When Decisions Take Care of Themselves

Sometimes, it's obvious: the rain decides the activity for the day (or the movie schedule, or the winter cold).

Sometimes, it seems that nothing will resolve a conundrum. Should I do X or Y? Should I hang out with P or Q? Will Route A or Route B be better for me in the long run. In weighing the pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages, the options seem equally good (or bad).

And then, like it or not, sometimes, Y or P or B spontaneously combusts. And all the potential inclination to do Y or hang with P or take Route B dissipates. It's actually not a happy thing, surprisingly. When you think something could be good and are then forced to recognize that you were deluding yourself...well, then...it's just not fun.

But there's hope still. Because when the decision takes care of itself, and you are left with only X to do and Q to hang with and Route A to walk down, then you are also left to find all the good in X and Q and A, without being plagued by the road not taken, since it was never really there for you anyway.

January and Onward

.............

Time to make the To-Do list...

There was a time when I had "resolve" in spades. Will-power for whatever I set my mind to accomplish - which doesn't mean I accomplished, by the way. But I certainly was able to keep myself tied to whatever task I had in mind. Now, I'm more distractable, and maybe have less focus. But wisdom is supposed to come with age, and while I'm nowhere near "wise," I'd like to think I can put my brains to work deciding where to exert true resolve....where to follow through for a year - at least! Experience teaches that even changes that don't last are still worthwhile, but I'd rather set my sights on that which I can accomplish without disappointing myself too much.

At the most basic level:

Let's hope that 2012 affords more opportunity for success than mere survival (even if surviving some days is success enough for those particular days). Though some more sleep would definitely be nice....So, with an eye to success....the beginning of all lists is rather vague, and yet it says all that needs to be said:

But for those who are eager for specifics (what, "something," "something else," "more stuff" and "that again" isn't enough for you?), here are some good intentions for January and the rest of 2012:

In the category of Self:

• Keep eating properly - enough calcium, enough iron (not together)...and so on. Without overeating (not always the easiest thing for me to manage, because it takes very little to fill me up).
• Aim for 2 hours of exercise per day (an hour in the morning, an hour in the evening), and don't let that drop below 30 minutes, for any day of 2012 (pending unforeseen circumstances, of course).
• That exercise does not include the 100 sit-ups each morning (with a minimum of 75, and aim to keep adding more).
• Davening with kavannah (hopefully), 3x/day. And never dropping below the minimum once/day. I'd love to claim I've never missed a day of at least some davening. When that includes the minimum level of berakhot, that's probably true. But more days than please me have passed where davening was altogether lost in the shuffle. This includes bentsching (if these words mean nothing to you, do not worry about it - basically, different elements of traditionally established and required prayer). 
• Keeping the house in an uncluttered, clean state. My apartment is nearly always clean, if sometimes a little dusty (Israel is a dusty country). But I have found that I both hate clutter and have a high tolerance for it. I aim to live without the clutter, and I have the feeling that it will impact positively on all the other goals as well.

Other items on the list that remain to be developed a little further, but should be in the weekly (if not daily) schedule:

• Learning
• Writing (including this blog, of course!)
• Drawing (well, something artistic).
• Cooking
• Dancing (which might count as exercise).

I know, I know - diet and exercise resolutions are cliche, but having discovered that undiscovered hypothyroidism has long been slowing me down, I'm very excited to make these plans and be able to believe I can carry them out - for real!

In the category of Others:

Ironically, I find this topic to be more private. Suffice it to say that the character traits that affect others that I believe need some fresh resolve include:

• Patience
• Gentleness
• Thinking before I speak
• Patience
• Living all the policies and techniques of the classroom with my colleagues and friends
• Restoring my old dedication to being in touch with people whom I otherwise would not be in touch with
• Ye Olde Golden Rule
• The whole honoring-the-parents business
• Not putting off people-things until tomorrow (despite the great Mark Twain edict on procrastination: "Never put off until tomorrow what can be done the day after tomorrow.")

There's ALWAYS room for improvement in the interpersonal side of things....and as soon as I post this, I'll find more points to list. It's not necessarily simple to predict what might need attention, and what might need repair. So this goal is fundamentally: repair anything that needs repairing, and pay attention so that nothing else will.

