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Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. It is a day of
abstention, of prayer and meditation, of introspection, soul-searching and
repentance. It is called the Sabbath of Sabbaths - the ultimate day of
spirit and serenity. Jews dress in white (men usually wear a white robe
called a "kitel" together with a white head covering during the synagogue
service; women wear white blouses and/or skirts and no jewelry) as a sign
of purity and as a sign of our mortality, for ultimately we are buried in
white shrouds. The white garments are also a reminder of the costume of the
High Priest worn on Yom Kippur during most of the Yom Kippur service in the
Holy Temple in Jerusalem. The main service was conducted then and there
with the High Priest wearing the four white garments - shirt, pants, belt
and hat - without the four gold garments - the long coat, the breastplate,
the head plate and the apron - that he ordinarily wore in performing his
Temple duties. The gold garments are not worn on this day of asking
forgiveness because they represent hubris, human majesty and are a
potential reminder of the sin of the Golden Calf. Yom Kippur is a day of
humility and a low and private profile. Fancy garments, especially gold
garments, are really out of place and contrary to the prevailing spirit of
this holy day.
On Yom Kippur, Jews abstain from doing any work, from eating and drinking,
from marital relations, from wearing leather shoes and from washing one's
body. Maimonidies classifies these abstentions as forms of "rest," for Yom
Kippur is the ultimate day of rest - the Sabbath of Sabbaths. We rest from
the world and our ordinary necessities on this day. The day is marked with
this atmosphere of serenity, coupled with a seriousness of purpose, though
not with any tinge of sadness. For it is on this day that we have our sins
erased and forgiven, and thus it is an occasion of joy and not one of
sadness. We confess our sins in the prayer services of Yom Kippur nine
times (including the afternoon Mincha prayer before Yom Kippur) and we
beseech heavenly understanding of our frailties and weaknesses. We also
pledge ourselves to try and improve and to become better Jews and finer
human beings. However, all of these confessions refer only to sins between
our Creator and us - the sins it is within the power of Yom Kippur to
absolve. Yet, Yom Kippur does not absolve sins that were committed against
our fellow human beings. Those sins are erased only when the wronged party
forgives us our acts or statements.
Thus it is customary for Jews before the advent of the Yom Kippur day to
seek out those who they may have possibly wronged during the course of the
year and request their understanding and forgiveness. It is wrong for a Jew
to withhold such forgiveness if sincerely asked to do so. Only if we are
willing to forgive each other can we then, in good conscience, ask God to
forgive our sins as well.
In the times of the Temple in Jerusalem, the afternoon of Yom Kippur was a
time for matchmaking for those interested in finding proper mates. It was
felt that the holiness of the day would be a positive influence on those
involved and allow them to find their true physical and spiritual soul
mates. The enemies of Israel always marked Yom Kippur as a special day of
hatred towards the Jews. From the execution of Rabbi Akiva by the Romans on
Yom Kippur in Caeserea in 139CE, to the Holocaust and to the Yom Kippur War
of 1973, Yom Kippur carries stark memories for the people of Israel. These
memories have also been woven into the prayers of the day. The Kol Nidrei
prayer that introduces the Yom Kippur prayer services has overtones of the
plight of the Jewish conversos of Spain after the expulsion of 1492. This
prayer nullifies false vows and coerced undertakings and allows all of
Israel, sinners and saints, to pray as one. There is perhaps no other day
on the Jewish calendar that so unifies the Jewish people as Yom Kippur. It
creates social amity, the repairing of relationships between human beings,
service of God and a sense of personal immortality and connection with the
generations past and future. Yom Kippur is the quintessential Jewish day,
unmatched and not replicated by any other faith or nation in the world.
Shabat Shalom and fast well
Berel Wein
Text Copyright © 2002 Rabbi Berel Wein and
Project Genesis, Inc.
