Yom Kippur

Yesterday was Yom Kippur and for the first time in years I fasted. Not from any religious conviction I must admit but largely because I had spent the last five days in London, doing copious amounts of eating and drinking. I’ve been to London many times but this visit it really struck me what serious boozers the English are. Maybe it was because the weather was unseasonably warm and dry but every night at every pub there were crowds of people jamming the sidewalks drinking and smoking. (Do they not believe in cancer in London?) Maybe it was because I stayed in Soho but it seemed to me that every other storefront on so many streets was a restaurant, café or bar and all of them doing a good business. Anyway, the net result was when I wasn’t being a good cultural tourist, I, too was indulging in the national pastime. Somehow fasting on Yom Kippur seemed like a good transition back into normal life.