{"id":3131,"date":"2017-09-29T12:48:24","date_gmt":"2017-09-29T18:48:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3131"},"modified":"2017-10-16T15:41:39","modified_gmt":"2017-10-16T21:41:39","slug":"a-new-practice-for-yom-kippur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3131","title":{"rendered":"A new practice for Yom Kippur"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jewish tradition teaches that G-d can only forgive transgressions\u00a0bein Adam l’Makom,\u00a0<\/em>those transgressions we commit against G-d. G-d cannot forgive transgressions bein Adam l’havero,\u00a0<\/em>between us and our fellow human beings. \u00a0Therefore, before Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, we apologize for ways in which we may have hurt others, intentionally or unintentionally. In this way we enter the Day of Atonement ready to engage in the process of\u00a0teshuva,\u00a0<\/em>or “return” to the path of fulfillment and joy.<\/p>\n

“Teshuva<\/i>\u00a0is about renewing a relationship that has been sundered, not simply curing one party’s guilt. It is about curing a hurt that has caused a rift between parent and child, husband and wife, brother and sister, friend and friend. As much as is possible, it returns things to the way they used to be.<\/a>”<\/p>\n

If there is a section of the Torah that comes immediately to my mind when I hear the phrase, “the way they used to be,” it is the first three chapters of Bereishit<\/em>, Genesis. I am reading those chapters this week, very carefully, as I prepare to begin the cycle of Torah readings once again on another holiday coming soon, Simchat Torah<\/em>, rejoicing in the Torah. This section comes to my mind because it describes an ideal world, a beautiful, lush, creative, harmonious world…a world in which no creature kills another for food or any other purpose.<\/p>\n

The key word is “harmonious.” The world in the first three chapters of Bereishit<\/em> is not one in which there is no violence because everything is the same. In fact, this is a world rich with difference. Creation is all about differentiating one thing from another, and as creation proliferates, so does difference — and G-d sees that it is all good.<\/p>\n

This vision has always led me to think that the path to a world of beauty, joy and fulfillment is not involved in reducing differences, whether they are religious or cultural or political or racial…but in rejoicing in them, seeing them as good, and respecting the wisdom that makes us all experience and see the world in different ways. At the same time, I believe our greatest ethical challenge as human beings is to overcome our fear of and sense of superiority toward “the other.”<\/p>\n

In recent years, I have begun to extend that appreciation for difference beyond the human realm. Increasingly I see that\u00a0human superiority (whether in intelligence or emotion or compassion) is nothing more than a construct — one created by those who place themselves at the top of that pyramid. In reality, other creatures on the planet have different ways of being intelligent or emotional or compassionate, perfectly suited to their environment and survival requirements.<\/span><\/p>\n

And yet, as Yuval Noah Harari,\u00a0Israeli professor of history and the author of the international bestseller\u00a0Sapiens: A Brief History of<\/a> Humankind<\/a><\/em>, says of factory farm animals: “The disappearance of wildlife is a calamity of unprecedented magnitude, but the plight of the planet\u2019s majority population\u2014the farm animals\u2014is cause for equal concern. \u00a0In recent years there is growing awareness of the conditions under which these animals live and die, and their fate may well turn out to be the greatest crime in human history. If you measure crimes by the sheer amount of pain and misery they inflict on sentient beings, this radical claim is not implausible.”<\/p>\n

This utter disregard and disdain for other life on the planet is worth contemplating as we enter Yom Kippur. This year I want to include in my own apology to all those whom I have knowingly or unknowingly wronged an apology to all creatures I have knowingly or unknowingly and thoughtlessly used.<\/p>\n

As I find ways every day to expand my own consciousness of the times my awareness of and appreciation for “the other” fails me, my hope is to do my part in tikkun<\/em>, repairing the world, “curing a hurt that has caused a rift” in creation. As I return to that extraordinary vision in the first chapters of Bereishit<\/em>, I want to be part of\u00a0returning<\/em> or\u00a0bringing our world closer to powerful potentiality.<\/p>\n

