Bill Petro

THE WAR: TV MINISERIESIn January 2007 I wrote about my conversation with Ken Burns, award winning producer of The Civil War documentary, about his upcoming miniseries about World War II called simply The War. This presentation took place at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. He was at that time previewing his 7-part, 14.5 hour series — that he has been working on for some 6 years — at military academies around the country. I wrote three articles at that time about:

• Questions I asked Ken Burns
• The making of the new documentary
• The content of this series

Now the series is finally going to be shown. It debuts Sunday, September 23, 2007 on your local PBS station. Already the companion book is on the market, as is the sound track which I have been listening to for the last week, featuring not only a modern piece by Nora Jones called American Anthem, but also music from the 1940 period before, during, and after The War.This is television worth watching, and I recommend it to you. Check your local television listing.Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian www.billpetro.com

YOM KIPPUR

The Jewish High Holy Days begin with Rosh Hashana and continue until Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, or more correctly Yom ha-Kippurim (Leviticus 16) goes back to Jewish antiquity almost 4,000 years to the time of Moses. This most solemn occasion of the Jewish Festival cycle was the season for annual cleansing from sin, but in time its significance was deepened so that it acquired personal meaning and filled a private need. It is observed on the 10th day of Tishri, the seventh month, and is the climax of the whole penitential season.

Originally, on one day of the year the high priest would enter into the innermost part of the Tabernacle (and later the Temple in Jerusalem). He would enter the Holy of Holies with the blood of the sacrifice which was for the sin of the people as a congregation, and sprinkle it upon the ‘mercy seat’ of the Ark of the Covenant (made famous by the movie “Raiders of the Lost Ark” :-). This would ‘cover’ the sin of the people, as this is what the Aramaic (and Hebrew) root ‘kapar’ (atonement) means. With the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D., later Rabbinic legislation adapted the old ritual to the synagogue. The blasts of the ’shofar’ the ritual ram’s horn trumpet, signify, among other things, the inarticulate cry of the soul to God.

In later times, there is a whole body of Jewish law requiring the individual to seek forgiveness from one another. This a part of the Mishneh Torah - a distillation of Jewish law based in the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud - written by the great 12th-century Jewish philosopher and legal authority Maimonides. It calls for an attention to requests for forgiveness from family, friends and associates for the offenses of the past year. The body of law, lore and custom surrounding repentance, forgiveness and the Day of Atonement is immense, and has grown since the time of Maimonides.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
www.billpetro.com