The Dog Who Came to Shul on Kol Nidre....

Nope, not Ozzy. But it was the strangest thing. Orli said, as soon as we sat down, "aww, mommy, look at the dog". Liat and I looked at each other. Who would bring a dog to shul? And on Yom Kippur? Turns out the dog must have followed people inside, because it didn't belong to anyone. It walked around and looked terribly lost and afraid. It was an adorable cocker spaniel, with a collar, so obviously not a stray. Davening started and the dog was still walking around. People were muttering and one woman kicked the dog. I know, that was awful. So I picked the dog up intending to take it outside when I bumped into Orli, who had gone out to....I don't know what. (Of course now everyone thought the dog was mine...) I handed it over to her and told her to take the dog outside. Now why would this woman kick this defenseless little dog?? Isaac later said, maybe it was Eliyahu HaNavi or something like that, and the woman will some day be sorry. Ah, my husband is becoming so kabbalistic....

Yom Kippur is quite an event in Israel. Driving is illegal and there is no transportation (Ben Gurion shuts down for 33 hours). So Israeli kids everywhere are riding their bikes on the streets, highways and roads. Since the fast started at 5:20 P.M., we were finished Kol Nidre before 7. As we walked back home, there were kids on bikes everywhere, and people walking in the streets. The street we live on is a major one; it was a big biking party there. And the next day too. Its kind of funny that this is how many Israelis "celebrate" Yom Kippur. And in the newspapers and on the radio, journalists and D.J.'s ask for mechila. But we did see a number of "chilonim" making their way to the various shuls, so I guess plenty of people do take the day seriously.

Anyway, obviously we weren't biking any where. Walking to Shul was enough. Although shul was still noisy, the davening was pretty good. Inspiring. I shed a tear or two for many reasons...

And now we wait for our lift--still hasn't arrived. And our Sukkah is on it. Will it come in time? Stay tuned...