Why not turn the clocks back in July next year?

It is 5:43 a.m. and I am sitting at my computer. Is the problem apparent yet?

For those of you who don't "get it", let me spell it out. It is now 5:44 and I am awake. Normal people who are not night watchmen or nightclub staff are in bed at this hour. I am not a night watchmen or nightclub staff. Now do you get it?

I am awake because despite my best efforts to ignore the light pouring in through my bedroom blinds, it is pelting me in the face and screaming MORNING. RISE AND SHINE. And my body can't help but oblige.

So, needless to say, I am not amused. (you can tell it is the week of Yom Kippur because I have toned down my language. I have enough things to repent for this Saturday without squeezing a few extra items in as I try to slide into home.)

This is the point in my standard little rants where I usually say "Back to the point" but today THIS seguay is precisely the point.

Approximately five years ago, 5700 odd years into the history of the Jewish people, the egomanics in the religious political party Shas decided to tamper with Jewish tradition which apparently wasn't working for them. Apparently it took more than 5000 years to see this whopping flaw and great thinkers of many generations (such as Maimonades, Rashi, Nachmonides, Feinstein and more) simply missed it.

Some of you are already smiling and nodding -- and yes the rest of you are still in the dark (lucky you).

Here's the problem: Five years ago, it became the law to turn back the clocks away from Daylight Savings in the days preceeding Yom Kippur. The thinking of the short-sighted ultra-relgious Shas Party was that it would be easier to fast the exact same 25 hours if you could sleep for one more of those hours. The plan actually worked just fine until Yom Kippur found itself in mid-September.

In this day and age when any eight-year-old can with the aid of a basic computer and an internet connection can tell you when Yom Kippur is going to fall until the end of time, the excuse of short-sightedness does not hold any water.

Despite anger from all corners in the State, Shas has held it's ground (and hijacked the country) on the basis that changing this law would damage the Jewish character of Israel.

Do I have to say this again?

5770 years of survival from every conceivable enemy the world could throw at us.

OR.........A five-year-old law imposed by a minority player in the mishmash of Israeli politics.

What has this got to do with protecting the Jewish character of Israel? And do you really think that a mental trick like this is going to be a determining factor in our future Jewishness?

All I know is that I can't sleep and I am going to be awake for as much of the fast this weekend as I would have been without the clocks turned back. AND, in the meantime turning the clocks back harms our pocketbooks. by causing people who live in the Jewish country to spend more on electricity. It also means that the same Jews in Israel must now drive home from work in the dark. Israelis are lousy drivers in daylight so this should really improve the situation. And no more little extra time for lots of people to come home from work and play with their kids outside in the last few minutes of daylight before it is time for bed. Nope.

Family time isn't important either. Nor is highway safety. All that matters is a 25-hour fast that is STILL 25 hours.

And of course, did I mention that I can't sleep.

My friend Barb, the Protestant Yom Kippur wannabee

I received an email earlier this week from my friend Barb in Toronto. She isn't Jewish and much to my surprise, after knowing her for years, I just found out that she is a Protestant. But in typical multicultural Toronto urban sophisticate form, she is open to taking the best of all religions and incorporating them into her life.

That's why she wrote to me this week to ask me what she could do to participate in Yom Kippur. Of course, she didn't want to fast. Anything but the fasting seemed doable to her. It's funny to see how the fasting seems so daunting to anyone who didn't grow up with it. Anyway, I made her a list of things to do so that she could have an annual repentance program.

Rather than tell you what I suggested, I am going to add her blog link here and let you read what she chose to do to celebrate Yom Kippur Protestant style. I know that sounds kind of weird but I am willing to applaud anyone who wants to improve themselves in any way. And I like to think of Barb's new program as a little touch of Tikun Olam -- me, her Jewish friend, helping her to leave the world a little better than she found it.

Good luck Barb!

And now it's time to fast and repent

Earlier in the week I was busy digesting and celebrating the Jewish New Year, which, I might add, is nothing like the Christian New Year. We pray, we eat and we are supposed to be thinking about how we are going to improve ourselves and live better lives in the coming year. And for the next 10 days that is pretty much what everyone I know is thinking about to greater or lesser degrees. Some of us have to do it while we cook of course.

We try to make sure we haven't left anyone with hurt feelings. (And on that note, let me say that I am sorry to anyone whom I may have unintentionally offended or harmed in any way during the past year. And if you think I hurt you intentionally, well, then, you are probably my children and you should get over it! And if you aren't my children then I probably feel bad about what I did -- at least a little bit and I will try my best to avoid doing a similar thing to you this year. If you would like to file an official complaint, please leave it on my front door step. I will get back to you.)

Now we are less than 24 hours from when God will close His Plan Book for the coming year. In it, is a list of who will have what experiences (good, bad and indifferent) for the year to come. I am a little shaky on this point because I happen to think that my good friend Diane z"l and my father z"l both had lived pretty admirably during their last year, yet God didn't see it that way and unfortunately they are both gone now.

But I am not going to dwell on that right now. Not because I don't want to but because I am realistic enough to know that I will never understand God and even if I did, that isn't going to change the outcome. Instead, I am simply going to try to focus on eating normally before the Fast, fasting with as much grace as I can muster, and planning to be a better person for at least a week or two after the Fast.

When I was a teenager, I never completed the Fast. Somewhere around hour 22 inevitably I would just completely fall apart and have to take to my bed with an apple. In those days God saw fit to give me another year despite my obvious shortcomings. This is partly why I don't really get what God is doing. And I pretty sure that He allows many people to continue to live and they have done some really bad things in the past year. (I am thinking about my previous post on "Rabbi Chen" as I write this but I don't want to get into the incitement thing again mere hours before Yom Kippur.)

Today in synagogue our rabbi said that during the Fast we are like angels because angels don't need food. I don't know how he knows that for sure, and he isn't the first person to say that, but let's assume that's true. The trick is to maintain your angel status (but with food) for as long as you can. In truth we all know that making major changes in our lives is anything but easy.

That said, tomorrow Jews around the world will actually attend synagogue in huge numbers. More than you will see in synagogues until this time next year.

In Israel, it is against the law to drive on Yom Kippur unless you are driving an emergency vehicle. Therefore, the streets will be empty of cars and people will be everywhere. It's an amazing experience. It's the only day of the year where all Jews in Israel seem kind of alike.

I guess everyone wants to be an angel even if it is only for a few hours. And by the time it ends 25 hours later, and we all rush home to put that first bite of food into our mouths, it's not hard to see what a holy experience it all was. Have an easy and meaningful Fast.