Tuesday, October 7, 2014

The Point Of Yom Kippur?

From the news:

New York Giants offensive guard Geoff Schwartz said on Wednesday that he will not eat anything between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday in observation of Yom Kippur, ESPN reported.
“If I was playing, I wouldn’t fast, because I’ve got to be able to fuel myself to play,” said the Jewish athlete, who is on short-term leave due to a toe injury. “But it’s not that tough, really. I’ll eat dinner at 5:00 Friday, then I’ll go to services and I’ll just basically miss breakfast and lunch Saturday. I get grumpy, sure. It’s not the most fun 27 hours or so. But it’s worth doing.”

“Yom Kippur, everyone’s in services and you’re all hungry together,” he added. “Everyone’s just miserable, but that is the point. You want to feel that way.”

If he were playing, then he wouldn't fast. Meaning - a football game overrides Yom Kippur...

And he thinks that the point of Yom Kippur is to feel miserable.

You know sweet friends, the concept of ערבות teaches that his ignorance and distance from our tradition is my problem too. May Hashem be machzir us all bi-tshuva.

And after all is said and done - he is fasting, even though it will make him grumpy [which can be quite dangerous given his size of 6' 6' and 340 pounds, I wouldn't want to be around him when he is grumpy. I also wouldn't want to be a quarterback for the opposing team...]. Mi ki-amcha yisrael. A gorilla sized man misses two meals for the Ribbono Shel Olam.