With wishes for all that this year will turn out even better than we want it to!

5...4...3...2...1...!!

On this eve of 2012, it's hard to avoid reflecting on all of the decisions of the past year....not just resolutions that weren't kept, but all kinds of choices and the ramifications of them, as they blossomed or fell apart over the course of 2011.

Lots of good things....lots of things that could have been good, but weren't....lots of things that could have been worse than they were....Disappointments, striving, expectations - both met and thwarted, and some joy (not enough).

Looking forward to 2012 makes me think about my post back in August on making resolutions (http://decidealready.blogspot.com/2011/08/making-list.html). It is indeed time to make the To-Do list for the first week of January, with high hopes for continuing it long past that cynical deadline. There's no reason resolutions can't last! People DO make resolutions that take root and sprout and end up being real life decisions. It just takes more resolve.

Is it better to set "reasonable" goals that you know you can accomplish, or set goals that exceed the given expectations in the hopes of pushing yourself further? Reasonable goals imply greater success in completing them, and less risk of disappointment. Ambitious goals imply accomplishing more than would be possible with lesser expectations. The risk in aiming for the reasonable is that you may accomplish less than you could. The risk in aiming for the unreasonable is that if you don't succeed in doing everything, you may fail to do anything.

Not surprisingly, I'm in favor of the ambitious goals. But with a caveat, to protect against the risk of accomplishing nothing: I try to safeguard my own decisions, so that if I do not meet the ambitious goals (and rarely do I), then at least I can achieve my "minimums."

For example: Once upon a time, a friend and I would learn for an hour before our regularly scheduled day. We set up a schedule of meeting 3x/week, knowing that we were unlikely to meet our goal. Both of us were (of course) sleep-deprived, and many a day, one would call the other at the crack of dawn, mumbling: "Tomorrow..." So we rarely met three times in one week, but we often met twice, and at the very worst, once. Whereas if we'd planned on twice a week, we would have likely fallen to once a week, or no session at all. This way, we kept at it...

I developed this approach in recognition of busy-ness and interferences and human frailty (and stupidity). The Sages of old did the same in establishing candlelighting for the Jewish Sabbath eighteen minutes before the earliest potential point of sunset. That is, the law states that igniting the candle's wick must be done prior to the actual Sabbath, when using fire is prohibited. Rather than assume people are perfect, eighteen minutes provided a cushion - a "fence" in the classical language - to insure that even those who were rushing around with last-minute preparations (and most people usually are) would manage to light before the fatal moment.

So too, I discovered that with anything I want to do often, I do well to make fences for myself. Whether in frequency, amount, or deed, I know I do more when I plan more than I would if I settled for less. Thus: planning anything for every day makes it more likely that I'll manage 5x/week, or at the very least, I establish a serious routine; doing 100 sit-ups means that even if I flop out before completing them, the odds are good I'll hit 75; and with many projects to tackle each day/week/month...I accomplish more by aiming for them than I would be throwing my hands up in overwhelmed defeat at doing them all.

I'm not suggesting this approach works for everyone. Maybe nobody will find it useful but me....But it has long been one I have touted, though I've forgotten it of late...and in not setting ambitious goals, I may have fallen into the abyss of setting (nearly) none at all.

Here's to many ambitious goals for 2012!

Sanctifying the Mundane and the Profane

Assimilation, Isolation, or the Challenging In-Between? Can you choose?

Of Noah's three sons (yes, the famous Noah with the ark), the Jewish people are said to be descended from Shem (hence, "Semite"). The Greeks are said to be descended from his brother Japheth (Yefet), because one of Japheth's sons was named Yavan, which is Hebrew for "Greek."

The traditional Jewish interpretation of Greek culture is that it was devoted to beauty - to physical loveliness. This position is fundamentally an understanding of the biblical verse:

יפת אלוקים ליפת  

Translated by the King James version of the Bible, the text reads, "God shall enlarge Japheth" - with the presumption that the topic is territory. Read phonetically, however, the words are: "Yaft Elokhim le-Yefet," and the Hebrew word for beauty is "yofi." Thus, a translation that is perhaps too literal for the standard biblical context (Noah blessing his sons), but paves the way to creative and beautiful (!) interpretations could be: "God will give beauty to Japheth" (in which case, the father's blessing to his son is for physical attractiveness (or "pulchritude," surely the ugliest word ever to mean beauty). Noah goes on to bless Shem, continuing the verse: "he [Japheth] will dwell in the tents of Shem" - which in turn deserves myriad interpretations, but at the very least suggests that some connection between the traits of Shem and Japheth is possible.

