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My First

Yom Kippur:

An Interview

with Sivan

Rahav-Meir

Hillel Shalit and

Elad Hominer

he first time I observed Yom Kippur and fasted nusach has become the version that I revert to in my thoughts,
was at the age of 15. I met a religious girl from to this day. I will never forget how they repeatedly said the 13
Tekoa, her name was Talia Castelenovo, and she attributes of mercy, ‘א ָר ְקִּי ַו ויָנ ָּ פ ל ַע ‘ה רֹב ֲעַּי ַו, And Hashem passed
“Tinvited me to experience Yom Kippur from the before him and proclaimed’ (Shemot 34:6), and all kinds of other
inside, for the first time in my life.” So began our interview with poems and melodies that suddenly come back to me. I was very
media personality and lecturer Sivan Rahav-Meir. excited to recognize Adon Olam, but other than that, most of what
In Ramat HaSharon and Herzliya, where Sivan grew up, Yom I encountered that day was new to me: standing before G-d,
Kippur was a quiet day, thanks to the Jewish character of the saying ‘ashamnu, bagadnu,’ and the vidui, the idea of forgiveness
State of Israel, “but it was also a day of cycling with friends. After and atonement and a fresh start. Lots of ‘scoops’ were waiting
my first fast, I went up to Jerusalem by bus, and I remember for me. That night I couldn’t sleep from excitement. We slept at
buying food all the time. I bought food in the central bus stations Talia’s grandmother’s and talked into the night. I read the Yom
of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, because I was really stressed by not Kippur machzor throughout the day, as if it were a book meant to
being allowed to eat for an entire day. Ultimately, though, this be read straight through, from beginning to end. I tried to ‘crack
wasn’t the main part of the experience. I almost didn’t feel like I it,’ because I felt it contained a secret code.”
was fasting, I had so much enthusiasm for the holy day. Today,” Sivan Rahav-Meir was born in Ramat HaSharon, to Aryeh and
she admits, “the fasts obviously challenge me more, and are not Ronit Rahav, and grew up secular. At the age of six, she moved
as automatically exciting as they were at the beginning.” with her family to Herzliya, and began writing for the children’s
The first Yom Kippur had a great impact on Rahav-Meir. “We newspapers ‘Chopper’ and ‘Pashush.’ When she was eight years
prayed with Talia’s family at the Italian Synagogue on Hillel old she was identified as a gifted child. Later, Sivan hosted TV
Street in Jerusalem. It’s interesting because this has become a programs on ‘Educational Television,’ including the children’s
kind of ‘א ָתּוק ְנַי ְ ּ ד א ָס ְר ִּג’ for me, ‘the learning of my childhood.’ You program ‘Banana Boom,’ and served as a youth reporter for the
are very influenced by the initial wording that you hear, and this newspapers ‘Kulana’ and ‘Rosh 1.’

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