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Post by louise on Oct 12, 2016 23:45:54 GMT -5
What’s on your mind — how to make kugel? This week’s Torah reading? Life goals? Prayer? We are all engaged in weight loss/weight maintenance journeys and we are all Jewish or at least interested in Judaism. We like to eat, we like to discuss. It is our goal here to provide each other support on our journeys, to share experiences, to call on our rich cultural heritage and texts, and to help each other grow spiritually.
Some of us take weekly turns starting the thread:
Angelika
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy
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Post by louise on Oct 12, 2016 23:47:14 GMT -5
People I’m really sorry but I’m almost too beat to write this tonight. Everything went well but I was ON from 8:30 to 8:30 and I’m exhausted and everything hurts (well, feet, ankles, knees – like that). I’m happy to say that my torah and haftarah readings went well and the services ran very smoothly. Food wise I have good things to report as well – no trouble with the fast and didn’t overdo it at the break fast. Not saying I had low cal foods, just reasonable amounts and a half a piece of something sweet.
Some points of interest during the day:
We said the ashamnu and vidui over and over as one does on YK – this is where you state various sins and strike your heart as you say each one. My rabbi mentioned that over the course of the day we strike our hearts over 600 times! Like knocking on your heart to open it. Like God knocking on the door and asking if anyone is home. My rabbi pointed out that “We have sinned against You in idle chatter” and “We have sinned against you through sexual immorality” follow right after each other in the list – as they seem to be going together in the news these days. Some of my favorites are “We have sinned against You in our innermost thoughts”; “We have sinned against you purposely and by mistake (a little different from “wittingly and unwittingly” which is also on the list). “We have sinned against you by succumbing to confusion.” “We have sinned against you in our eating and drinking” (ouch). The completeness of the list is astounding - whatever terrible thing you are carrying with you has already been thought of and prayed about.
“May it be Your will Adonai my God and God of my ancestors, that I sin no more, and that in Your great mercy You erase the sins I have sinned before You, but not through great pain and suffering.”
Would like to hear your YK and break fast stories and what stood out for you.
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Post by hollygail on Oct 13, 2016 0:43:37 GMT -5
Same here, Louise. I'm exhausted too. I have fewer responsibilities than I used to (baruch haShem!) and probably fewer than you do, but still, I arrive early and leave late... There were a few real highlights for me, but they'll have to wait until Thursday morning for me to be awake to write about them. G'night, all.
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Post by peachymom1 on Oct 13, 2016 9:57:57 GMT -5
Good morning everyone!
I hope everyone was able to sleep well last night and that you are all well. I had a particularly difficult fast this year, but I did get through it. I read Torah at minchah, though, and I found that I was not nervous and not fully coherent either. I did do it, and I didn't make any mistakes, but I was in kind of a haze by then.
I woke up at 4:30 this morning with a nasty toothache, though, so now I'm waiting for the dentist's office to call me back and get me in. They open in about five minutes. Wish me luck!
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Post by savtele on Oct 13, 2016 10:13:43 GMT -5
Boker Tov All! I no longer fast - my meds don't sit well on an empty stomach. That being said - I also don't eat 3 full meals/day.
Louise - I have always been impressed by how comprehensive the list is - and how many of the sins I have personally managed to participate in! I don't consider myself to be particularly sinful, but there's something in this "knocking" - that causes me to realize that, yep, I'm home here!
Break fast has always (for me) been about water. I chug the stuff (& then run to the bathroom all night, LOL). I've learned that if I allow the dehydration to really set in, it's not a good thing for 2 or 3 days afterward. Yesterday the weather was cool-ish, so at least we weren't dealing with a heat wave. And the storm hit in the middle of the night.
GF bread is a poor substitute for bagels.....I think I almost want to learn how to make them, just so I can have some! (No, I won't go that far)
BTW, if we are facebook friends - I've apparently been hacked. If you received a friend request from "Angelika Braker" delete & mark as spam.
Have a good day ladies!
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Post by savtele on Oct 13, 2016 13:41:03 GMT -5
BTW - we are expecting "potentially historical storms" starting today - so if you don't hear from me tomorrow - our power will no doubt be down. The upside: big pile of firewood by back door, groceries, batteries, candles. Magazines I haven't read yet. We're ready!
