Ariella Green Week 5: Yom Kippur

 Ariella Green Week 5: Yom Kippur
The High Holidays. For a lot of us, it can be one of our favorite times of the year where we get to miss school without being assigned homework, or it’s an opportunity for us to get together with our family. Personally, the high holidays are one of my favorite times of the year because it gives me the ability to reset. Judaism understands that each year we need to reflect on our past mistakes and learn from them to become the best version of ourselves. This year in particular, I feel that I have a lot to ask G-d and I would like him to help guide me on the right path to grow as a person both mentally and spiritually.
In the spirit of talking about the high holidays, one of the first things that comes to my mind is Yom Kippur because it is the longest fast day of the year. After the 25 hour long fast, my family breaks the fast by stuffing our face with as many bagels, slices of lox, dollops of white fish salad and cream cheese, an assortment of toppings, and servings of cake/blintzes that our stomachs can hold.
My Ashkenazi brain did not realize that not all Jews break the fast the same way I do. According to some nutritionists interviewed by the Haaretz newspaper, they suggest breaking the fast with “a sweet cup of tea and a slice of babka '' because they recommend taking your time with eating after having not eaten anything for a long period of time. Jews in Iraq typically break the fast by eating a sweet dessert like cookies with a special almond milk followed by a larger meal made of season chicken and rice called t’beet (which by the way is so good. I had some in Israel when I stayed with Adi’s family). Moroccan Jews do something similar by having tea and cookies first followed by a hearty tomato based soup called harira. The soup is made of chickpeas, chicken/beef, lemon, and cilantro. (link)
Many Ashkenzaim Jews stick to more parve and dairy based food when breaking their fast. Something that I had learned from doing my research is that many European Jews broke the fast by eating herring (gross) because it was cheap and they knew that the body needed to replenish the salt found in the fish.
Question: What do you and your family eat to break the fast?

What is Lox and Bagels? - The Mountain Kitchen

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Comments

  1. Michael HakimOctober 4, 2022 at 8:37 AM

    My family and I usually eat pizza to break the fast, but maybe we'll switch it up this year. Honestly, after not eating for 25 hours, anything is good enough for me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousOctober 4, 2022 at 12:24 PM

    We break fast in the same way as you, by the sound of it. We invite a lot of family over and then we all try not to anger each other before the tray of bagels, lox, cream cheese, and desserts come out.

    ReplyDelete

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