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Yom Kippur 5786

Yom Kippur 5786

We come into Yom Kippur often feeling unprepared. It is the holiest day of the year—the day when the Holy of Holies was once opened—and we, mere flesh and blood, enter the synagogue and proclaim in the ancient melody: Ashamnu – we are guilty; Bagadnu – we have betrayed. As individuals, as communities, and as a people, we confess that we have fallen short. By speaking these words aloud, we do more than admit our failings—we declare our resolve to do better and ask for a second chance.

At its core, Yom Kippur is the day of second chances. The very first Yom Kippur was when the Jewish People were forgiven for the sin of the Golden Calf, and Moses brought down the second tablets. Each year, just before Kol Nidre, the congregation formally invites the avaryanim – those who have ruptured our society causing harm and pain - to rejoin us. Every one of us, without exception, is welcomed back and given the opportunity for a clean slate.

A story is told of Reb Avraham Yehoshua Heschel of Apta. One Friday, while he was preparing for Shabbat and reading Shir HaShirim in deep spiritual ecstasy, a distraught congregant burst in. His face was grimy, his clothes muddy, and he reeked of the barn. “My cow, my cow!” he shouted. “It is going to give birth and I fear it will die!” Reb Avraham calmly directed him to the right help.
Reb Moshe, a guest, asked how he could tolerate such rudeness. Reb Avraham replied: “My dear Reb Moshe, you weren’t listening carefully. The farmer wasn’t crying ‘My cow, my cow’—he was crying, ‘Rebbe, Rebbe! I am small and weak. I long for a connection with God—please help me.’ He wanted to connect with me, and through me to God. But how could he do so—by discussing the Talmud or the Zohar? No. He could only reach me through what he knows—his cow.”

On Yom Kippur, we all arrive with our “cows.” We may be unprepared, but we show up to synagogue with whatever we have, yearning for more. Yom Kippur is a day of second chances, and perhaps the most important thing is that we simply show up, open-hearted, ready to begin again.

May our prayers be answered. May our hostages return. May the sick be healed, the downtrodden uplifted, and all the Jewish people inscribed for good.

Gmar Chatima Tova!

 

Yom Kippur in/end of fast times
Yerushalayim 17:44/19:00
Tel-Aviv 18:04/19:02
Paris 19:11/20:15
London 18:20/19:26
Toronto 18:40/19:39
NYC 18:19/19:17
Chicago 18:12/19:12
Los Angeles 18:19/19:13
Link for more times



 

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