A Short Week and A Promise

Image by quite peculiar via Flickr

The Day of Atonement is over, here in Israel. If you want to read more about this Jewish holy day, please do it here:
http://my3jewishboys.blogspot.com/2009/09/prayer-on-day-of-atonement.html
my friend Hevel speaks beautifuly about it and you'll have the chance to hear the Yom Kippur (Atonement Day in Hebrew) prayer . The Jews believe that by fasting this special day you'll atone for all your sins and you'll start the new year clean. Believe me, it is not an easy fast. It lasts for 25 hours and you don't eat or drink. In the heat of the last days of September, not a few become dehydrated and even colapse.
What amazes me about this holy day is the fact that all the country goes quiet, there are no cars on the roads or public transportation, every business is closed and usually people are keeping themselves indoors or go to the synagogue to pray. If you know about Israel's history, you'll know then that it was during Yom Kippur in 1973 that Syria and Egypt attacked Israel. If you're interested, read about the Yom Kippur war here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur_War. And it caught the Israelis pretty much unprepared.
For our family, it was the opportunity of a long week -end (from Friday till today, so four days) and a bit of family time. It was nice, as we don't have such occasions all the time. We went on long walks, talked a lot, played and crafted with Maya (you'll see some pictures with our craftmanship results in a couple of days), had Maya's godparents over, and of course, moi, I just read a lot. Finished the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews (I recommend it warmly to all urban fantasy fans) and started a new series, Patricia Briggs's Mercedes Thompson. Finished the first in series, "Moon Called" half and hour ago, looking forward to the next one. Briggs's settings and characters aren't that spectacular as Andrews's are, but I loved it nevertheless.
Tomorow starts a new week here, albeit a very short one. I have my appointment with my accupuncturist and I am so looking forward to it...I do hope we'll all have a better week. And I think it's time I'll learn again how to smile...