Shuie and I went to the Mamilla Mall for date night. Mamilla is a new promenade/shopping center that was built right outside of the old city. It’s very beautiful, with an open ceiling and a view of the Artists’ Colony, but it’s also very touristy and overpriced. I told Shuie that for our next date night I want to go explore a more low-profile neighborhood. Today at school, instead of regular classes, there was a Yom Iyun, a day of lectures centering around one subject (in this case, it was Yom Kippur, which begins on Sunday night. I was moved by one class in particular, in which we learned about the Jewish concept of individuality. In our tradition, every soul is comparable to an entire world: if you destroy a life, it is like destroying the entire world. Same for saving a life. This gives each person a level of importance beyond anything, even the Torah, which is the holiest thing in the world. We each have our own specific characters that are unique to us; there has never been anyone nor will there ever be anyone exactly like me again. Every one of us is special, and we each have our own unique purpose. These were of course things that I have thought about before, but when applied to the day of Yom Kippur, it is a comforting concept. Yom Kippur has a reputation of being a heavy, solemn day during which we are narrowly escaping punishment for the multitude of sins we committed in the past year. But if Gd made me so special and cares so much about who I am and what I’m doing, then Yom Kippur is a day of joy when I return to the Source. “Ani L’Dodi V’Dodi Li”, they write (”I am my beloved’s and my beloved’s is mine”). Yom Kippur is also a day of love that I spend getting as close to Gd as possible. That idea put a completely different spin on things for me, so much so that I am actually looking forward to the holiday. While Yom Kippur doesn’t require me to do any major cooking, I do need to prepare by finding childcare. I don’t do well during fasts and I am definitely going to need help taking care of Yonah. Here’s hoping I find someone.