This evening marks the start of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement in the Jewish calendar. (According to Jewish tradition, this is the day when God judges the earth and we are inscribed in the Book of Life--or not--for the coming year.) It is a day of solemn fasting and worship, the one day of the year when nearly all traffic in Israel stops, radio and television shut down for a day, all public places except synagogues are closed, and perhaps 90% of the Jewish population fasts for 25 hours. There is nothing like it anywhere else I have lived; the center of the city becomes as quiet as a desert. That part is rather nice, actually.
Although my congregation observes the fast communally with the traditional prayers, I only took part in Yom Kippur services a few times, until I understood that this is not for me. Fasting is not good for my health, making me dizzy, and people tend to get grouchy when fasting, so quarrels break out. I prefer to spend this day quietly at home by myself, and that is how I have observed it for several years now.
Rather than ritual, which seldom speaks to me, I give some time over to reading and meditation. Lately I have been trying to observe half an hour of silent meditation every day, and find it helps a lot to clear my mind. During the last weeks, I had been distressed that there was no study program in my congregation, which is something very important for my spiritual life.
Somebody must have been listening, because during that time, I was approached to join a working group on religion and conservation, part of the Society for Conservation Biology. I agreed, and we now have more than 50 members all over the world, including Hindus, Buddhists and Moslems as well as Christians (no Jews so far, that I know about). A Nigerian Christian will serve as forum moderator. A study group that seems tailored to me, with the promise of some very interesting discussion. In the organization of this group, I got put on the steering committee. Once again, God laughs.
Healthwise, I'm feeling reasonable. I had an appointment with a gastrologist this week, who confirmed that my blood tests indicate I have autoimmune gastritis and perhaps celiac disease (another autoimmune disorder causing inability to digest glutein) as well. So, I will have a gastroscopy in two weeks that will do a biopsy for both problems (different parts of the stomach, I understand). Hopefully, this just confirms the diagnosis and nothing worse will be found. The gastrologist thought stomach cancer is highly unlikely, which was reassuring, so my mind is easier now.
Hercules, my diabetic cat, is facing some medical testing as well. I now have a working glucometer, and will use the day of Yom Kippur at home to monitor his blood glucose levels every two hours through the day to get a pattern in response to food and insulin. I found a web site with pictures and tips on how to sample blood from a cat's ear, and now can take blood from Hercules without loosing some of my own. He seems to tolerate the ear punctures surprisingly well; maybe not so many nerves in his ear tips…..
Work is going fairly well; I have a lot of small jobs to do and need to sit down to write a short article on water problems in Asia , for publication in the SCB journal. That may also get done on Yom Kippur when I have quiet in which to think.
Next week I go to look at a promising second-hand car, a Mazda Lantis with a 2-liter engine, strong enough to climb my mountain every day to get home, and to travel all around Israel in my conservation work. I hope this works out well.
That's about it for now. Earlier I wrote about giving up on Sabbath service in my congregation. With the increased energy as my anemia problems are resolved, I find it possible to go to the Sunday evening service instead, which I didn't have energy to do in the last couple years. I rediscovered that this smaller group, with a focus on unscripted prayer and study, is much more to my liking and need for peace and order. I'll commit to this instead and hopefully this will resolve my problems in that quarter. I guess I'm one of those people who need the quiet to hear the still small voice…
Shabbat shalom,
Linda
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