The traditional Jewish criticism of the ancient Greek culture was indeed against the perceived focus on the physical instead of the spiritual, on the body instead of the soul, on appearance instead of actions....basically, on the superficial instead of on the depths.

The irony of this view is not that finger-pointing criticism against modern materialism in the Jewish community might be legitimately levied. The irony of this view is that an essential component of Jewish spirituality (though someone will always disagree) is beauty. Fulfilling the commandments to the extent possible - with the beautification of the physical objects of any mitzvah - is a cardinal principal. Thus, some people spend a great deal of money to have beautiful candlesticks for the Sabbath. Some people make sure to find as nearly perfect an etrog (citron) as possible. And nearly everybody lights lots of candles on Chanukah.

The basic requirement for Chanukah candles is one candle for each household for each of the eight days of the holiday. The better way to do it, however, prescribed one candle for every member of each household for each of the eight days of the holiday. But the best way to do it, and this is the way anyone is not under duress lights Chanukah candles in the modern era, is that every member of each household (some complications regarding married couples, and possibly girls, but leaving that aside - every member of each household) is to light the number of candles that represents the specific day of Chanukah each of the eight nights. Thus, one candle (plus shamash - the lighter) on the first night. Two candles (plus shamash) on the second night. Three on the third, and so on. This practice is labled: "mehadrin min ha-mehadrin" - glorifying the glorification. Making the candles more beautiful. So the very mitzvah that commemorates surviving the warring oppressors and the imposition of their culture of the physical makes sure to extol the miracle using beauty.

My own hiddur - beautification - of my Chanukah candles began in imitation of a friend's creation because it was clever and convenient. I had wanted to light oil, instead of wax candles, in commemoration of the miracle of oil. But the year before I started following in my friend's footsteps, I found the small glass jugs to hold the oil very messy and unwieldy, and besides, some broke. His solution: shot glasses. He filled them nearly full with water, topped them off with olive oil, and used floating wicks to provide flames. Convenient, because there was no fiddling and nearly no mess. Clever, because he used university shot glasses, which seemed to take the Greek culture of academic learning and sanctify it in the service of the holiday that commemorates victory against the Greeks. I loved it, and to this day (well, yesterday), I light university shot glasses if I'm at home.

False Pretenses: Lit Wednesday Morning for Photo Op

As for my question at the beginning - it merits further discussion, surely. Still, the bottom line is that it is far easier to allow yourself to be swallowed by the prevailing culture (it may done even unwittingly!)...and far easier to allow yourself to shun all elements of the prevailing culture...than it is to embrace both, and use each to enhance the other, which - if you ask me - is essentially, fundamentally, truly sanctifying the entire enterprise...bringing the beauty of Yefet to the tents of Shem.

PS: It's now post-Chanukah in Jerusalem - not the proper timing of this post. For all you in later time zones, enjoy the last few hours of the holiday!

Hellenization, Anyone?

University students at universities that support fraternities and sororities think "going Greek" refers to joining the on-campus organizations that function as selective clubs (ironically, "fraternity" and "sorority" come from Latin, but since these clubs are commonly named with Greek letters, the pledges join the "Greeks"). A recent (okay, not that recent) movie capitalized on this culture. Er...apparently the expression is also used in such an utterly crass way that I simply cannot link to the slang - let it be known that I had no idea of this until I googled for the link to the movie (and let me recommend against you looking for it!).

Back in the day (around 167 C.E.), however, the Jews living in the Land of Israel were forced to choose between "becoming Greek" and letting themselves be killed. The death option meant no desecrating the religious commandments. Those willing to relinquish their traditions and their beliefs were permitted to be "hellenized" - to assimilate into the Greek culture and forget their Jewish heritage. Shifting focus to the physical and material (think about the Greek focus on the body, architecture, the pantheon of Greek gods...). The lack of choice in this choice led to war - anyone surprised?

