Daily writing prompt

Have you ever unintentionally broken the law?

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In my youth, “church crashing” was common practice. Any religion that gathered regularly intrigued me. In many ways, I was simply seeking God because the one I’d been shown in the Bible felt too vast to be contained within leather-bound pages, no matter how sacred the red-lettered words inside. Some of those institutions were the first to teach that touch did not always end in pain. I needed those experiences.

One day, after attending my first shiur, I approached the rabbi after class for a hug. He shook his head no, without a word or a returned greeting. I’m not sure why it stung or why, for so long, I’ve believed that touch brings either extreme pain and shame or immense joy, with nothing in between. If there is a middle way, it seems to be solitude. But I’m not sure.

Everyone is an unaware initiate of something. A broken law is meaningless until its consequence is understood, and even then...