tHe
residue of fRiday the 13th still reMains..
hey!
.. it's yoM kiPPur! ...
YOM
KIPPUR -- The Day of Atonement:
1) The Day of Atonement contains all days and gives
life to all days. On this day the heart is subdued.
Our desire is for God alone. All kinds of disputes,
spiritual or material, are resolved. Peace comes, bringing
happiness and joy (179).
2) Yom Kippur
concludes the process whereby the `seal of holiness'
is secured and protected (See Rosh Hashanah 9).
3) On Yom
Kippur we appeal to God to `Forgive!' This cry of `Forgive!'
opens up the gate of the holiness of Chanukah, with
its theme of the consecration of the Holy Temple (see
Chanukah 4).
4) There
is a custom of referring to the day after Yom Kippur
as `the Name of God.' This is because the true greatness
of God is revealed after Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur God
is reconciled with Israel and forgives them for all
their sins. As a simple consequence, all harsh decrees
and punishments are lifted, and it is through this that
God's greatness is revealed (Likutey Moharan II, 66).
ANGEL
FOR A DAY - by Marshall Roth
What are
"angels?" Angels are completely spiritual
beings, whose sole focus is to serve their Creator.
On Yom Kippur,
every Jew becomes like an angel. As the Maharal of Prague
explains:
"All
of the mitzvot that God commanded us on [Yom Kippur]
are designed to remove, as much as possible, a person's
relationship to physicality, until he is completely
like an angel."
Just as angels
(so to speak) stand upright, so too we spend most of
Yom Kippur standing in the synagogue. And just as angels
(so to speak) wear white, so too we are accustomed to
wear white on Yom Kippur. Just as angels do not eat
or drink, so too, we do not eat or drink.
FIVE ASPECTS
There are
five areas of physical involvement which we remove ourselves
from on Yom Kippur. They are:
Eating
and Drinking
Washing
Applying oils or lotions to the skin
Marital Relations
Wearing Leather Shoes
Throughout
the year, many people spend their days focusing on almost
nothing else besides food, sex, work, superficial material
possessions (symbolized by shoes) and superficial pleasures
(symbolized by anointing). On Yom Kippur, we restore
our priorities to what really counts in life.
As Rabbi
Eliyahu Dessler writes:
"On
Yom Kippur, the power of the evil inclination is muted.
Therefore, one's yearning for spiritual elevation reasserts
itself, after having lain dormant as a result of sin's
deadening effect on the soul. This rejuvenation of purpose
entitles a person to special consideration and forgiveness."
TESHUVA AND
FORGIVENESS
Following
the Golden Calf, Moses pleaded with God to forgive the
people. Finally on Yom Kippur, atonement was achieved
and Moses brought the second set of Tablets down from
Mount Sinai.
From that
day forward, every Yom Kippur has carried with it a
special power to cleanse the mistakes of Jews (both
individually and collectively) and to wipe the slate
clean.
Though while
Yom Kippur atones for transgressions against God, this
does not include wrongs committed against other human
beings. It is therefore the universal Jewish custom
– some time before Yom Kippur -- to apologize and
seek forgiveness from any friends, relative, or acquaintances
whom we may have harmed or insulted over the past year.
THE FAST
ITSELF
The Yom Kippur
fast begins at sundown, and extends 25 hours until the
following nightfall.
The afternoon
before Yom Kippur, it is a special mitzvah to eat a
festive meal.
As far as
making your fast easier in general, try to pace your
intake throughout the previous day by eating something
every two hours. At the festive meal itself, eat a moderate
portion of food so as not to speed up the digestion
process. Also, don't drink any coffee or coke, because
caffeine is a diuretic. Heavy coffee drinkers can also
avoid the dreaded headache by slowly reducing the amount
of coffee consumption over the week leading up to Yom
Kippur.
After a meal
we generally get thirstier, so when you complete the
festive meal, leave some extra time before sundown to
drink. Also, drinking lukewarm water with some sugar
in it can help make you less thirsty during the fast.
All
eyes are on you. Your boss will be listening to what
you have to say -- make sure it's worth listening
to! Extra work and research will be required to get
you up to speed on projects that have not concerned
you much before. If you feel like cutting out early,
don't. If you do, you could miss a chance to really
impress your supervisors. Personal possessions will
be on your mind, too. There is a person in your life
who is richer in material goods than you, and you
may be feeling a little jealous of what this person
has. Don't forget to look at your less tangible assets.
