ The truth is, we were never meant to be a ‘religion’, nor were we meant to be a Hebrew speaking Scandinavia. Whether one is religious or not, our National holidays were written long before 1948 in the constitution of the Holy Torah. As our Religious Nation takes shape and comes of age, may we be privileged to see its light revealed and reflected to the world thirsty for its light.
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