Shalom and welcome back to our home here in Jerusalem! Today at sunset starts Yom Kippur, the day of forgiveness, and I wanted to show you a little bit about the preparations here at our house, and everything that is going to happen in the next 24 hours, so let's get started! Yom Kippur is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, and it is dedicated to prayer and fasting, and when we talk about fasting, guys, it is a whole day of fasting!
In reality it ends up being even 25 hours of fasting, so we have to make preparations. Five main things are forbidden on this day; first of all obviously eating and drinking, besides that it is forbidden to wear leather shoes, which we will talk about later, it is also forbidden to take baths and to use lotions and perfumes, and it is also forbidden to have marital relations. So, the goal of the personal fast is not to suffer, not to make physical suffering, but the goal is to focus on God, on prayers, on everything that Yom Kippur represents.
So before the fast, and also after the fast, we have two meals. So the Seuda mafseket, that is the meal before Yom Kippur I am already preparing, here you can see the table in the background, I am just finishing the food here in the kitchen, and before sunset we will have this meal together. The whole family will gather around the table to make the meal before the fast, you can see here there is bread, there is no wine guys, it is not a good idea to drink wine before the fast, but to drink a lot of water.
If you are going to fast people, already the day before we usually drink more water than usual, and the whole family makes the meal but not everybody really fasts. Fasting starts from the Bar or Bat Mitzvaha, that is, girls at the age of 12, boys at the age of 13; and folks, fasting can't put anyone's life at risk or make anyone ill. So whoever is diabetic, whoever has health conditions and cannot fast, should not fast.
And the last thing we do before sunset are the women, they light the candles from Yom tov and here are the candlesticks from my family, these candlesticks belonged to my grandmother and they are the ones I am going to light today before sunset. Our special guest is here again, my dog is here in the corner. But let's say that when the fasting starts, the world really stops here in Israel; it is the only day in the year that really everything shuts down.
Guys the TV stops broadcasting, the radio stops broadcasting, the radio goes silent, the airport closes, guys it's the only day of the year that all the airports in Israel are closed. In these last few months, even with everything that's been happening, thee airports have continued working for a few flights, on Yom Kippur it really closes, they also close the door of the airport all the stores, restaurants, bars, all the commerce, shopping centers, cinemas, folks, the whole country stops. They even close most of the streets in the country.
They put up easels at the entrance of the street, and the street becomes empty, and because of this, many children and young people go out to ride their skateboards and roller skates through the empty streets, it is a moment when the country stops. It's very interesting and beautiful and different to see, when really everybody stops with a common goal; that it is a religious goal, even non-religious ones also stop. So it is something very worthwhile also to see and to know here in Israel!
And now we are missing one last thing. So guys, now we are ready, me and Skoll, let's go down here. So, guys, I am ready: like the clothes for Yom kippur, the clothes are white, it is traditional and besides, here the shoes are Havaianas since it is forbidden to wear leather shoes, we wear other types of shoes, tennis shoes, flip flops, anything that is not leather.
The idea of leather is that in ancient times leather shoes were super comfortable, super luxurious, and the idea of this day is that we leave the luxury and "worldly life" aside, and focus on God and prayer and that is why it is very interesting to go to the synagogue and see everybody dressed in nice clothes, the men in suits and "crocs", or suits and flip-flops, dresses and flip-flops, I mean it's an interesting mix because the shoes usually don't match the clothes. But I want to wish everyone Gmar Chatima Trova! This is what we say on Yom Kippur, which means that we are sealed in the Book of Life, God opens the Book of Life on Rosh Hashanah in the new year, and begins to write all the decrees that will take place in the following year, and on Yom Kippur, He closes and seals it.
So let us be sealed for a very very good year, and in addition, we say Tzom Kal, an easy fast. Here in Israel most of the population fasts, and I know that it is strange for those who have never fasted to hear about twenty-five hours without drinking or eating anything, but to be quite honest, most of the difficulty, at least for me, is more psychological than physical, the moment you get into it, you go to the Synagogue and everyone is in this prayer and in this rhythm, it is something that is easy, and yes, it is important to drink a lot of water before. So people, Gmar Chatima Trova!
That we seal everyone sealed in the Book of Life, Tzom Kal; an easy fast. Thank you so much for the last four months that you have watched and supported and the channel is growing, I am super happy! And I apologize if I offended someone, if I said anything out of place, one of the things we really do with all our hearts on Yom Kippur before Yom Kippur is to ask forgiveness to God, but also to other people, so if for some reason I did something that you didn't like, I ask forgiveness and I hope that this New Year will be better for everyone, for all humanity.
May we start a year full of health, full of love, and full of good things. So Gmar Chatima Trova for the last time, a kiss and thank you from all my heart!
