Yom Kippur - these people are insane

I didn't write anything for a long time. Had planned on posting about the trips to the desert and the Dead Sea, but it has been indefinitely delayed.

Anyway, last friday/saturday it was the Jewish new year which I celebrated with one of my friends' family. It was a very nice dinner with lots of food, mainly chicken and the traditional dish Gafilta Fish, and lots of apple with honey to have a pure and sweet new year.

The new year, רוש השנה (Rosh haShanah), also marks the beginning of the so called holiday season. It is followed by יום כיפור (Yom Kippur), the Day of Atonement, which will be next sunday/monday.

Here's a short description of the holiday, from Wikipedia:

"Yom Kippur, also known as the Day of Atonement, is the most solemn of the Jewish Holidays. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services.

Yom Kippur is the tenth day of the month of Tishrey. According to Jewish tradition, God inscribes each person's fate for the coming year into a "book" on Rosh Hashanah and waits until Yom Kippur to "seal" the verdict. During the Days of Awe, a Jew tries to amend his or her behavior and seek forgiveness for wrongs done against God (bein adam leMakom) and against other human beings (bein adam lechavero). The evening and day of Yom Kippur are set aside for public and private petitions and confessions of guilt (Vidui). At the end of Yom Kippur, one considers one's self absolved by God."

So far so good. Actually I know some people who usually don't care about any of the religions aspects, nor are they believers but in this day they spend 25 hours without food, ten of which are spent praying in a synagogue.

The insane part is that, unlike other religious days when people are allowed to not observe them, on Yom Kippur you actually CANNOT drive or eat outside or do anything. ALL stores are closed because on this day it is actually forbidden by law to work. It's not just a holiday when you don't have to work, you are FORBIDDEN.
I can't invite my friends for a barbecue (the ones who eat on this day) because probably the people around will go insane at us. Well... either we go spend two days in the middle of nowhere or we stay at home and eat in the dark so no one will sabotage us. Of course the eating in the dark is made up, but all the rest is actually true!

Let's see what happens anyway.

Some links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosh_Hashanah
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_kippur