With regard to one who says: I will sin and then I will repent, I will sin and I will repent, Heaven does not provide him the opportunity to repent, and he will remain a sinner all his days.

With regard to one who says: I will sin and Yom Kippur will atone for my sins, Yom Kippur does not atone for his sins.

For transgressions between a person and God, Yom Kippur atones; however, for transgressions between a person and another, Yom Kippur does not atone until he appeases the other person.

Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya taught that point from the verse: “From all your sins you shall be cleansed before God” (Vayikra 16:30). For transgressions between a person and God, Yom Kippur atones; however, for transgressions between a person and another, Yom Kippur does not atone until he appeases the other person.

Rabbi Akiva said: How fortunate are you, Israel; before Whom are you purified, and Who purifies you? It is your Father in Heaven, as it is stated: “And I will sprinkle purifying water upon you, and you shall be purified” (Yechezel 36:25). And it says: “The mikvah (ritual bath) of Israel is God” (Yirmiyahu 17:13). Just as a mikvah purifies, so too, the Holy One, Blessed be He, purifies Israel.

Rabbi Yehuda Leib Ginzburg in Mussar HaMishna comments:

Just like when one immerses in a mikvah one’s entire body must be surrounded with water at one time, so too when one repents before God, both the spiritual and social sins must be atoned at the same time.

God is like our mikvah. Not only does God purify us but God also gives us hope (tikvah).

May we all do our part to start the new year with a clean slate as we hope and pray that that the upcoming year will be better than the last one.

Sponsored by Vicky Wu in loving memory of
JJ Greenberg z”l, may his love for Israel and the Jewish
People continue to shine in the future 

The Rama comments on the Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 610:4: There are those who wrote that it is customary to dress in clean,
white clothes on Yom Kippur, analogous to the ministering angels, and likewise
it is customary to wear a kittel which is white and clean,
and it is also the clothing of the dead (the shroud), and therefore the heart
of a man is humbled and broken (Hagahot Maimoniot).

On Yom Kippur we are similar to the
angels as we don’t eat or drink but rather focus on spirituality. The angels
are described as wearing linen (which was white) in Yechezkel 9:2 and Daniel
12:6.

Rabbi Eliyahu Kitov tells the
following story in the Book of our Heritage:

A
righteous person told his congregation on Yom Kippur: Children
of Israel! Take to heart that it is in white garments like these we are wearing
now, that we shall ascend to the World to Come to be judged and give accounting
before the King of all kings, the Holy One, blessed is He. Let us then imagine
that we are standing in this clothing before the Throne of Glory to be judged
and give our final accounting. We should have true remorse, for one who stands
before the Throne of Glory is truly remorseful…

In Yishayahu 1:18, we see the power of Tshuva
(repentance):

Come, let us reach an understanding,—says the LORD. Be your sins like
crimson, they can turn snow-white; be they red as dyed wool, they can become
like fleece.

White is symbolic of erasing our sins and starting
anew.

The Kohen Gadol (High Priest) wore white linen on
Yom Kippur. By wearing white, we are emulating him as we see in Vayikra 16:4:

He shall be dressed in a sacral linen tunic, with
linen breeches next to his flesh, and be girt with a linen sash, and he shall
wear a linen turban. They are sacral vestments; he shall bathe his body in
water and then put them on.—

In the Talmud, Shabbat 119a, Rav Hamnuna said: we
honor Shabbat with food and drink but how will we honor Yom Kippur since we
don’t eat or drink? The Torah said to honor it with a clean garment.        

In the Mishna, Taanit 4a, we learn that Yom Kippur
was one of the days that the women went out wearing white:

Rabban
Shimon ben Gamliel said: There were no days as joyous for the Jewish people as
the fifteenth of Av and as Yom Kippur, as on them the daughters of Jerusalem
would go out in white clothes…And the daughters of Jerusalem would go out and
dance in the vineyards.

The
Talmud, Taanit 30b explains why Yom Kippur is a happy day:

Yom Kippur
is a day of joy because it has
the elements of pardon and forgiveness,
and moreover, it is the day on which
the last pair of tablets were given.

We see
from here that by wearing white we humble ourselves yet at the same time we are
festive and happy, hoping that all of our sins will be forgiven and that we
will be starting off the new year with a clean slate. 

In each of the High Holiday prayer
services, we recite the word “u’vchen”, “and so…”

Avudraham points out that the word “u’vchen”
was also used by Queen Ester as she prepared to go to go before King
Achashverosh in Megillat Ester, 4:15-16:

Then Ester said to reply to
Mordechai: “Go assemble all the Jews that are to be found in Shushan, and fast
for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day: And I, with my maids
will fast also, and so (u’vchen) I will go to the king, though it is against
the law: and if I perish, I perish.”

