I’ll wave at Jordan and Egypt for you
Tomorrow morning I’m flying to Eilat which is a city at the southern-most tip of Israel. And when they say southern-most tip, they really mean it:
They call Eilat (pronounced ‘aye-lot’) the “Las Vegas of Israel”. Except it doesn’t have any casinos. Or drag queens. And it’s next to a large body of water instead of in the middle of the desert. Now that I think about it, it’s really nothing like Las Vegas. Regardless, I’m going to Eilat, baby!
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Do I get a medal for finishing a Yom Kippur fast?
It was an interesting experience to fast for the first time and especially interesting doing it in Israel.
At first I was confused about the time it started when I wrote my previous post about Yom Kippur. I guess I assumed it would start at midnight and end at midnight. You know, a full and exact 24 hours.
So of course I was stuffing my face in preparation of the fast the day before sundown assuming that it started the night before. I was wrong. It didn’t start until the follow day at 4:55 PM until 5:52 PM the next day. It’s based on the Jewish (Lunar) calendar. NOT the Gregorian (Solar) calendar.
A few thoughts/observations on the last 25 hours:
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Yom Kippur Eve: A goy’s first atonement
Tomorrow is Yom Kippur. In the United States, it doesn’t mean much of anything to most people. As a kid I remember one teacher taking time to help her students understand what the day meant. After 15 minutes of explanations and a classroom full of blank stares, the teacher ended with “It’s a Jewish thing”. That seemed to satisfy most of us.
But apparently, it’s a day of atonement. It’s a day of suffering to cleanse yourself of “sins” (or whatever evil word you’d like to associate it with). There’s no eating. No drinking. No driving cars. No wearing of leather. No sex. No shower. The ultra religious don’t even tear their toilet paper when they use the bathroom on this day. They “pre-tear” sheets the day before. The streets will be empty (save emergency vehicles) and children use the day to ride their bikes on the city streets freely without fear of vehicles. Interesting, eh?
Bottom line is that tomorrow I’ll fast for the first time in my life. My reasoning is simple:
When in Rome….
I would never do it any other time or in any other place (I’m not Jewish, for god’s sake) but I’m curious to know what it feels like not to drink water or eat food all day (masochist anyone?). And maybe a small part of me will feel bad stuffing food into my face while all of Israel is starving.
Maybe I should live blog the day tomorrow? Hourly whining updates? No. I’ll leave it to the imagination and end this post with another brilliant e-card from someecards.com:
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Israel photo montage: These last two weeks
Bat Yam Festival
[above] A short drive south from Tel Aviv was a festival in Bat Yam that featured a strange traveling act. They hooked half a dozen women to a huge crane and then rotated the crane in circles while the girls threw confetti and fireworks. Beautiful and strange all at once.
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This is how I roll with the Bears in Tel Aviv
I have a border-line unhealthy love affair with the Chicago Bears. I say unhealthy because when the games are at my finger tips, my mood can run hot and cold. I could be excited or I could brush it off knowing that I’ll see them the next week. When I know I’m just a remote control click away from them on any given football season Sunday, I’m calm as a honey bee.
When I can’t see them so easily (like when I’m half way around the world), my desire to watch them becomes so great that I start to feel little explosions of anxiety inside of me at the thought of missing a game.
Last weekend was the Bears’ opening game against Indie. Because of the time difference, it showed here on ESPN live at 3am and replayed again at 9pm the next day. Even though it was a re-run, I opted for the next night rationalizing that everyone would be sleeping back in the states and I could avoid knowing the score. It was nice to watch the opening game although it wasn’t quite the same without it being live.
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Mommo on 
Skitz M. Jones on 
Acai Berry on 
Ms. Babble on 