Last week was Yom Kippur, and I was determined to take Rachel to at least one service, although since she's not fasting, I decided to keep her in school.
I was determined to fast, but the day before Yom Kippur eve I dragged myself to the doctor. She diagnosed weak air passages because of the bronchitis and gave me two inhalers -- one for day/evening and another for relief during the day only. She also told me not to exercise for at least two weeks (and yes, I am really looking forward to resuming exercising next week when this will be over) and when I asked about fasting, she looked at me as if I was crazy (and it was clear she had never heard of the holiday). "Can you at least drink water?" she asked. We both sort of decided that it would be a bad idea for me to go without food, and since I was on medication it made sense for me to eat.
On Yom Kippur morning I had a light breakfast -- I slept in, so didn't go to services -- but attended a discussion group about Israel's reaction to the Iranian nuclear deal. Really fascinating; glad I went. Then on impulse I decided to take Rachel to concluding services so she could hear the shofar again (she loves hearing the sound of the shofar) and once again she was beautifully behaved. We got back home and Drew had made popovers and roast beef, so we had a really nice dinner even though I hadn't fasted.
I'm so glad Rachel is old enough to go to synagogue with me and isn't fidgety. I even gave her some of the mediations to read (in the siddur and in the prayerbook I have that I bought years ago), and she really seemed to get something from them.
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