"What, shall this speech be spoke for our excuse?
Or shall we on without a apology?"

--Romeo, about to crash the party where he meets Juliet (Romeo and Juliet 1.4.1-2)


The Post-Yom Kippur Report



Yom Kippur's supposed to be an occasion to think about your bad behavior, sins, regrets over the past year. Times you should have said “sorry” but didn’t.

That was the problem: I’ve spent the past year training myself not to apologize for everything. So Yom Kippur felt kind of a gratuitous this year. Like, every day is Yom Kippur, so why is this any different? In addition to starving myself, should I also be feeling more guilt about the parent events I didn’t attend, the homework I didn’t help with, and the activities I didn’t sign the kids up for? Not to mention the deadlines at work I missed and the “must have coffees” I failed to follow through on. If anything, I need a holiday about refusing to say sorry.

For my kids (as guided by our temple rabbis), Yom Kippur means no pushing, no shoving, and apologies for all the crap you’ve done to your siblings over the last twelve months. For my husband, it means attending every temple service available during a twenty-four hour period and wearing a funereal black suit.

But does Yom Kippur have any use for me? I admit I was kind of psyched to fast because I haven’t exercised all week, but that’s obviously not very spiritual.

I’m sorry that I’m not more sorry. That’s all I got right now.