A Quick Post YK Post
This is how I felt three years ago at this time and it still resonates. If I'm allowed to say so, it's one of my favorites of my posts.
The shul I prayed in started at 7AM and ended at 8, to answer two of the post Yom Kippur FAQs. The other answers are: Difficult and not really. As the Jeopardy music plays in my head I'll provide the questions: 1. How was your fast? 2. Did you have a break?
When most of the synagogue attendees are just either side of twenty it's understandable that they have the stamina to stay in a room and pray for 13 hours straight. At 3:25, it was announced that we'd resume for Mincha at 3:45. Then it went straight again. A lot of praying and standing, and of course fasting, is taxing. Why and how do so many people claim it's not?
Part of the answer is that it's a trick question because most people don't have an experience quite that intense. Breaks of 1-3 hours in the afternoon are starting to make sense to me. Where I pray though, taking such a break would have meant missing one of the confessionals, or missing a Torah reading, or missing The Avodah, or The Asarah Harugei Malchut, or, or, or...
It's intense and invigorating. Hopefully loads of good is in store for all of us for this year. GNAGB, till I post again.
posted by rabbi neil fleischmann @ 9:48 PM
2 Comments:
For many years, I davened Yomim Noraim at a vasikin minyan. It's great; RH ends up being structured like a normal Yom Tov day (except for the early start), and there's a 3-hour break on YK. I also davened a few times at a shul that began YK davening at 8:30, and still provided a 2+ hour break. Wonderful.
My answers to the questions: Great, BH. About an hour.
Interesting. Glad it was good and that you had a break.
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