As Yom Kippur approaches, I look back fondly upon my days in Jerusalem in the German Colony, celebrating the Chagim. Yom Kippur is one holiday in Jerusalem that stands out for its beauty, but not because of the prayers said in the beit knesset (the synagogue) or anything having to do with shul specifically. It is a beautiful Jerusalem holiday specifically because of what happens outside of shul on the evening of Kol Nidrei and the day of Yom Kippur itself.
In Jerusalem, Yom Kippur is also Yom Ofanayim (Bicycle Day). On this day, there are practically no cars on the street. Not a single one. And as such, children of all ages and all backgrounds take over the city, riding their bicycles through the streets, zooming past the adults and other shul-goers on their way to or from the beit knesset.
Secular Jews and observant Jews walk amongst one another. Ashkenazic Jews, Sephardic Jews, Ethiopian Jews, Moroccan Jews and all others wish each other a tzom kal, an easy fast. Jews dressed in white for the holiday walk past Jews dressed in everyday clothing. Restaurants, cafes and stores are all closed. And all along, children of various ages ride their bicycles through the crowds of people, who are walking on the street itself, making room for the children.
It is a picture of peace.
Yom Ofanayim is what I sometimes think about when I listen to the words of the prophet Isaiah, which we read on Yom Kippur morning during the haftarah. “Is this the fast I desire,” (Isaiah 58:6), the prophet declares in the name of God. No, it clearly is not, he answers. Instead of a fast and afflicting one’s soul through the abstention from eating, which often will not lead to any substantive change in a person, go out and make a difference in the world. Get rid of wickedness. Open the gates of justice. Let the oppressed go free. Feed the hungry. Clothe the naked. Don’t ignore your brother in need. Isaiah implores us to not stand idly by and focus on our own selfish needs by fasting, while others around us are suffering.
Building a peaceful world, both within the Jewish community and within the larger global community, is not a simple endeavor. Nor will it be achieved in a day. But if that day should ever come, I imagine that it will look something like Yom Ofanayim, when children on their bicycles take over the streets of Jerusalem and their sounds of joy and happiness ring loud through the city.
With warmest wishes for a meaningful fast,
Rabbi Lesack
Truly inspiring.
ReplyDelete