Yom Kippur as Manifest in an Approaching Dorsal Fin by Adam Byrn Tritt Page A
Authors: Adam Byrn Tritt
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us macaroni and cheese,
and other assorted things we shouldn’t eat,
and we sat and talked. I needed that comfort
after this weekend. Next to Lee, she’s the per-
son I’ve known the longest.
144
Yahrzeit
Sometime around six we leave and drive
home, less than a two-hour drive. I drove
there with a mother. I drive home without
one.
145
What Do Jews Do
on Christmas?
What do Jews do on Christmas? Well
in the United States,
at least,
we take walks,
move,
find a park
We go out to the few open businesses,
movies theater, Chinese food,
and know that most everyone we see
will be Jewish
or atheist (though they may still follow
comfortable family tradition)
or what have you, but not Christian.
Here, the temperature is in the 70s
and we had a beautiful solstice under
the stars
147
Adam Byrn Tritt
(we could see though the city-glow)
in our shirtsleeves
and on the 25th
we are at my sister-in-law’s
(mother-in law, father-in-law, wife,
daughter, and son)
because she doesn’t want to be the only
Jew at her home
as she gathers her husband’s family—
Southern Baptists all
and very concerned for the souls of the
children.
We are there with my mother-in-law
who was born Jewish
but who is sure America has made
Christmas
a national holiday
we have to celebrate
or incur a terrible social wrath.
She wants to know if we are going to
heaven.
(How the hell should I know?)
(Is it full of people just like this?)
Then the party is over,
148
What Do Jews Do on Christmas?
everyone wishes each other Merry
Christmas
over piles of presents given each other
in honor of the Christ child
and we gave one or two but look at all
that stuff! And say goodbye.
149
About the Author
A dam Byrn Tritt , MEd, CH,
LMT, is an internationally bestsell-
ing author, poet, essayist, screen-
writer, teacher, social activist, and humorist.
In 2012 his hilarious children’s book, Bud the Spud , was published by Axios Press. In addi-tion to Yom Kippur as Manifest in an Approaching Dorsal Fin, Tritt is the author of Songs from the Well: A Memoir of Love , the chronicle of his love for his wife, her sudden and heart-breaking loss to brain cancer, and his struggle
151
Adam Byrn Tritt
to find a way back to life; The Phoenix and the Dragon: Poems of the Alchemical Transformation , a collection of his poetry; as well as several works of nonfiction including the best-
selling Tellstones: Runic Divination in the Welsh Tradition.
Tritt won the 2006 EPPIE Award for
Poetry in an Anthology. In 1995 he was
awarded an honorary doctorate for his work
in religious tolerance and for the creation of
TurningPoint, a nonprofit program provid-
ing alternative medicine to low-income indi-
viduals. He continues that passion today in
the healthcare clinic he and his wife, Lee,
dreamed of and created together—the Well-
ness Center.
He is equally at home speaking in lecture
halls, giving public readings in bookstores,
and visiting elementary school classrooms,
where he can be found surrounded by chil-
dren begging him to read Bud the Spud just one more time (while their parents and teachers beg him to stop).
Tritt has a bunch of academic degrees, lots
of initials after his name, at one time man-
aged to hold a responsible job teaching your
152
About the Author
children, and lives in Palm Bay, Florida, with
Dusty the dingo dog, and a ridiculously large
alligator, all under a very big tree. His website is AdamTritt.com.
153
and other assorted things we shouldn’t eat,
and we sat and talked. I needed that comfort
after this weekend. Next to Lee, she’s the per-
son I’ve known the longest.
144
Yahrzeit
Sometime around six we leave and drive
home, less than a two-hour drive. I drove
there with a mother. I drive home without
one.
145
What Do Jews Do
on Christmas?
What do Jews do on Christmas? Well
in the United States,
at least,
we take walks,
move,
find a park
We go out to the few open businesses,
movies theater, Chinese food,
and know that most everyone we see
will be Jewish
or atheist (though they may still follow
comfortable family tradition)
or what have you, but not Christian.
Here, the temperature is in the 70s
and we had a beautiful solstice under
the stars
147
Adam Byrn Tritt
(we could see though the city-glow)
in our shirtsleeves
and on the 25th
we are at my sister-in-law’s
(mother-in law, father-in-law, wife,
daughter, and son)
because she doesn’t want to be the only
Jew at her home
as she gathers her husband’s family—
Southern Baptists all
and very concerned for the souls of the
children.
We are there with my mother-in-law
who was born Jewish
but who is sure America has made
Christmas
a national holiday
we have to celebrate
or incur a terrible social wrath.
She wants to know if we are going to
heaven.
(How the hell should I know?)
(Is it full of people just like this?)
Then the party is over,
148
What Do Jews Do on Christmas?
everyone wishes each other Merry
Christmas
over piles of presents given each other
in honor of the Christ child
and we gave one or two but look at all
that stuff! And say goodbye.
149
About the Author
A dam Byrn Tritt , MEd, CH,
LMT, is an internationally bestsell-
ing author, poet, essayist, screen-
writer, teacher, social activist, and humorist.
In 2012 his hilarious children’s book, Bud the Spud , was published by Axios Press. In addi-tion to Yom Kippur as Manifest in an Approaching Dorsal Fin, Tritt is the author of Songs from the Well: A Memoir of Love , the chronicle of his love for his wife, her sudden and heart-breaking loss to brain cancer, and his struggle
151
Adam Byrn Tritt
to find a way back to life; The Phoenix and the Dragon: Poems of the Alchemical Transformation , a collection of his poetry; as well as several works of nonfiction including the best-
selling Tellstones: Runic Divination in the Welsh Tradition.
Tritt won the 2006 EPPIE Award for
Poetry in an Anthology. In 1995 he was
awarded an honorary doctorate for his work
in religious tolerance and for the creation of
TurningPoint, a nonprofit program provid-
ing alternative medicine to low-income indi-
viduals. He continues that passion today in
the healthcare clinic he and his wife, Lee,
dreamed of and created together—the Well-
ness Center.
He is equally at home speaking in lecture
halls, giving public readings in bookstores,
and visiting elementary school classrooms,
where he can be found surrounded by chil-
dren begging him to read Bud the Spud just one more time (while their parents and teachers beg him to stop).
Tritt has a bunch of academic degrees, lots
of initials after his name, at one time man-
aged to hold a responsible job teaching your
152
About the Author
children, and lives in Palm Bay, Florida, with
Dusty the dingo dog, and a ridiculously large
alligator, all under a very big tree. His website is AdamTritt.com.
153
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