Yom Kippur

Overview

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, falls on the tenth of Tishrei and is the holiest day of the Jewish year, the climax of the Ten Days of Repentance. It is a twenty-five-hour fast during which eating, drinking, and other physical pleasures are set aside so that the soul can be laid bare before Hashem. The day is filled with prayer and confession (viduy), from Kol Nidrei at nightfall through the closing Ne'ilah service. Through teshuvah and Divine mercy, sins are forgiven and Israel is sealed in the Book of Life.

Themes

• The Jew's essential holiness
• Teshuvah returns to the root
• Stripping away the physical
• A day above nature
• Unity and ahavas Yisrael
• Revealing the inner light

Must-read teachings

1. 1Yom Kippur, milah, and the Jew's essential holinessThe Aseres Yemei Teshuvah (Ten Days of Repentance) are a special mode of conduct drawn from the world of teshuvah. These ten days belong to a higher realm of teshuvah, a unique avenue Hashem opens for return that is not available the rest o…תרנ"ו
2. 2Yom Kippur as Root of All ShabbososIt is written: "For to a man who is good before Him, He has given chochmah (wisdom), da'as (knowledge), and simchah (joy)" (Koheles 2:26). The Sefas Emes reads the three gifts of the passuk as corresponding to three gifts Hashem gave Bnei Y…תרנ"ג
3. 3Yom Kippur as revealed inner light and joy"From evening to evening..." (Vayikra 23:32) — and from here they derived the addition (tosefes) from the mundane onto the holy. The Torah's phrasing of the fast's span teaches that we must add from the ordinary time before and after onto t…תרנ"ב
4. 4Yom Kippur strips away physicality to reveal the inner selfIt is brought: "Days were formed (yutzaru), and not one (lo echad) of them" (Tehillim 139:16). The Sefas Emes cites this enigmatic pasuk, which speaks of days that were "formed," reading "lo echad" — "and not one of them" — as a hint to a s…תרמ"ט
5. 5Teshuvah draws purity from the upper watersIn the Mishnah (Yoma 85b): "Fortunate are you, Yisrael! Before Whom are you purified, and Who purifies you? Your Father in Heaven, as it is said, 'And I will sprinkle upon you pure waters...' (Yechezkel 36:25), and it says, 'The mikveh (hop…תרמ"ז - תרמ"ח
6. 6Eating as teshuvah for the root of sinRegarding the teaching: "Whoever eats and drinks on the ninth, it is as though he fasted on the ninth and the tenth," etc. (Yoma 81b). Chazal teach that eating on Erev Yom Kippur is reckoned as if one fasted on both days; the Sefas Emes wil…תר"מ
7. 7Yom Kippur unity and ahavas YisraelThe Mishnah teaches: "For transgressions between a person and his fellow, Yom Kippur does not atone until he appeases his fellow…" (Yoma 8:9). The Sefas Emes begins from the well-known Mishnah that Yom Kippur cannot atone for wrongs between…תרנ"א
8. 8Yom Kippur as a day above natureIn the Gemara: before Yom Kippur they separate the Kohen Gadol, etc. — a separation of seven days for one single day; see there. The Mishnah teaches that the Kohen Gadol is sequestered for seven days in preparation for the one day of Yom Ki…תרמ"ד