
The Weekly Message
October 12, 2024
Yom Kippur 5785
A day of awe and trepidation, greatness and joy - or all of them!
The day of Yom Kippur conjures up feelings of awe, fear and nervousness. However, in truth, Yom Kippur is a day of great joy. All of the workings of the Satan halt as our minds and hearts are focusing on atoning for our past sins, cleansing our souls and perfecting our character. All of the distortions, excuses and justifications for sinning are completely removed from our consciousness and we truly raise ourselves up to the levels of angels! For this reason, we begin this great day with the beracha of “Shehecheyanu” – thanking Hashem for giving us this extraordinary opportunity to become pure.
The Sharei Teshuva tells us that the mitzvah to eat a festive meal before Yom Kippur is to celebrate the great joy of this day! Since we cannot do this on Yom Kippur itself, we celebrate this great holiday before it even begins!
Rabbeinu Menachem ben Shlomo zt"l (Meiri) also explains that since the purpose of the fast is to raise ourselves up spiritually, Hashem commands us to eat so that we will not be hungry and thus distracted from the purpose of the fast itself! Yom Kippur is a day to feel Hashem’s love and when we actually feel it, we experience tremendous joy!
Rabbi Zev Leff shlit"a says: “If Yom Kippur represents Olam Haba then Erev Yom Kippur represents Olam Hazeh. Our urgent eating on Erev Yom Kippur demonstrates that we must consume as much Torah and mitzvos as we can in this world because in Olam Haba they are unavailable!” Indeed, this is our ultimate goal.
May we be zoche to experience the other-worldly bliss of Yom Kippur and may that spiritual joy spill over and fill the entire year with true simcha!