The Jews' battled for the right to rule themselves and free themselves from the oppressor (known in traditional circles not as Antiochus Epiphanes (his name), but Antiochus Epimanes (Antiochus the Madman)). That's the lesser told story of Chanukah. It's not as glamorous as the miracle of one flask of oil that should have lit the Temple's menorah for only one day instead lasting the eight days that it took to produce more olive oil. Or alternatively, the miracle of finding any unblemished oil at all, given the rampant desecration of the Holy Temple by the Greeks.

The prayers of the week (fine: 8 days) focus on the military victory, however. The Jews were the underdog, and they prevailed against the mighty Greek army, chariots and all. Megillat Hashmonaim recounts the struggle in vivid detail, and the Apocryphal Books of Maccabees (I, II and IV especially) present the history of the Jewish rebellion against all odds. Excellent reason for thanksgiving.

Perhaps only the famous talmudic question: "Mai Chanukah?" (Shabbat 21b) brought fame to the tiny flask of oil. A military victory doesn't feel like a religious salvation, after all. Thus, the Aramaic question is understood to mean "on the occasion of what miracle was Chanukah established," and with the miracle of the flask of oil, the reason for the holiday as we know it today took hold.

מאי חנוכה דתנו רבנן בכ"ה בכסליו יומי דחנוכה תמניא אינון דלא למספד בהון ודלא להתענות בהון שכשנכנסו יוונים להיכל טמאו כל השמנים שבהיכל וכשגברה מלכות בית חשמונאי ונצחום בדקו ולא מצאו אלא פך אחד של שמן שהיה מונח בחותמו של כהן גדול ולא היה בו אלא להדליק יום אחד נעשה בו נס והדליקו ממנו שמונה ימים לשנה אחרת קבעום ועשאום ימים טובים בהלל והודאה

In the words of my father's rendition of the miracle of Chanukah (having heard this every night of Chanukah for many years of childhood, I think I can recall the words with precision): "IT KEPT ON BURNING!" The flame-that-didn't-go-out is magical to a child's imagination and miraculous to an adult's celebration of the holiday.

       

As reluctant as I am to sound preachy, I would just like to note that the choice to stay Jewish was literally a matter of life or death. Surely, the war that was fought for the sake of being able to choose to observe is worthy of notice among all the candles.

         

....And if you already pay more attention to the military victory, please don't forget the religious significance of the re-dedication of the spiritual center that affirmed the freedom to observe (or not, as the case may be).

Quick: Naughty or Nice?

If you could be only naughty or only nice, which would you choose? I know, I know - the obvious answer is nice. But most people are naughty at least sometimes. How much fun would it be to have license to be naughty? It wouldn't make the world a better place...but it could be fun, dontcha think? At least now and again? (Okay, that's not ONLY naughty or nice - you're right, you caught me, so what?)

What would you do if you had that carte blanche to be naughty? If you had no fear of repercussions or reprisals? If nobody would be hurt by your actions...at least not for real? Before you tell me that you want no naughtiness ever, let's remember that the frowned-upon rebellion and defiance and simply giving in to the inclination for mischief often yields "the greater good" - and a whole lot of potential fun.

Alternatively, if you have no impulse to be naughty ever, what do you do to be nice? Why do you like being nice? Are you duty-bound? Do you take pleasure in doing the nice thing?  It's a no-brainer that being nice makes the world a more pleasant place. Or maybe you just want treats in your Christmas stocking instead of coal?

I grew up in a home with three fireplaces, but never once were they decorated with stockings for treats or coal. Santa was never invited down any of the chimneys. No tree, no tinsel, no caroling (though we knew all the words, from school and the radio). No ham or goose or plum pudding or ancient fruit cake (not something I ever missed, truth be told).

So we also were never admonished to a fear of coal in the stockings that were never hung up. But there's something fundamental about taking a moment to reflect on the past year and think about whether you've been "naughty" or nice" - it seems to be a universal human need for seasonal reflection, though the seasons differ across cultures, of course. We force ourselves to pay attention to the year that has passed - to note the good deeds, the ones that need improvement and maybe atonement....and to establish resolutions for the coming year (oh, wait, that's next week!).