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Post by louise on Oct 13, 2016 14:23:53 GMT -5
bulletin: Although everything hurt from my long day yesterday, I woke up relatively pain free. For the last few days I have cut way back on sugary foods. I googled to see if there is a relationship between sugar and arthritis inflammation and lo and behold, many say there is. I think I will follow what I actually see happening.
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Post by gazelle18 on Oct 13, 2016 15:26:24 GMT -5
Hi everyone,
I am pretty much recovered from my 35 person break fast, which went well but left me tired.
The confessional prayers always make me keenly aware of how many ways I have gone wrong. I think this qis a good thing: you have to know just how off you are so that you can properly assess how to get back on! Kind of like getting back on plan!
Angelika, good luck with the storm!
Peachy, I hope you got some pain relief.
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Post by happysavta on Oct 13, 2016 22:11:03 GMT -5
So, the days of awe are over and the ordinary begins again. Good luck to us all!
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Post by hollygail on Oct 13, 2016 22:41:51 GMT -5
So many highlights from both Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur... Hard to know where to start, what can be left out, what absolutely HAS to be kept in...
My rabbi has been choosing a theme for her sermons. She tells us erev RH in the first sermon, and then carries through with that theme through Yom Kippur. And she manages to keep the sermons at a reasonable length! I don't know how she does it. And each sermon is better than the previous one. She's truly a gift to my congregation.
We have "group" aliyot, usually one (or sometimes more than one) committee for each aliyah. After each aliyah, the rabbi gives a blessing, connecting something in the aliyah with something the committee does. It's difficult for me to come up with an example, except for this one. The rabbi was given the honor of the third aliyah on Yom Kippur morning; whenever she has an aliyah, I (the other gabbai) present her with a blessing. I read the aliyah in advance; it's dense (to say the least... See Leviticus 16:12–16). It took me days... I asked a Traditional rabbi for help; he sent me the following:
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...
Who dedicates his life to guiding his congregation and teaching them the true ways of the Torah precisely as it has been transmitted to us through the generations. May the Almighty grant him many good years to continue to inspire us as we seek to come ever closer to G-d through the study of His Torah, the performance of the Mitzvot and acts of kindness every day of our lives.
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You ladies may remember that I'm a Reconstructionist Jew; there's a saying in the Reconstructionist movement: the past has a vote, not a veto. When we want to tackle a topic, we study what the tradition says before adding our own opinions. We have respect for what has gone before; but we are not required to continue in the same vein. Well, I took that blessing and "reconstructed" it. Here's what I came up with (and I chanted the blessing both in Hebrew and in English; facing the congregation, I read the introduction straight, then launched into chanting).
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[for the third aliyah, Yom Kippur morning]
The third aliyah gives directions for what Aaron, the High Priest, is supposed to do in representing his congregation, and our own Rabbi Yael Ridberg not only represents Congregation Dor Hadash in the wider San Diego Jewish Community but also leads us, our congregation, her congregation, through not only Shabbat and yamim tovim, the Sabbath and holidays, throughout the year, with her sermons and finding ways to let Judaism touch something in us; showing spirituality in leading our services, leading and guiding us through introspection with the Elul meditations — she is present in our lives, our joyous and sad times, any issues we face.
There’s a “saying” in Reconstructionist Judaism that the past has a vote, but not a veto. I study not only Reconstructionist publications, but also Reform, Renewal, Conservative, Orthodox, and sometimes from the Jewish Secular Humanist movement. I’ve taken a Traditional (upper case “T”) blessing and “reconstructed it” for today.
[face Yael] So here’s a blessing we, your congregation, wish for you:
Mi sh’beirach avoteinu Avraham, Yizchak, v’Ya-acov, v’imoteinu Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel, v’Leah, hu y'varech haRav Yael Batya bat Yonah ooV’rachah…
May the One who blessed all of our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah, also bless our own Rabbi Yael Ridberg, who dedicates her life to guiding this congregation and teaching us the ways of Judaism, who teaches us Torah not only as it has been transmitted through the generations but also brings us modern interpretations. May Adonai grant you many more good years to continue to inspire us as we seek to come ever closer to our potential through the study of Torah, avodah, oo’g’milut chasadim, Torah, service and acts of lovingkindness every day of our lives.
V’nomar, amen.
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Not only did she love it, but people came up to me at the break-the-fast to tell me how much they loved it too. I felt really good about it. Definitely a highlight for me this year.
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