Retreat for Yom Kippur

It is a four year old tradition that on the occasion of Yom Kippur members of the Hebrew speaking Catholic communities in Israel spend a few days in the period of Yom Kippur in prayer and fasting. This year 18 members of the kehillot of Haifa, Jerusalem, Jaffa and Beer Sheba gathered once again in the retreat house in Kiryat Yearim, Our Lady Ark of the Covenant. It was a wonderful time to renew friendships, catch up on news but most importantly to pray and fast, asking God for forgiveness for our sins.

The theme this year was the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). Four study sessions focused on the different figures in the parable: the son who leaves, the son who stays and the father who loves both. The magnificent painting of Rembrandt accompanied the entire retreat. Father David explained the three figures in the light of the verbs that characterize their actions in the text. A fourth session was animated by Michal to sum up the retreat, using art representations of the parable in order to deepen our understanding of the dynamics revealed in the parable.

There were times for personal prayer as well as community prayer at daily mass and in the liturgy of the hours. Two short documentary films were also screened, one about the prophetic Russian Orthodox priest, Father Alexender Men, who was brutally assassinated in 1990. The other was a documentary film, directed by Nurith Aviv, focusing on the Hebrew language and the relationship between the sacred and the profane.

These days were also a time for confession and a special penitential rite on the day of Yom Kippur, in solidarity with the Jewish people.

As always, the members of the kehilla were warmly welcomed by the Sisters of Saint Joseph in Kiryat Yearim and by the Filipina women who direct the center and the guest house.