Day Of Atonement

Yom Kippur is one of the most widely observed holidays on the Jewish calendar. It marks the highest synagogue attendance rate of any other day in the year. Despite its widespread observance and long hours spent in synagogue, Yom Kippur is a difficult day to understand.

The major theme of Yom Kippur, as its name implies, is atonement. The source for much of our observance of Yom Kippur is Leviticus 23:26-28 - "God spoke to Moses, saying: Mark, the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be a sacred occasion for you: you shall practice self-denial, and you shall do no work throughout that day for it is a Day of Atonement, on which expiation is made on your behalf before the Lord your God."


In Biblical and Rabbinic times, Temple rituals and sacrifices were the focus of the holiday. Among the highlights of the day was the scapegoat ceremony during which lots would be placed on two goats. One goat would be offered as a sacrifice in the Temple, in the Holy of Holies; and the second would be thrown into the wilderness. Once the Temples were destroyed, prayer and return, i.e. repentance, are the focus while the Temple ritual is recounted as part of the Yom Kippur liturgy.


The day of Yom Kippur itself is said to have the power to expiate some sins, while our renunciation of sins and our confession of them is said to be essential for a new year of life with a proverbial clean slate. Maimonides writes that today, when there is no Temple or sacrificial system, "all that is available is repentance." We are required to repent for sins between ourselves and God and for sins between ourselves and other people.


The Yom Kippur service builds in intensity throughout the day culminating with the final Ne’ila service. During the final hour of the day, all who have fasted and prayed gather strength from their friends and cry out for the gates of forgiveness to remain open as they are about to close. The cathartic moment when night time has descended is punctuated by the blowing of the Shofar, as all congregations of Israel exclaim, "Next year in Jerusalem."

It's difficult for me to understand sometimes because of my western religious upbringing (before paganism found me) but it's good to look at other cultures and their traditions and history...we are all connected and it helps us to develop tolerance rather than focus on our differences.

Serenity Sunday

TOLERANCE [tol-er-uhns]

1. A fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own; freedom from bigotry.

2. A fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward opinions and practices that differ from one's own.

3. Interest in and concern for ideas, opinions, practices, etc., foreign to one's own; a liberal, undogmatic viewpoint.

My List:

1.) My kids

2.) My cats

3.) The First Amendment

4.) Roses

5.) Opinions

6.) Patience

7.) Sprinklers

8.) Sage

9.) Cookies

10.) Karma

Out Of The Mouths Of Babes...

I had the most unnerving thing happen the other day, my youngest child Meaghan came running home in tears, nearly on the verge of hysteria about something that I feel would be an excellent topic in my blog. After about a half an hour of sobbing and carrying on, I was finally able to piece together the picture of just why she was so upset.

It seems that she and a little friend had been playing quite amicably in the yard when a minor dispute arose and from there took a very ugly turn... it escalated into to this child yelling "You can't ever talk to me again unless you're a christian" My daughter wasn't quite sure what to make of this at first but settled on the conclusion that our beliefs were under attack and somehow just because we didn't attend a "main stream" church that somehow it meant we were less than or bad according to this playmate.

I have to admit I was a bit shocked at first, because I really didn't think that the neighborhood children really paid all that much attention to what goes on in our house but obviously I was mistaken. I calmed her down and patiently tried to explain that unfortunately throughout our lives this might be a misunderstanding we will run into on occasion. It didn't necessarily mean this little girl should be banned from the ranks of "friend" but maybe she did not know very much about our beliefs and therefore Meaghan could maybe use this opportunity to educate her friend on exactly what wicca, and pagan were really all about.

I did, however, go to speak to this child's mother because I wanted to make sure it didn't get blown out of proportion any further. As it turns out, the mother had no idea of what her daughter had said and Meaghan and I (as well as this little girl and her mum) sat down and all had a pow wow about how those things can be very damaging and hurtful.

I'm glad to report that since this occurred, Meaghan's friend has been busy asking many questions of her and they have come to the conclusion that everyone is different and it takes all colors to make up the rainbow of our world and that's okay. I'd like to say that these issues could all be solved in this manner but as we all know that we live in an imperfect world. One of the greatest things we can pass on to our children is that of tolerance and understanding.