Together with thousands of New York Jews who gathered near Zuccotti park on Erev Yom Kippur, Libby Lenkinski took part in a unique, spiritual occasion By Libby Lenkinski It is Yom Kippur 2011, and I get to say “I was there.” Visiting New York, I decided to forego the typical New York synagogue service and instead participated in a Kol Nidre service (the opening prayers for Yom Kippur) at the Occupy Wall Street site that a friend of mine organized. And it was a momentous occasion. Thousands of New York Jews stood together in a circle around the red cube…

When new media activist Daniel Sieradski, a.k.a. the Orthodox Anarchist, a.k.a. @mobius1ski , suggested having an ad hoc Kol Nidre minyan on Wall Street, in solidarity with the Occupied Wall Street movement, he wondered if he would succeed in attracting 20 participants (an egalitarian minyan of 10 men and 10 women). To his amazement, over 1,000 Jews of all ages and backgrounds, from secular to observant, showed up for an exhilarating experience which, judging from the tweets (hashtag: #OccupyYomKippur), had many people feeling as though they were practically levitating. Several friends told me it was an incredibly moving experience. @aimeeweiss…