Sitting in Jerusalem on Christmas Eve is uncommon, I think, among Christmas Eve experiences across the world. Christmas is not in the air. Not anywhere. Well, actually, that's an exaggeration - go to Bethlehem or the Church of the Holy Sepulchre or the Via Dolorosa and Christmas is holy. Those last two are surely more important for Easter, but special Christmas mass draws many visitors. Truth be told, I've never been to either, but back in the days when the road to Gush Etzion passed through Bethlehem, I did travel it once on Christmas Eve. The road was lit with festive lights, just as most of the United States and Europe enters Christmas mode. Somehow, incredibly appropriate - no matter how little I personally celebrate the day (and I'm quite averse...except for the festive element).

  

Just for the record, Jerusalem IS festive - Chanukah is in the air. But that will have to wait for another post. Fortunately, there are 8 days to Chanukah, so I have a few more. As my 5-year-old nephew told his 7-year-old-sister, when she complained that they receive fewer presents than their Christian schoolmates, "No, we have EIGHT days" (he's good at math). They have no fear of coal either. 

In the meantime, I encourage a moment of reflection on the past year - naughty or nice? And how much naughty do you want in your coming year of nice?

Growing into Delays (and Out of Them)

I began this blog because I knew I wanted to be writing, and I had found a topic to explore, as decision-making effects every aspect of life, to a greater or lesser extent.

I still know that I want to be writing, and I have much to explore in my chosen topic of "choices."

When I began back at the end of April, a nay-sayer inquired: How do you possibly have time to blog?

I answered that, firstly, when I have more things on my plate, I am more likely to accomplish them. And secondly, by focusing on the brief essays of blog-posts, I would sharpen my powers of expression for other writing that is incumbent upon me to complete. And thirdly, I would not let blogging interfere with the academic tasks I have undertaken.

Thus, I disappeared for more than a month. 38 days to be exact. The academic writing is taking precedence. It is also taking over my life - in a not entirely altogether bad way. But I will be glad to return to a more diverse schedule, and I have decided - every post needs decisions! - to post the juicy posts I have cooking in the next few days, deadlines or no.

Committing myself to write more, at this point, will force me to write more. Win-win, as far as I am concerned.

Thanks for being patient. I do hope I'm finally "back."

11/11/11

On the twelfth of November, I will tell you about yesterday.

Here is what I planned to do yesterday: http://11elevenproject.com/en/ (with a nod to AY for unknowingly bringing it to my attention).

Once a century, the date is all "ones." 11/11/11.

The people manning the above URL were encouraging people of all walks of creative life to produce something to mark the day. And then it would be publicized through the website. They even offered themes to write on, and left them wide open to interpretation, intentionally.

The 11 topics were:

1. Beginnings
2. Heart Break
3. Make a Wish
4. Faith
5. Routine
6. Water
7. Courage
8. Play
9. Darkness
10. Beauty
11. Love

(http://11elevenproject.com/en/participate/the-11-topics/)

At one point, I thought of writing on water (living in the Middle East, water is a hot topic - pun intended). Another time, I thought of writing on darkness - except that I am avoiding morbidity. I decided, finally, that I would write on routine. And then, ironically, non-routine interruptions prevented me from blogging yesterday, on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the eleventh year of the millennium.

(For more on this date, I recommend this (somewhat quirky) post: http://archuletafanscene.com/2011/11/11/fanscene-geek-post-happy-11-11-11-or-once-a-century-repunit-palindrome-day/, where this funky mathematical approach is found:)

Granted, it was my decision to allow those non-routine interruptions to interrupt. Such as: academic work that is long over-due. Such as: a dear friend's heartache upon getting dumped (or nearly so). Such as: preparations for a trip overseas. Such as: conversations with real live people that took precedence over blogging. Also, baking muffins, doing dishes, cleaning house (those last few might be more routine, after all).

Sometimes the decision must be to do away with the previous decision. But a sales clerk did note the date, so at least 11/11/11 did not pass wholly unnoticed. And now I have commented on it as well, if not as originally planned....

If only to head back to the list of non-routine interferences...thankfully, none of them bad.

PS: Apparently, they also made a horror movie for the occasion: http://1111themovie.com/ (what I shame I don't like horror movies!).

