Tropical tashlich

When my friend Lou reminded me about tashlich (or -kh), it struck me that this was the first time I could do it in the Atlantic Ocean.

For those who don't know, it's a ritual casting off of sins, part of the High Holidays observances leading up to the Day of Atonement, based on a verse in Micah: "You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea." Traditionally, bread crumbs and grains represent the sins and cares. (There's a hilarious list of suggested crumbs, based on various sins, here -- e.g., pretzel crumbs for particularly twisted sins, stollen for larceny . . .).

For an Episcopalian, I'm a fairly observant Jew, so I took some crumbs (and a lot of cornmeal that had fallen off the bottom of the loaf, teensy tiny sins perhaps) from my terrific ciabatta from Cole's Peace and headed to the White Street Pier. You can see the West Martello, the ruin of an old fortification, and now the home of the Garden Club, on the promontory.

Out on the pier, as I said a prayer or two and cast my bread upon the waters, I noticed a couple standing on the shore watching me. When I set foot again on the beach, the woman came up to me and said, "We're so sorry for your loss."

I was tempted to say I was quite happy to lose the burden -- but, puzzled, had the presence of mind to say, "Thank you." As I walked on I realized where I was: The pier is also Key West's AIDS Memorial, and what I was doing did look an awful lot like scattering ashes.

And the more I thought about it: Crumbs or ashes, the past is always lost in the deep. Born anew in a loaf of fresh, beautiful, nourishing bread, or the phoenix of the dawn.