As we stand before God, the Supreme
king of kings, we begin with the same word that Ester uttered before standing
before the human king, Achashverosh.

The Siddur, Magid Tzedek explains
that if Ester who had fasted for three days in penitence and prayer in
preparation for her appearance before the king was still terribly frightened,
then we too should remember the sacrifices that Ester made and tremble in awe
in the presence of God.

Rabbi Abraham Besdin adapted Rabbi
Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s teachings in the book Reflections of the Rav.
In the section called “The Dual Character of Purim”, the Rav teaches that “Purim
is also a day of introspection and prayerful meditation. The Megillah is both a
Book of Distress and Petition. The narrative relates two stories, of a people
in a terrifying predicament and also their great exhilaration at their sudden deliverance.”

The Rav goes on to say that Taanit
Ester which is commemorated the day before Purim through fasting, Slichot and
the recitation of the Avinu Malkeinu prayer sets the mood of solemn penitence.
It reflects the fear of the Jews on the 13^th of Adar as they fought
their enemies. Purim day celebrates the victory and the sudden miraculous
salvation of the Jewish people.

The Rav concludes: “Perhaps the
feature common to both Purim and Yom Kippur is that aspect of Purim which is a
call for Divine compassion and intercession, a mood of petition arising from
great distress.”

Let us hope and pray that just as
God answered the prayers of the Jewish people in the days of Ester, so too will
He listen to our Yom Kippur prayers and seal us in the Book of Life.

The Avinu Malkenu (Our Father our King) prayer was first
said in the Talmud, Taanit 25b. Rabbi Eliezer led the Shmoneh Esrei including six
special blessings for fasts enacted during a drought yet his prayers were not
answered, it did not rain. His student, Rabbi Akiva then recited: “Avinu
Malkenu, we have no King but You! Avinu Malkenu for Your sake Have compassion
on us!” and the rains fell.

Since Rabbi Akiva’s prayers were answered, his formula of
“Avinu Makenu” was used in the prayers for fasts and other times of trajedy
including the Ten Days of Repentance.

Over the past ten days we have been saying Avinu Malkenu
twice a day (at Shacharit and Mincha) aside from Shabbat since Shabbat is not
the time to pray for communal distress or to make requests.

We will not say Avinu Malkenu on Yom Kippur this year until
the end of the Neilah service since this year Yom Kippur falls on Shabbat.

Why are we permitted to recite Avinu Malkenu during Neilah?

The RaN comments at the end of Masechet Rosh HaShana that
Neilah is the time that God makes his final decree so “If not now then when?”

According to the Levush, by the time we get to Neilah
Shabbat is officially over so there is no issue.

The words “Avinu” and “Malkenu” were used in the TaNaCh but
they were not used together until Rabbi Akiva’s prayer.

The Maharsha explains that the word “Avinu” is taken from
Yishayahu 63:16 “For You are our Father; though Avraham may not know us and Israel may not
recognize us, You HaShem are our Father; our Eternal Redeemer is Your name.”

“Avinu” is also taken from Yishayahu 64:7: “So now HaShem,
You are our Father. We are the clay and You are our Potter, and we are all Your
handiwork.”

The word “Malkenu” comes from Devarim, Parshat Haazinu 33:5:
“And He became King over Yeshurun when the numbers of the nation gathered- the
tribes of Israel in unity”.

As we gear up for the last “Avinu Malkenu” of the High
Holiday season, let’s try to add extra Kavana (intent) as Rabbi Akiva did and
hope that all of our prayers are answered favorably.

Wishing you a Gmar Chatima Tova from Yerushalayim!

Sponsored by Isaac
and Amy Halickman in Honor of Their Children

Allison, Daniel,
Jonathan (Yoni), Elizabeth and Jennifer

On Yom Kippur we read the Haftara which comes from Yishayahu
57:14-58:14. The Haftara is appropriate for Yom Kippur as it teaches us the
proper way to do Teshuva  (repent).
Yishayahu makes it very clear that fasting and prayer are not enough. Rather,
we must change our ways and help those who are less fortunate.

