Our Chags to you...
Yom Kippur is referred to in the Torah as Shabbat Shabbaton "Sabbath of Sabbaths" [Lev. 23:26-32]. If we consider Shabbat as a spiritual day of rest from the week, Yom Kippur could be our spiritual step back from our year. For some it is pleading with God for forgiveness, for others a time to reflect on whether the material life they are leading reflects the ethics and spirituality they seek to live by.
Joseph B Soloveichik suggests that the Jewish concept of teshuvah has two parts. One being kapparah (penitence and purification) and the other being taharah (catharsis). Kapparah, Soloveichik suggests, may be more akin to what a Christian theologian understands as a divine act of cleansing someone from their sins. Yet the aspect of taharah helps us understand a Jewish viewpoint on repentance;
"This erasure of man's sins is, from the rational standpoint, incomprehensible...But the halakhic concept of teshuvah contains yet another element: taharah (purification). This concept is not one that predicates the removal of sin but...rather, to change ... its direction and destination...the Jewish repentant strives to 'remember' his sin. He strives to convert his sin into a spiritual springboard for increased inspiration and evaluation" [The Jewish Concept of Teshuvah, Joseph B. Soloveichik - The Yom Kippur Anthology, Goodman, JPS]
Soloveichik seems to suggest that there are two aspects to our repentance on Yom Kippur. One aspect concerns divine forgiveness and purification, and the other concerns learning from our mistakes and seeking inspiration for more ethical action as we develop from this introspection.
In American Jewish World Service's Chag v'Chessed for this Yom Kippur, Rabbi Julie Schonfeld cites Isaiah's rebuke of those returning from Bablyon as being more concerned with rebuilding the temple than with the way they treated each other. Rabbi Schonfeld alludes to the prophet's rebuke of those focused too much on ritual and not enough on society;
''Why, when we fasted, did You not see? When we starved our bodies, did You pay no heed?" (Isaiah 58:3)
God's answer resonates throughout the ages:
Because on your fast day you see to your business and oppress all your laborers! . . . No, this is the fast I desire: To unlock the fetters of wickedness, and untie the cords of the yoke; to let the oppressed go free; to break off every yoke. It is to share your bread with the hungry, and to take the wretched poor into your home; when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to ignore your own kin. (58:3, 6-7)
However, after moving away from ritual, Rabbi Schonfeld notices that Isaiah concludes his message with the obligation to observe Shabbat. Rabbi Schonfeld offers the following explanation;
"In Jewish thinking, a day of rest is not a human right derived from an abstract notion of that which the Creator bestows upon the individual. Rather, it is a religious obligation, emanating from a concrete notion of what we are required to do for each other and how the human community can be fashioned into a just society.
In order to practice the "ritual" of Shabbat, a panoply (range) of ethical social systems must be put in place. That is why Shabbat is described by tradition as "me'ein olam haba," a taste of the world to come."
Wherever you are for Yom Kippur, and however you interpret atonement, spirituality, and reflection, this Shabbat of Shabbatot offers you a chance to dedicate some time to thinking about the meaning in your life. It is a chance to reflect on your priorities and what you deem to be most important. Look back over your feelings and actions of the year passed. 'Remember your sins' so that you can find inspiration to learn from them. Finally, consider what action you may take for everyone to experience Shabbat and rest. How can we alter society so that we offer others the opportunity to dedicate time to what they value in life, and the lives of those they value?
