Yom Kippur 5770
Sep. 28th, 2009 11:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidI went to Harvard's ortho minyan for all davening, feeling more certain of what sort of davening I'd get there than Tehillah. Plus, it was in Pound Hall, which, though not lovely, is familiar, and reasonable, and faces east, as opposed to the theater space in the Y, which is dark, has poor acoustics, and faces west.
I didn't eat or drink enough Sunday, which I assume is part of why I had a harder time today. This was compounded by a knee that's been wonky for a month now (the newest round of injury having reiterated a couple of times during the healing process, plus lots of 'twinges' that are near-misses), which made standing more difficult than usual; I ended up sitting for parts of repetition of the amidah for shacharit, musaf, and mincha (which made me feel not only gimpy, but aging). It didn't help that I woke up in the middle of the night, and had a hard time getting back to sleep, which led to noticeable exhaustion today, even during shacharit; I dragged myself home for a nap during the break (I'd been tired enough that the idea of skipping repetition of musaf floated across my brain; I'm very glad I didn't), and dragged myself back afterward.
Amazingly, mincha and neilah worked wonders on all the body-stuff. The thirst (which is always a greater need than the hunger) was more ignorable, despite my lips being dry, and the pain in my knee was more manageable (helped, I assume, by moving around more regularly, rather than stiffening into one position). The tiredness fell away, too.
I chose to sit up on the third floor, in the balcony where chairs and tables are stored; I find it easier to focus without lots of people around me. This would have been a bit easier if I'd been in a different part of the balcony, since the room next to me had a variety of programming scheduled there, ranging from a Sunday Xtian service of some sort, to a midday panel talk with free pizza (it smelled yummy)å, to some kind of study group in the afternoon (don't ask why I didn't move; I don't know). Even so, the freedom of being up there, carried on the voice of the baal tefillah, was good for me.
Musaf ran later than I think it usually does (8:30 am start, 2:30 pm finish), so the break wasn't long. Mincha was to start at 4:45 pm; I have no idea if it started on time, since I was late getting back, but it definitely ran late: I know the baal neilah, and it's a minimum of 50 minutes, which should have started well before 6:25. Other than the timing, the guy who led mincha had an amazing voice. And the baal neilah is someone I respect. The last repeated verses, throwing myself into them, letting go of other thought, worked, and then the one long perfect blast on the shofar... I hope that my times of inattention, of less than even good kavanna, were swept away.
I hope it was a good day for everyone who was celebrating.
I didn't eat or drink enough Sunday, which I assume is part of why I had a harder time today. This was compounded by a knee that's been wonky for a month now (the newest round of injury having reiterated a couple of times during the healing process, plus lots of 'twinges' that are near-misses), which made standing more difficult than usual; I ended up sitting for parts of repetition of the amidah for shacharit, musaf, and mincha (which made me feel not only gimpy, but aging). It didn't help that I woke up in the middle of the night, and had a hard time getting back to sleep, which led to noticeable exhaustion today, even during shacharit; I dragged myself home for a nap during the break (I'd been tired enough that the idea of skipping repetition of musaf floated across my brain; I'm very glad I didn't), and dragged myself back afterward.
Amazingly, mincha and neilah worked wonders on all the body-stuff. The thirst (which is always a greater need than the hunger) was more ignorable, despite my lips being dry, and the pain in my knee was more manageable (helped, I assume, by moving around more regularly, rather than stiffening into one position). The tiredness fell away, too.
I chose to sit up on the third floor, in the balcony where chairs and tables are stored; I find it easier to focus without lots of people around me. This would have been a bit easier if I'd been in a different part of the balcony, since the room next to me had a variety of programming scheduled there, ranging from a Sunday Xtian service of some sort, to a midday panel talk with free pizza (it smelled yummy)å, to some kind of study group in the afternoon (don't ask why I didn't move; I don't know). Even so, the freedom of being up there, carried on the voice of the baal tefillah, was good for me.
Musaf ran later than I think it usually does (8:30 am start, 2:30 pm finish), so the break wasn't long. Mincha was to start at 4:45 pm; I have no idea if it started on time, since I was late getting back, but it definitely ran late: I know the baal neilah, and it's a minimum of 50 minutes, which should have started well before 6:25. Other than the timing, the guy who led mincha had an amazing voice. And the baal neilah is someone I respect. The last repeated verses, throwing myself into them, letting go of other thought, worked, and then the one long perfect blast on the shofar... I hope that my times of inattention, of less than even good kavanna, were swept away.
I hope it was a good day for everyone who was celebrating.
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no subject
Date: 2009-09-29 01:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-29 01:44 pm (UTC)And *wave*; sorry I didn't greet you in person, but I was pretty much totally out of people-cope (hence where I went).
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Date: 2009-09-29 02:00 pm (UTC)I got to mincha just at the beginning of the amidah, so I also don't know how on time they started. Missed all earlier services, opting instead to read and nap.