Fast like a pirate
The origins of Yom Kippur are lost to time.
Was it invented by God from whole cloth and dictated to Moses? Did it evolve from a new year sanctuary purification ritual?
Talk Like a Pirate Day, on the other hand, has a clearer history.
It was invented by two guys talking on the racquetball court in 1995, and then it was publicized by columnist David Barry in 2002.
Since then, the holiday, which requires no acts of asceticism but promises no redemption, has spread, particularly in the sillier corners of the internet but even to the legislature of the state of Michigan, which has recognized the holiday repeatedly.
Decreed by its founders to be September 19 — the birthday of one of their ex-wives — this year presents the first coincidence of Talk Like A Pirate Day and Yom Kippur. Less rare and ultimately less evocative of the American Jewish experience than Thanksgivukkah, Yom Kippur-Like-A-Pirate-Day already has led author Nat Gertler to design this logo.
And at my synagogue, at least, the rabbi has promised to devote time on the afternoon of the double holiday to read from that most pirate-friendly of biblical books, the Book of Jonah.
comments