Why Former Basketball Star Aulcie Perry Regrets Skipping Yom Kippur Fast

A week before Yom Kippur, Aulcie Perry, a former basketball player who converted to Judaism, shares his deep regret over not fasting on a particular Yom Kippur. He believes that since that day, various 'problems' began to emerge in his life.

In a lengthy interview with 'Walla', Perry discusses the tough adjustment to his new reality as an amputee confined to a wheelchair—a consequence of a scalding cup of tea that spilled on his right leg, resulting in a severe burn and weeks of ongoing pain. "My life is no longer the same," he says. "I feel it in every action I do. When I walk, stand, sit, and talk. I feel like a baby learning to take his first steps. I have no balance, I am seeking equilibrium. Everything is different. It's hard to put on and take off the prosthesis. Initially, I couldn't come to terms with what happened to me. How could I lose a leg over a cup of tea? It feels so senseless."

Perry vividly remembers the moment everything changed: "It was one of the hardest moments of my life," he reminisces. "I was in the hospital for two or three months, and the doctors came with the nurses to tell me that my leg was beyond saving. I was in complete shock because I didn't see it coming. It was hard to accept. My legs were my life, they took me to where I got, they allowed me to play basketball at a high level. Thanks to them, I achieved my dream."

One of the most poignant revelations in the interview is about Yom Kippur in 1985 - the only year he didn't fast. "Since I converted in 1979, I've always fasted, except that year," he recalls, adding with pain, "Shortly after, I was arrested and everything fell apart. Since then, every year, I think about it as Yom Kippur approaches. I always wonder if there's a connection between the events, and I regret not fasting that year."