On friday, around four PM we started to close the bistro (I don’t like bistro, but this is what the Bau amt wants), in preparation for Yom Kippur. One of the diners, a woman in her 30’s saw me hanging the sign, saying that we will be closed for the next two days, started to inquire me about Yom Kippur.

I did my best job trying to explain the concept of atonement, first philosophically, and then on the practical aspect. It went like this:

Her: “So it just like the Ramadan”.

Me: “no, we don’t eat at night. We don’t eat for 26 hours”.

Her: “but you are allowed to drink”.

Me: “no, we are not allowed to do nothing for 26 hours, just pray, and atone to ourselves, and ask for forgiveness from those we hurt in the past year”.

Her: “what do you mean you are not allowed to do anything?”

Me: “I will give you an example: if you leave the lights on before Yom Kippur, you are not allowed to shut them down until the end of Yom Kippur”.

Her: “wow, but this is such a waste of energy”.