GOOD MORNING! Yom Kippur begins next Tuesday evening, October 4^th. As mentioned last week, Rosh Hashanah begins the Aseret Yemei Teshuvah – commonly translated as the Ten Day of Repentance. In actuality, the word teshuvah means “return,” and these days (beginning with Rosh Hashanah and ending with Yom Kippur) are designated as a time for self-reflection, repentance, and returning to the Almighty.

Thus the upcoming Shabbat that falls between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is called Shabbat Shuvah – the Sabbath of Returning. As we shall see, teshuvah is a very unique concept and an absolute kindness and gift from the Almighty. Teshuvah offers mankind the one thing no one really believes is possible to achieve: The ability to change the past.

Maimonides, the great medieval philosopher and codifier of Jewish law, rules that it is a mitzvah – a positive commandment – to repent. In other words, the Almighty Himself is asking us to return to Him. There is a very powerful message here; one that we must try to internalize. Indeed, the very success of accomplishing the essence of Yom Kippur can only be achieved by understanding this concept, explained below.

Q & A: WHAT IS THE ESSENCE OF YOM KIPPUR AND HOW DO WE OBSERVE IT?

“This shall be an eternal decree: [...] on the tenth of the month you shall afflict yourselves and all manner of work you shall not do, neither the native born nor the convert amongst you. For this day, he [the Cohen Gadol, the High Priest] shall atone for you, to purify you from all of your transgressions – before the Almighty you shall be purified” (Leviticus 16:29-30).

The Torah states that we shall “afflict ourselves” on Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement. According to Jewish law there are five “afflictions” that we must observe on Yom Kippur. We are prohibited from 1) eating and drinking 2) wearing leather shoes 3) having marital relations 4) anointing the skin with salves and oils and 5) washing for pleasure.

Yom Kippur is the anniversary of the day Moses brought the second set of Ten Commandments down from Mount Sinai. This signified that the Almighty forgave the Jewish people for the transgression of the Golden Calf. This day was thus decreed to be a day of forgiveness for our mistakes.

However, this refers to transgressions against the Almighty. Transgressions against our fellow man require us to correct our mistakes and seek forgiveness. If one took something from another person then it is not enough to experience regret and ask the Almighty for forgiveness. First, one must return what was taken and ask that person for forgiveness; only then may he ask the Almighty for forgiveness. God does not forgive a person for sins committed against another person unless the injured party offers forgiveness first.

The actual process of teshuvah is made up of four parts. 1) Regret: We must recognize what we have done wrong and regret it. 2) Cessation: We must stop doing the transgression. 3) Confession and Restitution: We must verbally confess and ask the Almighty to forgive us. We must correct whatever damage that we can, including asking forgiveness from those we have hurt -- and making restitution, if due. 4) Resolution: We must accept upon ourselves not to do it again in the future.

A key component of the liturgy of The Ten Days of Repentance (Returning) and Yom Kippur is known as the 13 Divine Attributes of Mercy. The ancient source of this prayer is rather astonishing: The Almighty Himself taught it to Moses for him to teach it to the Jewish people as a way to seek forgiveness.

And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, “Hashem, Hashem, omnipotent, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in kindness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin [...]” (Exodus 34:6-8).

The Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 17b) states, “There is a covenant (between God and His creations) that a prayer that contains the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy will never go completely unanswered.”

Even more remarkably, the very same passage in the Talmud describes the scene that unfolded between God and Moses. “Rabbi Yochanan said ‘had it not been an explicit verse in the Torah it would be impossible to even utter’ – the verse is coming to teach us that the Almighty wrapped Himself in a tallit (prayer shawl) like a shliach tzibbur (a cantor who leads the congregation in prayer) and demonstrated to Moses the order of the prayer. Hashem then told Moses; ‘Any time that the Jewish people sin they should recite this prayer and I will forgive them.’”

Obviously, the Talmud is telling us that it is very difficult to conceive of the Almighty dressing up and giving a demonstration of how to seek forgiveness from Him. Yet that is exactly what happened. So we are left wondering what was the point of God dressing up and acting it out for Moses? Why would Moses be in need of a visual demonstration? What message was God conveying to him?

