I observed three LOVEly things while sitting in the sanctuary for Yom Kippur services today. 1. The gentleman who has been my second grade co-teacher in Religious School for twelve years was called up to the bima with his wife to do an aliyah (a blessing before a Torah reading). He is a member of our High Holidays choir and very outgoing and funny; she is quiet and not too many people at the temple know her well because she’s had major health problems for years. I have met her a few times and have spoken with her on the phone a few times too, when I’ve called him to…

Tonight (at sundown), a major Jewish holiday begins. Here’s last year’s post on it, in case you want to gain a little more knowledge about it. Yom Kippur is the “Day of Atonement”, on which Jews all over the world atone for any wrongdoings that they have caused over the past year. We fast for the 25 hour period*, and our family spends a nice chunk of the day in services at the synagogue. The nice thing about being hungry at the temple is that everyone else is hungry too; it’s like a mass stomach-growling festival! The reason that we fast is to help us be introspective, to think about…

Rosh Hashanah began last night at sundown, so I want to wish my Jewish readers (Rockdrool, Lilacspecs, Movie Maven, and all of the rest of you out there!) L’Shanah Tovah Tikatevu: may you be inscribed for a sweet year. I wrote about Rosh Hashanah and what it is last year; you can find that post here. We’re headed to services at the temple this morning; I’m looking forward to it. To be honest, we have not gone to temple very much at all in the past few months. Today (as well as on Yom Kippur, a week from Monday) there will be a jam-packed sanctuary; the High Holidays are much…