Day of Atonement

Today is Yom Kippur - Day of Atonement and the most holy day of the year for Jewish people. I have to know these things now, working for a Jewish company and dating one. The office was empty today, as were the streets. The Anesthetist has been at home fasting all day and is now getting ready to go to the "Synagogo" as he calls it. I'm such an ignorant heathen that when my Jewish colleagues asked me yesterday if he would be fasting, I blithely responded, "No, he'll be slaving away at his hospital all day, thinking of dinner and what red wine he wants. " Turns out I couldn't have been more wrong. No wonder they looked at me with pity.

Yom Kippur started at sundown last night and ends at nightfall tonight. It follows Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which was celebrated 10 days ago. During these in between 'Days of Awe,' you are supposed to seek forgiveness from friends and families. Then today is all about abstaining from everything - food, drink, sex, email - and attempting to mend your relationship with God. This is partly done by reciting the 'Vidui,' a public confession of sins.  The rest of the day, according to the Anesthetist, is filled with much navel gazing and balancing up your good with your bad on God's measuring scale. He hasn't asked me for any forgiveness this past week which I find odd to say the least, so either he thinks he's in the positive or his balance sheet is so bad he's afraid to face it.

I really wanted to go with him to the Synagogue tonight so I could hear the Shofar being blown. The Rabbis used to blow a ram's horn but now it could be made of any material. It has a wonderful history that you can read about here.

After learning more about Yom Kippur,  I realized that I actually do have a connection to this religious day - through music. At the beginning of evening service on every Yom Kippur, communal prayers commence with Kol Nidre, a legal document that is chanted with haunting undertones.  It turns out that when I played the cello many moons ago, my favorite and most spiritually moving piece was the Kol Nidrei Op. 47 by Max Bruch. I never understood then the religious significance of this music, only that it touched something deep inside me. I used to continually listen to a recording by my musical heroine Jacqueline Du Pre and vowed that one day I would play the piece with as much intensity as she. I'm not sure I ever made it to that level, but I still think it's one of the most beautiful pieces ever written for cello. Here is another musical hero of mine - Pierre Fournier - playing it. Enjoy.

image: reform judaism

Santeria in Spanish Harlem

If crucifixes or menorahs aren't your thing, head to East Harlem to partake in the ancient Santeria rituals of the Caribbean. I happened upon one of the most famous "botanicas" on 104th St. It has been providing spiritual advice and religious artifacts for those practicing santeria since 1930.

The origins of Santeria stem from the african slaves who were sent to Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic to work in the sugar fields. It is a mixture of the Yoruba beliefs and traditions from South West Africa, with Roman Catholic elements. Some of these slaves were babalawos or high priests who were denied their rituals in the new world and forced to embrace Catholicism. But they continued to worship their Orishas or black gods by disguising them inside Catholic saints.

There are a number of different items used for worship in Santeria; beads, herbs, statues of saints and animals. Animal sacrifice is a large part of Santeria. Who can forget that scene from the film Angel Heart with Lisa Bonet and the chicken?

Judging by the number of "Botanicas" in Spanish Harlem, Santeria is alive and well in New York. In fact, apparently the park rangers of Inwood Hill Park (located at the northern most tip of Manhattan) regularly find black garbage bags full of sacrificed animals. I was nervous even entering the Botanica for fear of some evil spirit descending upon me. But it was worth it just to fossick amongst the fantastic shelves of dust-covered goods.
The store is full of voodoo dolls, religious icons, beads, plants, stones and prayer cards. There is "shut up" soap, candles for all occasions, a can of good luck and even "dragon blood" bubble bath. There are tiny bottles of oil that ward off jinxes and offer hope and riches. The owner who has been there for 30 years, can even perform witchcraft for you if you're game.....

Images: flickr, variety, flickr, city noise, steve giralt,

Happy Hanukkah

The annual Jewish Festival of Lights, also know as Hanukkah or Chanukah, begins tonight. Being the "goy" that I am, this holiday bears no relevance whatsoever to my life. However, given I live in one of the most highly populated Jewish cities in the world and work for a Jewish company, I thought it was in my best interest to at least know a little bit about it. So here goes:

Around 200 BC, the Jewish people in Jerusalem were living under Egyptian rule but were free to worship as they pleased. In 175 BC, Antiochus IV Epiphanes took the Syrian throne, invaded Egypt and desecrated Jerusalem.

He outlawed Judaism and forced the Jews to worship Greek gods, banning all Jewish rituals upon threat of death. In 168 BC, he seized the holy Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and dedicated it to the Greek God Zeus. Mattathias, a Jewish priest and his five sons led a revolt against the Syrian army. Lasting three years, they emerged victorious,  recaptured Jerusalem and liberated the holy temple.

Judah Maccabe

According to the Talmud, the high priests ordered the lighting of the menorah, the eternal flame, to re-dedicate the desecrated temple to the glory of God. However, they found the Syrians had defiled the olive oil required to keep the menorah burning. All they found was one small jar - enough to light the menorah for 1 day. Miraculously, the menorah burned on for eight nights, giving the priests enough time to find more oil. An eight day festival was declared by the Jewish priests to commemorate this miracle and today the menorah is a symbol of the indomitable faith of the Jewish people.

The current menorah holds nine candles, with the centre candle used to light the other eight over eight consecutive nights. However, typically it is a seven branched candelabra and has been the symbol of Judaism for over 3000 years and is the emblem of Israel. The Jewish Museum in New York has an amazing collection of menorahs throughout the centuries, ranging from a 16th century Italian lamp to Richard Meir's interpretation in 1935.

Italy, 16th Century

Germany 1706

Ukraine, 1787

Eastern Europe, 19th century

Bauhaus menorah, 1922

Richard Meir, 1935

The world's largest menorah is erected each year on Fifth Avenue opposite the Plaza. It is so large it is lit each night with cherry pickers.

Finally, Hanukkah would not be complete without dreidels or spinning tops. These wooden toys have a hebrew letter on each of the four sides which together form the acronym for "a great miracle happened here". It is thought the dreidel began during the reign of Antiochus, when the Jews gathered together in secret to study the torah. If soldiers arrived, the Jews could pretend to be gambling. Today it's a game played by the kids during the Hanukkah celebration.

I'm not sure I'm ready to give up Santa Claus and my Christmas tree yet,  but I am happy to now understand a little more about the eight-flame candelabra that sits on reception at work.

Images: liverputty, bible-history.com, haifa-israel.co, nycgov.parks, jewish museum, all things jewish