fast. pray. love.

two days of rosh hashana plus one day of shabbat equals eight meals, lots of honey and one stuffed tummy!  it is no coincidence today is the fast of gedalia.  from dawn to dusk, we refrain from food and beverage to commemorate this day of tragedy in jewish history. on this day, a righteous jew named gedalia was murdered (along with many others). in charge of the jewish territory in israel after the destruction of the first temple, some jews didn't agree with gedalia's willingness to cooperate with nebuchadnezzar (who conquered israel around 2500 years ago).  this lead to his murder which was followed by the fleeing of the remaining jews from israel. as we take our first steps out of rosh hashana, take some time today to appreciate who we are, the love we should have for all jews and our connection to the land of israel.