Yael Bar Zohar: "This Yom Kippur Eve - I Will Not Go to the Synagogue. I'll Be at Home, Just Me and the Siddur"

On the eve of Yom Kippur, Yael Bar Zohar published an emotional post calling on the people of Israel to appreciate the opportunity we have this year to conduct a genuine and internal self-reflection, even outside the synagogue walls.

"Yom Kippur Eve. We have been given the chance to look inward and truly see ourselves. Through reflection and honesty - to see our flaws, confess them, and cleanse ourselves. To ask for forgiveness, from ourselves and from those we have hurt. To aspire to be better people, with better actions."

Simultaneously, Bar Zohar shared her special connection to the synagogue, which only developed when she met her husband Guy Zu-Aretz. "As a child, I wasn't connected to this day until I met Guy, and I would go with him to the 'Yad Giborim' synagogue, founded by his grandfather Shalom Minu Zu-Aretz of blessed memory, in Ramat Gan when he immigrated from Tripoli.

"I would sit with Grandma Rikylina, of blessed memory, the most beautiful of women in the women's section, and she taught me how to pray, ask, and be intentional. This Yom Kippur Eve - I will not go to the synagogue, but stay at home. Me and the siddur. I wish for everyone who is fasting that it passes easily for them, and for us, for all our people, I wish gratuitous love! May we love one another even when we are different and don't agree on everything. May we be good and not feel like we desperately need this day to cleanse ourselves," she concludes.