Quick: Neat Freak vs. "Creative Disorder"?

I know I've loaded the "decision" of this post by using the labels above, but I mean no prejudice. I simply cannot remember the characterization for the "neat" side of the scale from my college rooming form. Frankly, I think "creative disorder" was employed to refrain from such pejorative terms as "slob" or, worse, "pig." But whether you seek "spick-and-span" in your environment, or you cannot be happy unless surrounded by (apparent) clutter, we all know whereof I speak: people tend to be either neat or messy - with the caveat that most people are somewhat neat and somewhat messy, often for different things, or under different circumstances.

Is this a matter of temperament or one of choice? If it's a matter of temperament, does that mean we have no choice?

Are you a naturally messy person, who thrives, as the expression goes, in the disorder? Emerging with comfort and creativity?

Are you a naturally neat person, whose uncluttered environment yields an uncluttered mind? For whom clean surfaces is an indication of well-being?

My guess is that most people would like to climb out from under the clutter, but find themselves chasing a moving train (this will happen if you naturally leave your possessions out - where you use them - instead of returning them to their proper abodes...or if you don't have a designated home for your possessions, if only because you don't have the proper receptacles or room for your things (there's a reason The Container Store makes a killing (and the "organizer" sections of Target, Wal-Mart, etc. as well)). And most other people would like to loosen up a little, and rest easy despite the presence of dishes in the sink overnight (for example) or unmade beds all day.

It's the need for those efforts, both successful and unsatisfied, that suggest that nature may play the stronger role in our propensities towards neatness/disorder. But we can also conquer ourselves - with enough will (or so we may choose to believe).

Personally, I thrive best in a pristine environment, though I'm able to close my eyes to some degree of jumbled possessions in the public arena.

PS: For the sake of this post, my assumption is that both kinds of people are hygienic in a healthy way. As in: no grossness, but tidy people who are not compulsive, and sterile surfaces under the messy mess.

Go Ye and Repent! (or maybe just watch movies)

When givens are choices....and choices givens.

I'm remembering that one person's deepest obligations are another's "optional."

For example: I once knew a young woman whose approach to potential imagined financial crisis was to rely on the charity of the charitable. To me, the notion was an anathema. As far as I was concerned, the way to handle potential imagined financial crisis was to work hard now, when no crisis loomed, and save carefully, not only for the "rainy day," but to safeguard against hurricanes.

Doesn't it happen to you, now and again? You meet someone and discover their norms are utterly the opposite of your own and neither of you can reconcile to even the possibility of the other's approach?

In the case that spurs this post, however, there are no real surprises. On this eve of Yom Kippur, I can acknowledge that I never thought all Jews treat the day as one of fasting and repentance and prayer. I have always known Jews for whom Yom Kippur was a day like any other. For most of American Jewry, I believe that is the case.

אבינו מלכנו...

שתהא השעה הזאת שעת רחמאים ועת רצון מלפניך

For the State of Israel, however, Yom Kippur is a national holiday, albeit not the most festive one on the calendar. The entire country shuts down:

• Buses and stores and recreational sites (and businesses) that are open throughout the country (though not in Jerusalem, and select other places) on any given Sabbath of the year are closed on Yom Kippur (it would seem that it is not for nothing that the Bible dubs the day "shabbat shabbaton" - the Sabbath of Sabbaths (the Sabbath to beat all Sabbaths?) - though I'm fairly certain (ahem) that the biblical epithet pre-dates the Israeli practice). 
• The television channels have no programming (can you imagine, no T.V.? - though cable from outside of the country is available to subscribers). 
• The radio stations do not broadcast - they close off the year by wishing everyone a good year, with the traditional greeting of "G'mar chatimah tovah" - A good sealing in the famous Book of Life - and the playing of Hatikvah, the national anthem (they begin broadcasting again with the hourly news report which permeates every other Israeli day: "Shalom Yisrael...henei ha-chadashot mi-Kol Yisrael..." (Hello Israel...Here is the news from the Voice of Israel...)
• The streets are free of cars - really! See here: 24 hours of a busy Tel Aviv intersection (with thanks N, who directed me to it). In fact, the Israeli news reports on the number of bicycle accidents on Yom Kippur. The rest of the year, the concern is the crazy high number of car accidents. But on Yom Kippur, kids on bikes rule the roads - and they take wild advantage (The other important statistic reported every year in the aftermath of Yom Kippur is how many babies were born over the course of the day - another statistic not reported any other day of the year, as far as I know. I'm fairly certain that more women go into labor on Yom Kippur because fasting induces labor (and for someone whose due-date is near, the fast is (usually) not considered dangerous, so the pregnancy does not offer a medical exemption. But I believe the news report is a reminder of the quintessential nature of the Jewish state. That is: we're all in this together, we Jews, in our tiny country, and we rejoice in the birth of our children).

