Flashback: A Yom Kippur Running Diary
Badger of Honor interviews former Wisconsin Badger fullback Matt Bernstein about his career day on Yom Kippur in 2003 against Penn State.
Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. The English translation means “Day of Atonement.”
It’s the day where Jews attend (long) services and ask for forgiveness for sins and forgive others.
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It’s a solemn period for self-reflection, and ideally, personal improvement in the new Jewish year.
In addition, able-bodied congregants abstain from food or drink for a period of 24 hours. If you need more instruction, I highly recommend checking the biblical book Leviticus for more details.
This year, Yom Kippur starts on the evening of Friday September 29th and ends on sundown on Saturday September 30th.
We will almost always stick to sports on Badger of Honor. Although that’s never mandatory for anyone.
So why the Yom Kippur 101 lecture? Badger of Honor has an exclusive interview with former Wisconsin Badger fullback Matt Bernstein, who is Jewish. On Yom Kippur, gregorian calendar year 2004, Bernstein had a career day while recovering from his fast.
Important disclosure: Bernstein is a friend of my brother. He put me in touch with Bernstein and the ex-Badger graciously answered my questions over email.
Other disclosure: I’m Jewish. Of course, my name probably already indicated that even if I don’t write it with triple parentheses as some very fine people would.
I’m Jewish enough that I still insist Ryan Braun is innocent even after he admitted guilt. That was an acceptable amount of testosterone for a Jewish man.
In addition, Sandy Koufax is the greatest southpaw of all time. If you’re about to say “Clayton Kershaw” kindly sit down.
So please scroll through this post and learn what Bernstein has to say about a memorable Yom Kippur football game.