Day of Atonement

Yom Kippur is not the most fun of all Jewish Holidays. You start fasting the night before, right before the first dose of synagogue. Then its rise and shine the next morning to head to another fun filled day of synagogue - a dose in the morning, and a dose in the afternoon that leads into the evening. Dose is the appropriate word because it really is like taking your medicine.

In Catholicism, there is the idea of confession. It's understood that everyone commits sins, but if you repent you'll be forgiven. In the Jewish religion, we have a "one time a year" confession - Yom Kippur. There's a lot of synagogue because instead of a weekly confession, we only have one day to get the sins out. The fasting is to help cleanse the soul. It reminds us of the pain we caused others, and shows our commitment to repentance.

By the end of the day I am the last person you want to talk to. I'm hungry, I'm tired, and I am sooo annoyed by all the people in synagogue who don't bother to put away their rudeness and disrespect on the day of atonement. Some people don't like to be spoken to before they have their morning coffee. Don't speak to me before break-the-fast.

Break-the-fast is supposed to be a light meal. I prepared ahead of time by making egg salad and cucumber salad. Perfect and light. This egg salad is Jon's favorite egg salad. It's a nice change from the usual, although we didn't bother to tell anyone it was "different" and no one noticed.

Cucumber Salad

1 cucumber, peeled and sliced thin
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup mayo
2 Tbsp mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp chopped dill

1) place cucumber in colander with salt and let sit for 30 min. Rinse in cold water to rinse off salt and press out excess water with a paper towel.
2) Combine mayo and mustard. Add to cucumbers.
3) Season with salt, pepper, and dill.

Egg Salad

12 hardboiled eggs, peeled and coarsely chopped
3/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
salt and pepper to taste

1) In medium bowl combine eggs, mayonnaise, scallions and curry powder.
2) Season with salt and pepper.