Now To Get Ready for Yom Kippur

This year's, 5772, upcoming Yom Kippur will be on Shabbat.  All that means is that there's a bit of tweaking the prayers to accommodate.

Physical Preparations:
For those who fast on the "minor" fasts, we're having a rehearsal today, Tzom, The Fast of Gedalia.  Today's fast is a short one, just from the first rays of sun until night.  Many of us felt so stuffed by the time we finished all the Rosh Hashannah and Shabbat gorging eating that we're grateful for the opportunity requirement not to eat.  Remember that Jewish fast also forbid drinking.  That means, no water, no coffee etc.

My brother sent me a youtube that gives some instructions on how to prepare your body for fasting and recommendations on what to eat when the fast is over.  I disagree with the post-fast suggestions.  I've found that juices and some fresh fruit make my mouth burn painfully.  I prefer breaking the fast on water and vegetable soup or fruit compote.



Spiritual Preparations:
Yom Kippur isn't just about starving oneself for G-d.  It's about repentance.  The goal isn't to do an extreme diet make-over.  We're supposed to be working on our spiritual selves.  And we were supposed to get started on it over a month ago, in Elul.  I'm reading The First Ten Days, A down to earth guide to the Days of Awe based on the Sefirot, by Yaacov Haber, and will, G-d willing, review it.  And as I've mentioned on Shiloh Musings, I've been studying Teshuva in Pardes with Rabbi Reuven Grodner.

The truth is that Judaism isn't just about food.