A Soulful Journey

I am forever intrigued by the unusual customs of other faiths.  The customs they observe I watch with a dispassionate and analytical eye.  It is easy to understand the meaning of what other religions do when watched from the outside.  What I want to present here are some of the unusual practices of our faith that may be less understood or not usually viewed as an outsider. Did you know that on the lunar calendar, a day called the Ninth of Av, we read the book of Lamentations while sitting on the floor of the synagogue? Lights are dimmed and candles are lit as a dirge-like text and melody is intoned. This day commemorates the fall of both Temples as well as countless of the tragedies. It is a mournful night that travels into the next day when observant Jews fast and weep for destructions that tore us away from the sacred Temples in Jerusalem.  The Ninth of Av is a bleak day, observed annually, for the Jewish people. On the festival of Shav...

While running from the Nazis, Rabbi Morris Shapiro stopped on Friday August 7, 1954 to pray at the graves of his uncle and father.   “I did not pray to survive but rather that I should die repentant.”   This is why visit the graves of loved ones before the Holy Days.   Even though they are gone from sight we still communicate our love and sorrow to them.