So, Yom Kippur is pretty much impossible to avoid in Israel. But that does not mean that everyone "keeps" Yom Kippur. 

A few months ago, I startled an Israeli with the notion that I indeed fast, and not only on Yom Kippur, but the other minor fasts that are sprinkled throughout the Jewish calendar. In turn, he startled me with the fact that he had grown up eating on Yom Kippur - he was not rejecting the religion of his forefathers; rather, he'd been raised with a strong tradition of Judaism that did not include barely a whit of observance.

More recently (as in, this week), I've been taking note of the way people who are ostensibly not religious deal with Yom Kippur. One guy said - yes, he fasts. He and his family have a big meal beforehand, rendering the fast "not that hard." Someone else explained that she used to fast, but she felt that it was wrong to do so, since she basically spends the day hanging out watching movies, and just not eating. So she stopped not eating, rather than feel hypocritical in her lack of practice (she acknowledges, however, that she would NEVER get in a car on Yom Kippur - "people would look at you! It's just not done"). Someone else has been unintentionally incorporating Yom Kippur into her entire year, excusing any exception to general level of observance (mostly kosher, for example) as peccadilloes to make sure she has something to repent for (she does fast).

On the opposite side of the spectrum, some folks have been rising early to recite Selihot (poetic penitential passages written in the Middle Ages) for the past couple of weeks (Sephardic Jews for the past month +). In yeshivot, there has been in-depth study of the laws of the day, and the manner in which it was observed in days of yore, when the Temple stood in Jerusalem, and animal sacrifice was a focus of the day. And many people have been giving serious consideration to their conduct of the past year...resolving to reform their lapses of practice, and affirming their desire to improve themselves. The confessional recited in the Yom Kippur service makes self-reflection an integral part of the day - for those who participate in the Yom Kippur service.

And that's the point: for some, the fast of Yom Kippur with all of the trappings is a given, and not fasting is unheard of. For others, fasting on Yom Kippur is a bizarre, antiquated, quaint notion. And for many, it is optional, whether a preferred ideal or attempted at whim. Personally, I found it moving when I rode a post-Yom Kippur bus one year, and overheard a weathered gent proclaim with pride that he indeed had made it through the whole fast, and had never done so before.

תשובה ותפילה וצדקה

מעבירין את רוע הגזרה

וכן יהי רצון.

Of course, what is key here is the sense of obligation - whether to fast or to eat. In truth, we are fortunate that every approach is a matter of choice. As compared to past eras when the non-Jewish governing authority forbade the celebration of the Jewish holidays. Or the concentration camps, in which any morsel of food sustained life, which trumped the obligation to fast, though it dampened Jewish pride (worse, the Nazis offered more, better food on Yom Kippur, though not everyone ate). Or the 1973 Yom Kippur War that pulled Israel's reserve army from the synagogues. Don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting that keeping Yom Kippur in a serious way is easy in any age, and I'm not sure everyone who does so is thrilled by the experience. Still, for all that religious sensibilities or lack thereof may dictate a person's practice, in this day and age, at least in Israel, people do whatever they want....or rather whatever they choose - even when they treat their practice as a given. 

As with so much, the day will largely be what we make it.

Here's a shabby approximation of the sun as I expect to see it setting, when Yom Kippur is coming to a close (at least, if previous years are any predictor):

(http://almostaliyah.blogspot.com/2007/11/sunset-from-neve-daniel.html)
Post-fast PS: Turns out it was a cloudy day, with the glorious sun ducking/hidden by purpley grey.

G'mar chatimah tovah.