Believer Beware

To Pardon all our F***in' iniquities

Laurel Snyder grew up in a home where religion was somewhere between the opiate of the masses and a kettle of fish better left alone. As She did go to Hebrew school on Sundays but only to keep the grandparents off their case. After her parents' divorce, her mother started going to church. This caused Laurel much confusion, trying to sort out the often opposing messages between church and synagogue. She was never quite sure what was a bad word since it changed with the religious views of the family. In time, following religion classes in college and a host of other influences, Laurel began to shape a Judaism that fit her political interests and aesthetic.

And now she finds herself trying to navigate the Jewish season of awe, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Yom Kippur is the time to ask forgiveness of those we have harmed. During the Yom Kippur service, chests are thumped and a prayer is recited, called the Vidui. The prayer is an alphabetic recitation of the communal sins committed. Laurel calls it a string around the finger, a way to begin a new year by apologizing to others and ourselves (maybe even to God if we like) for our mistakes and missed chances. If you ask three times then the other person has to forgive you. if they don't, you are forgiven anyway. You get a do-over, if you bother to ask.

Some of the wisdom of an ancient path which Laurel affirms in her earthy style.

Peter