The day of our rejoicing

Counter-intuitively, Yom Kippur is a day of consolation and revival

Blowing shofar

In Israel, Yom Kippur (which begins this evening) is an extraordinary experience. All shops and businesses are shut. Traffic disappears and even the traffic lights are de-activated. People walk in the roads and on the motorways. The airport shuts down. There is a palpable sense of an entire country acting as one to withdraw from the world …