A Day of Atonement

Watching the stained glass windows getting darker and darker,  listening to the solemn constant drone of prayer, the congregants reading from their prayer books some with their faces against the pages with backs bent and their bodies rocking to the rhythm of the melody.  Our bellies remind us we have been fasting over 24 hours and counting..our legs are tired from standing erect while the holy ark is opened...it is time to ask God to forgive us, to accept our hummanness, to let us live another year, cleaner in spirit and purer in heart.  You can feel the pulse within the synagogue walls!  All of us asking for the same thing, not only for ourselves but for the whole world!  That's alot of pressure!  The last prayers are said.  Exhaustion overcomes you.  Then the shofar blasts!  The breaking of the fast...gobbling everything in sight!  WHEW!  Made it through another Yom Kippur night!   May your year be filled with joy and celebrate many happy occasions!