Limmud Toronto 2019

My new (not yet published) novel, Yom Kippur in a Gym, follows five random people at a Yom Kippur service that is set in a gym not unlike the one at the Miles Nadal JCC. This book reveals what these five fascinating characters are really thinking about, feeling, and experiencing during Yom Kippur. Each individual is struggling – spiritually, religiously, existentially, emotionally – with a particular issue. These five people are strangers to each other, but because of something that happens during the service, they end up meeting, and have surprising interactions that will affect all their lives.

There are religious, spiritual, and personal issues in this book that will be easy to relate to for anyone who has ever sat in a Yom Kippur service and tried to engage with it in a meaningful way. I will present some of these issues, relating each of them to a character in the book, and will illustrate my points by reading a few brief passages. The first half of our hour together will be a presentation, but the second half will be a discussion with everyone present about the religious and spiritual issues that have been introduced.