Yom Kippur

Lo Hayu Yamim Tovim B'Yisrael K'mo...Yom Kippur.

There is much made of the "Bike Day" phenomenon in Israel. Many feel it is a sad thing, where the richness and beauty of a Day of Cleansing ("atonement" is such a Christian word!) is warped into a "hey, we can ride a bike on the Ayalon backwards!"

Ynet reported a fascinating poll in which something like 3/4 of Israelis reported that they plan to fast this Yom Kippur. Some for some truly weird reasons ("for the challenge of it"), but still, they plan to fast. On one level, the ink spilled lamenting those who do not know is in vain...

But there is something else I want to point out, and to share.
My family took a little trip to Geula, which is a 20 minute bus ride and a journey to another universe. We went to pick up some things friends in the US asked us to bring back for them, and to meet a seminary girl who is a friend of our family.

Walking down Rehov Meah Shearim, we passed a toy store that had stuffed singing Torahs in a bin outside. Daughter 2.5 saw them and announced "I want to hug it!" And she proceeded to squeeze it tight, with an angelic smile on her face, saying "I love the Torah!"

This alone is a moment that all parents would know is a heart melting, eye tearing one. But it got me thinking on two levels...

Firstly, on a simple level, one that is repeated ad nauseum by tourists, seminary girls, and aliyah propagandists alike, it is absolutely gorgeous that this is what is on our streets, what our children are raised to know and love, and what the cultural atmosphere in Israel is like.

But secondly, and more deeply, there is something we all tend to overlook sometimes, and that is that we live WITHIN the Torah's universe (literally - uni, one, verse, saying. Hu amar vayehi...). As adults, we debate about how to keep mitzvot, the "issues" of the day, we question and learn, debate and ignore...and forget. We forget that our worldview itself, the space of our minds, the way in which we process the world (as Creation!), is within Torah. My daughter doesnt know a word of Torah, and happily does not care, but she instinctively recognizes that Torah is who we are, is what we are defined by, and live within.

And Yisrael, as it grows up, does the same. Whether someone lives within the Daled Amos shel Halacha or not in the physical sense/actions, all of Yisrael does in their hearts and minds. They each know that Yom Kippur is the day HaShem lovingly begins again with Yisrael, with Creation, with an imperfect universe that has stumbled and meandered through almost 6000 years trying to find its way, and they each respond in the way they are able. For some, it is to sit back on that day and bask in the love HaShem gives us all, wanting to fix all they've broken in their lives and in the world; they may not know how to connect to this in an Avoda kind of way, nor even fully understand why they feel the mixture of dread and excitement in their hearts on this day, but Yisrael revels in the dichotomous and heart wrenching Existence of Man and begs and longs for the renewal and returning to, and of, the relationship between HaShem and His Lovers, and Love - Yisrael.