Rant #2,733: A Day In the Life

Here is where I stand today, and you will see that what I just said is a bit of a pun.
 
I am in constant pain due to whatever I have in my right leg.
 
I think I am having another bout with sciatica, like I had in my left side about a year and a half ago.
 
I hobble along, trying to do the exercises that I did all those months ago, but it is not working.
 
I sleep maybe an hour or two at a time, and I am going to have to see an orthopedist about this new problem I have.
 
I won’t go back to the one I used last time, because they overcharged me, and I won a verdict against them.
 
I will never use them again.
 
Couple that with several other problems going on around here that I am involved with—I spent the last two days on the phone with both Social Security and Medicare for more than two hours, which is akin to watching dust form on a piece of furniture—and no, these haven’t been the best of days for this supposed-to-be-out-to-pasture, over-the-hill retired person.
 
And thus we dovetail into the coming of the holiest of the Jewish holidays, Yom Kippur, which begins at sundown today and ends tomorrow at sundown.
 
I guess this is the perfect time for my resilience to be fully tested, so it would figure that Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, would come right now, at least in my life.
 
Jews around the world pray, fast, all the while looking inwardly and outwardly about what they can do better as human beings at the dawn of the Jewish New Year.
 
God is turning the pages of his book, and if he doesn’t see that we are trying to improve ourselves as human beings, the book shuts on our name, and who knows what is ahead of us as the Almighty crosses our name off the list.
 
We fast for the 24 hours of the holiday to show our devotedness to God and to our religion. It cleanses us, and makes us ready for the new year ahead of us.
 
Here is what I wrote about the holiday in Rant #811, dated September 25, 2012, in edited form:
 
“The holiest day on the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, begins at sundown today, and lasts roughly until sundown tomorrow.
 
It is not a joyous holiday, but a time of reflection, for Jews around the world.
 
Even many non-observant Jews follow this holiday, and this is the only time that they venture into a synagogue during the entire calendar year.
 
Prayer and reflection are paramount here, as is refraining from drinking or eating anything for the duration of the holiday.
 
Some Jews don't even bathe, watch television, drive cars or do anything but pray and fast during this period, which ends tomorrow night at sundown, or when the shofar is blown at Yom Kippur services.
 
I, personally, don't go to that extreme. I do not go to synagogue, I do not say any of the prayers, and I basically spend the holiday doing my own personal reflection.

And I do fast.
 
However, from my personal experience, fasting is not hard to do. Sure, it takes you out of your routine, but it really isn't that difficult to do for a day.
 
What is difficult is doing it while you are in synagogue. The constant getting up and sitting down--when the Torah is displayed--makes it very difficult.
 
I remember in the old days, you would hear women crying in the back of the synagogue. Not eating can do that to you.
 
As far as my family, my wife has tried and can't do it, my son the same, my daughter, I know she has tried but she can't do it, either..
 
I have to tell you, after I fast I feel very, very good. It is almost as if everything bad in my body has been cleansed out of it by fasting. I might have a little buzz headache, but this is something I had been doing continually since I was 12 or 13, so I was pretty much used to it.
 
So to all my Jewish friends, and to all of those people I know who aren't, Happy New Year to everyone."
 
I will be fasting once again, so I will have to skip a day of writing on the blog, but I will be back in the saddle on Friday, although in my current condition, hopping onto the saddle might be a bit difficult.
 
Speak to you again on Friday.