Yom Kippur Thoughts

     Before Yom Kippur I thought that I would write a very different post. Now that Yom Kippur has passed... well much has changed.
     As with much in life, one really does not know what one would do in a crisis until one is confronted with it. This Kol Nidre I had that sort of test. I was minding my own business and went to to the ladies room at some point . When I left the stall before me appeared a woman whose face was covered in blood. When I looked around I saw that there was a foot wide trail of blood on the floor in the bathroom leading to the door. It looked like a scene in a movie where someone had been attacked. I knew that hadn't happened but that was my gut reaction. I also felt like I wanted to bolt out of there and somehow manage not to step in all of the blood. I felt in shock but I also knew that I had to get help . I weaved my way between the blood to the rest of the shul and told someone what had happened and that we needed to get hatzalah. She went to the men's section and about five men ran downstairs to the ladies room to help the woman. As it turns out there is a whole fleet of men at that shul who are part of hatzalah. They took it from there.
      Life is can change with the blink of an eye for better or for worse. One has to be thankful for all the blessings one has. At first it was difficult to have kavanah after seeing the injured woman in shul, but afterward it made the weight of what Yom Kippur means a lot stronger. I sincerely hope the lady has a refuah shelemah.

Kol Nidre

    My favorite film so far at the Jewish Film Festival this year is a film that has recently been restored by the Jewish Film Archive called Kol Nidre. 
     For some reason , many of these old films use Yom Kippur as a theme.
     Kol Nidre is about 3 American born Jewish school children in the about late 1920's or early 1930's . Two of the children - the girl and one of the boys are shomer shabbos. The second boy is not. The shomer shabbos boy is the son of a rabbi who follows in his father's footsteps. They grow up. One boy is a sleazy charmer and the other becomes a rabbi. The girl's parents want their daughter to marry the rabbi. She of course runs off with the good for nothing who of course turns out to be a good for nothing.
      The funny thing about the movie is that the child actors in the film speak Yiddish with strong American accents. The adults that play them when they are grown have authentic Eastern European accents.
       This film was made in 1939 which is of great significance. This movie is about assimilation of the young people without demonizing those who remain faithful to their religion. In the end the girl ends up with the handsome rabbi after being heartbroken from her gambling womanizing first husband. Of course the beginning her t'shuvah is when as a  beleaguered young wife  she walks by the shul with her baby on Yom Kippur eve. And the rest is melodrama.
        I love the fact that these old Yiddish films are being restored. They hold a key to a world that so many of us have never seen. It is the world of my grandparents and great grandparents. The world of the Eastern European Jewish immigrant. They were glad to live in the new world but they missed the old world. By the 1940's Jews were already part of the general society so there was not a need for these films. Sure there were holocaust survivors in the years after WWII but they had a different story than these Jews.
          Then again , many Yiddish actors died in the shoah. Two of the actors in the movie Kol Nidre were saved by doing this movie. It took awhile to film it so the actors did not end up returning to Europe as quickly as they had planned to. It was during this time that the war broke out. They were very fortunate to be able to be in New York at that time.
         There is still another film that I plan to see at the Jewish Film Festival. If it ends up being worthwhile I will write about it.                                                                  

bain adam lechavero

     So often when things go wrong in the world people look toward external mitzvot or averot  that are bain adam lemakom (between g-d and man) as to why things have gone wrong. I would like to suggest why this may not be the best idea. Before Yom Kippur we ask our fellow people for mechilah because G-d alone can't absolve us from the wrongs we have done others. I think that if people were more careful with how they treat others that the world would be a better place. Its easier to just daven more or put on a longer skirt, but to be kinder and more patient with those who we dislike is much more difficult. Being tolerant of those who are less or more ritually observant is as important as eating only food with the  bedatz hechsher  in Israel.  If we aren't kind to each other  what are we doing all of these mitzvot for ?

     

post yom kippur thoughts

i  don't enjoy fasting, but other than that i don't really mind yom kippur. i always use an english-hebrew machzor and read the translation every so often. the prayers are really quite beautiful. i actually enjoy it more than rosh hashanah.
musaf today ended ant 3:10 and we had an almost two hour break. it was great. we even ended neilah five minutes early.
this was the first time in years that i was able to stand for all of neilah. i think this was due to the lovely fall weather .
this yom kippur as usual there has to be  a spoiler to an  idyllic holiday. the shul i attended today has benches. during minchah, a woman wanted to sit in the bench i was sitting at. i moved over so she could squeeze by, but instead she decided to sit in the two inch space between me and the end of the bench and half on me. i wanted to scream at her for being so obnoxious,  but  it was yom kippur, so i did not.  i moved instead.  i didnt want to let her ruin my yom kippur.
anyway, im glad to have made in through yom kippur and am looking forward to a peaceful sukkot and simchat torah.