Yom Kippur 5784
- Torah Tavlin
- Oct 11, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 7
כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם לטהר אתכם מכל חטאתיכם ... (ויקרא טז-ל)
What is the difference between "כפרה" and "טהרה" and why does the posuk tell us we need both? “Kappara” means atonement, from the word "לכפר" which means to cover. When we sin, we cover our neshamos with layers and barriers that separate us from Hashem. The more covered our souls become from sin, the more desensitized we become to spirituality. On Yom Kippur, we do teshuva, which removes the coverings and allows us to return to a real connection to Hashem.
That leads us to “Tahara”! Tahara means purity, which is a state of being that is fully focused on Ruchniyus. “Kappara” is the way to get there, but “Tahara” means truly living with Hashem. Living for olam haba and not for olam haze! Tahara means living a physical life with a spiritual kook (focus)! When we say, "וטהר לבנו לעבדך באמת" - we ask Hashem to purify our hearts so that we can REALLY serve Him. Only with Tahara can we live life the way we are supposed to.
Sometimes we feel like all this talk about teshuva, and changing ourselves is a bit heavy. “I keep Shabbos, eat kosher, send my kids to the best yeshivos and give tzedaka to the needy. Why should I change? What’s wrong with my nice frum, Torahdik, yeshivish life?” The answer is that although we live frum lives, our focus is mainly on the material. Imagine if tomorrow all food would have no taste! Everything we eat would be totally bland. What would you think? “Great! Now we won’t spend so much time eating and going to restaurants! We will be able to focus more on spiritual matters!” Or will you say, “No more BBQs, fancy dinners and delicious desserts? No way!” Some feel that life is just not worth living without physical pleasures! THIS is the focus we need to change! Our enjoyment in life should come from Tahara - living with Hashem. This is what we hope to accomplish this Yom Kippur so that we will be zoche to real life in this world. Physical existence with a spiritual kook!