Jewish-ish.

Tonight marks the beginning of the holiest of Holy days for Jews, Yom Kippur.

I'm not in the least religious. I stay out of Temple with a vengeance. And, I'll admit, if there is a god, I will never forgive him for that thing called the Holocaust. I've read a fair amount of Theology in my life, trying to find a rationale, a way of reconciling horror and divinity, but I find none of them even remotely convincing. So, we'll just leave it at this: I am not a religious Jew.

But I am a Jew. There's no denying it. It's in my corpuscles.

And of all the Jewish Holidays, Yom Kippur is the one the affects me the most. It has, if you want to get all high-falutin' about it, the best semiotics.

The idea of taking pause, of reflecting, of thinking about the deeds you did and didn't do, about the slights you slighted, the things you said that you shouldn't have. The things you should have said that you didn't.

These are good things to think about.

The people you've hurt, intentionally, and unintentionally. The wrongs you did. The mistakes you made. The half-truths you may have told, or even the lies.

These are good things to think about.

It's also good to think about tomorrow.

How can I be kinder, fairer, a better husband, father, brother, neighbor, co-worker, citizen of a wounded planet.

These are good things to think about.

Whether or not you're a Jew.

All this to say, I'll be leaving early today.

Sorry.