Generally, asking forgiveness from someone is very difficult. It requires an admission of wrongdoing or, at the very least, communicating that the intention wasn’t to harm. But the most daunting part, and usually the reason that people procrastinate asking for forgiveness, is the uncertainty of how the injured party is going to react.

Will that person yell and scream at me? Or worse, will they try to use my admission of guilt as a way to take advantage of me in some way? The anxiety of these potential consequences usually prevents one from making the effort to mend fences.

Now consider a different scenario: How would you feel if someone came to you and let you know that the person you injured feels badly because this incident created a rift in the relationship and that the person really just wants to talk and make up with you? Suddenly, it becomes a lot easier to make that phone call.

It is for this very reason that the Almighty took the extraordinary steps in demonstrating the path to forgiveness. The purpose of the “show and tell” demonstration was so that Moses would understand and convey to the Jewish people, that Hashem Himself is leading the path to His forgiveness. In other words, Hashem – who is the injured party – is willing to lead the congregation in prayer because more than anything He wants His children to return to Him.

God is communicating to Moses that there should be no barriers to asking for forgiveness because the Almighty Himself wants to fix the relationship. It is for this reason that a proper prayer of forgiveness will always be answered. God is, in essence, telling us that He is always waiting for us to come home to Him and asking us to return.

On the surface it seems rather odd that the awe-filled day of Yom Kippur is ushered in with the Kol Nidre service, which is essentially an act of annulment of oaths and vows. Why is the most solemn day of the year ushered in with the concept of vows and oaths?

Maimonides (Hilchos Teshuvah 1:1) implies that the primary aspect of repentance is vidui – the verbalized confession of one’s sins. Why is verbalization of sins such an important component of the process?

The ancient Aramaic translation of the Torah known as Targum Onkelos explains the verse “And he blew into [Adam’s] nostrils a living soul” (Genesis 2:7) as referring to God imbuing Adam with the ability to speak. This was a replication, as it were, of the Almighty’s power to create concepts through speech and He gifted this power to man. In other words, just as God created the world with words (Pirkei Avos 5:1), man was similarly endowed with the ability to create new realities through speech.

This is the essence of how a vow can take effect and become a binding commitment. Through his words man can bind himself as well as transform the reality of an object from being permitted to prohibited. This is similar to the process of repentance. Essential to the teshuvah process is the verbalization of a sincere heartfelt confession along with the commitment to sin no more. Through the power of speech alone, man can transform his reality from being a sinner to being penitent. We can recreate ourselves.

This is the message relayed by beginning Yom Kippur with Kol Nidrei; through our speech we effectuate our transformation. Thus, the concept of oaths and vows come to define the very nature of Yom Kippur. This is the day we use our speech to communicate with the Almighty and to beseech Him to transform us through his forgiveness.

Wishing my readers all over the world a most meaningful fast and Yom Kippur experience, and a Gmar Chatima Tova (the traditional greeting for Yom Kippur to be sealed in the Book of Life) to you and yours.

Vayelech, Deuteronomy 31:1 - 31:30

Vayelech begins with Moses passing the torch of leadership to Joshua (Yehoshua). Moses then gives Joshua a command/blessing, which applies to every Jewish leader: “Be strong and brave. Do not be afraid or feel insecure before them. God your Lord is the One who is going with you, and He will not fail you nor forsake you.”

Moses writes the entire Torah and gives it to the Cohanim and Elders. He then commands that in the future at the end of the Shmita (Sabbatical Year) the king should gather all the people during the Succot festival and read to them the Torah so “[…] that they will hear and learn and fear the Lord your God and be careful to perform all the words of the Torah.”

The Almighty describes in a short paragraph the course of Jewish history (that’s starting from Deuteronomy 31:16 for the curious). Lastly, before Moses goes to “sleep with his forefathers,” he assembles the people to teach them the song of Ha’azinu, the next weekly Torah portion, to remind them of the consequences of turning against the Almighty.