Yom Kippur is the most important holiday of the entire Jewish calendar. It’s also the most difficult (for me, anyway). I’m emotionally and physically taxed, there are no festivities, plus, everyone seems to be a bit grouchy and full of complaints.

Obviously, a lot of this has to do with fasting. Traditionally, those who are healthy should be fasting for an entire 24-hour day. There are exceptions to the fasting rule, however.

• Pregnant/Nursing mothers
• Diabetics
• Young Children (10 and under.)
• Anyone who’s ill and/or needs medication taken with food

To be totally honest, my own family was never strict about it. Everyone would skip breakfast before temple services in the morning, but many would take a snack after that. I think fasting is a personal choice, but it should be attempted if at all possible.

Provided you can fast and are fasting, though, it’s bound to be a l-o-n-g day. When you finally do get the chance to eat, it’s even more headaches on deciding where to go and what to serve. In the past, we’ve done different things: break-fast meal at the temple, having breakfast for dinner at home, getting takeout or pizza, celebrating at a friend’s, etc. All of these options can be okay, but I find waiting until the last minute, especially when I’m starving, is a bad idea.

Enter the concept of a cold dairy buffet. Because everything is bought or prepared in advance, it greatly simplified my planning. No matter how late we arrive home, no matter how exhausted I am, within 10 minutes I can have dinner ready.

Here are my top picks for a Break-the-Fast menu:

• Bagels (assorted dozen) and cream cheese
• Lox
• Egg salad (for kids who don’t like fish)
• Marinated cucumbers
• Honey cake

For our family, a small, simple buffet works perfectly. If I’m serving a larger crowd, I’ll add in more choices like challah in addition to bagels, a green salad, and a kugel. The key is to focus on plain, non-spicy, and not overly salty foods after a fast.

How do you Break-the-Fast?