In sentences 58:6-12 we are told the proper way to behave as
well as how we will be rewarded:

“Surely this is the fast I choose: open the bonds of
wickedness, dissolve the groups that pervert justice, let the oppressed go free
and annul all perverted justice. Surely you should divide your bread with the
hungry and bring the moaning poor to your home; when you see the naked, cover
him and do not ignore your kin. Then your light will burst forth like the dawn
and your healing will speedily sprout; then your righteous deed will precede
you and glory of God will gather you in. Then you will call and God will
respond, you will cry out and He will say ‘Here I am!’ if you remove from your
midst perversion, finger-pointing and evil speech. And if you offer your soul
to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will shine in the
darkness and the deepest gloom will be like noon. Then God will guide you
always, sate your soul in times of drought and strengthen your bones; and you
will be like a well watered garden and a spring whose waters never fail. Age
old ruins will be rebuilt through you, you will erect generations old
foundations and they will call you ‘repairer of the breach, restorer of paths
of habitation.’”

Unfortunately, even in the modern State of Israel, we still
have to work on many of the points on this list. We still have to deal with the
perversion of justice. The government does not do enough for the poor so each
of us must make an effort to help feed the hungry and clothe the poor. The
challenge of not speaking Lashon Hara (Evil Speech) is also something that
still needs to be worked on.

We learn from here that the message of Yom Kippur is not just
about fasting. The message is about changing our ways and making a commitment
to help others not just during the High Holiday season, but throughout the
year. By doing so, we will bring blessings upon ourselves, the Jewish people
and the Land of Israel.

In Israel, our weekend consists of only one day, Shabbat. Children go to school on Fridays and many adults work. Sunday is a regular work and school day for everyone, the equivalent to Monday in the rest of the world.

This week, there is no Shabbat either. With Yom Kippur being Friday night and Saturday, we will have no Shabbat and no day of recuperation that the rest of the world will have on Sunday.

In Vayikra 23:32, Yom Kippur is called “Shabbat Shabbaton hu lachem”, a day of complete rest for you, as Rabbi Saadya Gaon puts it, a day that is like Shabbat for you.

Chizkuni points out that “a day of complete rest for you” is an interesting concept since a regular Shabbat is not called a Shabbat for Yisrael, but rather a Shabbat for HaShem as it says in Vayikra 23:3 “Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is a Shabbat of solemn rest…it is a Shabbat for HaShem”.

Ibn Ezra explains that the concept of a regular Shabbat being for God comes from the book of Breisheet 2:3 (the words that we say in Kiddush each week) “Vayivarech Elokim et Yom HaShvii Vayikadesh oto ki vo Shabbat mikol milachto asher bara Elokim La’asot”, “And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it: because in it He rested from all his work which God had created and performed”.

Although we don’t have a traditional Shabbat this week (with food), we have a mitzvah to eat before the fast and that way on the holiday of Yom Kippur we will be able to concentrate on ourselves.

Many of the prayers in the Yom Kippur Machzor are stated in the plural. Let’s take the Vidui (confession) prayer for example: Ashamnu, we have become guilty, Bagadnu, we have betrayed, Gazalnu, we have robbed, Dibarnu Dofi, we have spoken slander…

Rav Moshe Chagiz asks the question: Why do we confess on Yom Kippur for many transgressions that we did not commit? The answer is that “kol Yisrael arevin zeh lazeh” all Jews are responsible for one another. Even if we didn’t commit a specific transgression, we are responsible for those who did. In Bamidbar 5:7, it says in the plural: “they shall confess the transgression that they committed”. The whole rest of that parsha is written in the singular (5:6): “A man or a woman who commits any of man’s transgressions…” (5:7) “He shall make restitution for his guilt…”

We learn from here that if one person commits a transgression, everyone has to confess since we are all responsible for one another.

When other Jews are in danger or in trouble, we can’t sit idly by. We must take action and speak up and say “your problems are our problems”.

This coming week, immediately following Yom Kippur, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be visiting New York.

In his translation of a speech to the “World Without Zionism” conference held for students in October 2005, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is quoted as saying:

“Our dear Imam (referring to Ayatollah Khomeini) said that the occupying regime must be wiped off the map and this was a very wise statement. We cannot compromise over the issue of Palestine. Is it possible to create a new front in the heart of an old front? This would be a defeat and whoever accepts the legitimacy of this regime has in fact, signed the defeat of the Islamic world. Our dear Imam targeted the heart of the world oppressor in his struggle, meaning the occupying regime. I have no doubt that the new wave that has started in Palestine, and we witness it in the Islamic world too, will eliminate this disgraceful stain from the Islamic world.”

Ahmadinejad is bent on the destruction of the State of Israel. Our brothers and sisters all around the world must not remain silent. Raise your voices now, later may be too late.

Gmar Chatima Tova!