For more, visit my blog,\u00a0vegetatingwithleslie.org<\/a>, \u201cLike\u201d me on\u00a0FaceBook<\/b>\/Vegetating with Leslie or follow me on\u00a0Twitter<\/b>, @vegwithleslie.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jewish tradition teaches that G-d can only forgive transgressions\u00a0bein Adam l’Makom,\u00a0those transgressions we commit against G-d. G-d cannot forgive transgressions bein Adam l’havero,\u00a0between us and our fellow human beings. \u00a0Therefore, before Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, we apologize for ways in <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3132,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[108,127,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible_torah","category-nonhuman-animals","category-thoughts"],"yoast_head":"\nA new practice for Yom Kippur - Vegetating with Leslie<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3131\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A new practice for Yom Kippur - Vegetating with Leslie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jewish tradition teaches that G-d can only forgive transgressions\u00a0bein Adam l’Makom,\u00a0those transgressions we commit against G-d. G-d cannot forgive transgressions bein Adam l’havero,\u00a0between us and our fellow human beings. \u00a0Therefore, before Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, we apologize for ways in Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3131\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Vegetating with Leslie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-09-29T18:48:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-10-16T21:41:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/800px-Pillars_of_creation_2014_HST_WFC3-UVIS_full-res_denoised.jpg?fit=800%2C834&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"834\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leslie Cook\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leslie Cook\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3131#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3131\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Leslie Cook\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0896a9176262075b4139523533e2d382\"},\"headline\":\"A new practice for Yom Kippur\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-29T18:48:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-16T21:41:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3131\"},\"wordCount\":720,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3131#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/09\\\/800px-Pillars_of_creation_2014_HST_WFC3-UVIS_full-res_denoised.jpg?fit=800%2C834&ssl=1\",\"articleSection\":[\"Bible\\\/Torah\",\"Nonhuman animals\",\"Thoughts\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3131#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3131\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3131\",\"name\":\"A new practice for Yom Kippur - Vegetating with Leslie\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3131#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3131#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/09\\\/800px-Pillars_of_creation_2014_HST_WFC3-UVIS_full-res_denoised.jpg?fit=800%2C834&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-29T18:48:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-16T21:41:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0896a9176262075b4139523533e2d382\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3131#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3131\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3131#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/09\\\/800px-Pillars_of_creation_2014_HST_WFC3-UVIS_full-res_denoised.jpg?fit=800%2C834&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/09\\\/800px-Pillars_of_creation_2014_HST_WFC3-UVIS_full-res_denoised.jpg?fit=800%2C834&ssl=1\",\"width\":800,\"height\":834,\"caption\":\"NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has revisited the famous Pillars of Creation, originally photographed in 1995, revealing a sharper and wider view of the structures in this visible-light image. Astronomers combined several Hubble exposures to assemble the wider view. The towering pillars are about 5 light-years tall. The dark, finger-like feature at bottom right may be a smaller version of the giant pillars. The new image was taken with Hubble's versatile and sharp-eyed Wide Field Camera 3. The pillars are bathed in the blistering ultraviolet light from a grouping of young, massive stars located off the top of the image. Streamers of gas can be seen bleeding off the pillars as the intense radiation heats and evaporates it into space. Denser regions of the pillars are shadowing material beneath them from the powerful radiation. Stars are being born deep inside the pillars, which are made of cold hydrogen gas laced with dust. The pillars are part of a small region of the Eagle Nebula, a vast star-forming region 6,500 light-years from Earth. The colors in the image highlight emission from several chemical elements. Oxygen emission is blue, sulfur is orange, and hydrogen and nitrogen are green. A number of Herbig-Haro jets lengthened noticeably (see lower panel of linked page) in the nearly 20-year interval between the two Hubble images. Object Names: M16, Eagle Nebula, NGC 6611 A longer news release is linked here. The original image was edited to reduce noise. 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I raised a family, owned a farm and enjoyed tending a large organic garden and orchard 40 years ago. I restored a log cabin and enjoyed it as an energy conscious home way before energy consciousness was publicly conscious. I hold a number of advanced degrees focused on religion, literature and languages. I published a chapter in a book on women's rituals in Judaism. I have enjoyed a variety of careers including teaching, educational programming in the not-for-profit sector, technology and web management. For the last eight years I have owned a five-star (YELP) vegetarian cafe. This year we were voted best vegetarian dining experience in McHenry County by the readers of the Northwest Herald. I write articles on food for a local newspaper. 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