I had a quite pleasant Yom Kippur, all things considered. I did not fast because of the potential GD diagnosis, but I was still quite hungry because services went from 9 am to 2 pm and then again from 4:30 pm to 7:30 pm, making meals quite a challenge. And for the first time, I noticed that I can no longer enter the pews without standing on my tiptoes because the bump gets in the way.
I am a bit surprised that none of the other Jewish bloggers I read have mentioned it, but one thing that always stands out in the Yom Kippur service is the line in a very old prayer which we repeat about 6-8 times (the al-het) which atones for sins for which the punishment should be 'childlessness.' I've always noticed that line given my family history, but I remember talking to JD about it last year and wondering if I would ever feel differently about it. I don't. But I also don't believe in simply cutting (or mistranslating as some prayerbooks do) the tough lines. On one hand, the line is sandwiched between some of the most serious sins and punishments, and it's nice to know that the author placed childlessness between sin-offerings and being stoned to death. And it does at least recognize that children are a gift and not one we can take for granted. But the idea that the suffering of so many friends IRL and in the blogosphere could be a just punishment doens't ring true to me.
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