Weekly D'var Torah

Yom Kippur, the White Fast, is not just a day of self-denial.  It is a day when we remind ourselves who we really are: not a physical organism merely but a spiritual being.  The day is one of struggle but ultimately of freedom and cleansing: a demarcation of a fresh start.

Kippur, atonement, is related to the concept of K'fira, negation.  We temporarily seek to escape from the boundaries of our individual existence and seek to merge our consciousness and our being with the Eternal.  When we return from our journey to the sound of the Shofar, we are reinvigorated by our contact with the Source of Being.  

This moment of Kippur is a fleeting moment, like a flash of lightning.  Sometime during the day, if you seek earnestly, during prayer or contemplation or even if you go out for a walk or take a rest, there will be a moment when you will feel a door open and a single ray of pure being will shine into your heart.   Did it really happen?  There will be no words to describe it, but our Torah promises that if you are ready and open your heart, there it will be.

May you and your family be renewed for a year of abundant life, health, spiritual and physical vitality, joy and meaning- Yiyeh Tov -- it will be good.

With blessings,

Rabbi Rudin