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Yom Kippur and the Holy Name
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Rabbi Z Aviner
Noahidesevencommandments.com
And when the Kohanim and the people standing
in the Temple Court heard the Glorius and
Awesome Name of Hashem issuing from the
mouth of the Kohen Gadol in holiness and purity
they would bend their knees and bow down
and fall on their faces and exclaim:
Blessed be the Name of the Glory of
His Kingship forever and ever
(From the Amida Prayer)
On the surface, there is a difference between YK and RH.
YK is a holiday associated with the story of the Exodus,
such as Passover, Shavuot (the holiday of the Giving
the Torah) and Sukkot (the Feast of the Boots).
RH in contrast, is a holiday associated with the birth of
of Adam and Eve as told in Genesis Ch1.
Hence RH and YK are derived from different narratives.
One from the Book of Genesis celebrating the birth of Mankind,
The other from the Book of Exodus, connected to the birth of
Israel.
And yet, the oral Torah connects the two into one narrative –
RH is a day of Judgment, when the HC ascends on
the Throne of Judgment to judge the entire world,
whereas YK is a day of Atonement, when the HC moves to sit
on the Throne of Mercy and Atonement.
The Oral Torah even connects the two by the Ten Days of
Repentance, dedicated to Teshuvah.
So what exactly is YK?
A good way to learn about YK is to study the prayer book. Above
is a quotation from the Amida prayer, describing the apex moment
of the service done on YK at the Holy Temple. It describes the
the High Priest coming out of the Holy of Holies chamber,
proclaiming the Holy Name of Hashem in full. The people
prostrated on the ground in awe and accepted the Kingship of
Hashem.
The q is – what is all that to do with atonement?
Moreover – why do we need the Temple at all
for repentance and atonement?
What is so special about YK
After all, one may repent on any day of the year,
Wherever one is, with or without a High Priest?
Indeed, this principle is shown in the story of the prophet Yonah.
Hashem sent him to far away city, Ninveh, to call the people for
repentance.
Hashem is attentive to repentance of non-Jews and non-Jews
alike, in remote cities as well as in Jerusalem.
Hashem also listened to the cry of the boy Yishmael,
“Wherever he was” as the verse says.
In fact, we read on YK in the synagogues those two stories- of
Yonah and Yishmael – to make that point clear.
What is then the significance of the Temple service done on YK?
Why do we need it for atonement?
To see the answer, let’s recall the story of YK as presented in
the Torah.
Let’s recall that YK is associated with the story of the Sin of the
Golden Calf.
Soon after Giving the Torah on Mt. Sinai, just 40 days later, the
Israelites made an erroneous calculation and thought that Moses
would not return.
That error prompted a wild orgy, associated with worshipping of
a Golden Calf. The people cried out – This is your God, Israel,
who has taken you out of Egypt. It was a compound error – of
identifying Hashem, and presenting Him by a tangible item- a
Golden Calf.
That combination of idolatry and adultery enraged Hashem, who
decided to annihilate the people, no different than in the story of
Eden when Hashem drove Adam and Eve out and die after they
had violated IDOLATRY and ADULTERY
(Idolatry by not listening, adultery when Eve conferred with the
serpent.)
And like in Eden, after the orgy and the Goden Calf
Hashem wished to drive Israel out of this world,
replacing them by other people like Moses’ descendants
(32: 9)
Yet, as in Eden, Hashem did not execute His decision right away,
before giving Israel a chance to repent.
In Eden, He called Adam and Eve saying –
Adam, where are you? (Genesis 3: 9)
Here on Mount Sinai, Hashem first informed Moses about what
was happening down in Israel camp and then He added:
“Now leave me alone and let my anger flare up against them
and I shall annihilate them and make you a great people!”
(32: 10)
By saying to Moses Leave me alone, Hashem inferred that
He would let Moses intervene.
Moses grabbed that opened door and asked Hashem
To forgive Israel, for the sake of the patriarchs.
Moreover, Moses argued, annihilating Israel and replacing them
by another people would be perceived by the Gentile Nations
as a Hashem’s failure, a sheer desecration of His Name.
Moses’ arguments were effective, and Hashem recanted
His decision to annihilate the people, yet He did not restore His
former Love to them. He felt detached from them, removed
from the closeness He felt earlier when He gave the Torah.
.
He told Moses that He would not go up with them to the Holy Land (33:3)
Moases understood that the sin, like any other sin, had left a
blemish on the people soul and status in Hashem’s eyes.
His prayer had managed to cancel the HC retribution for the sin
which is the
meaning of atonement, Kaparah in Hebrew.
yet did not achieve Taharah, purification of the taint inflicted on
their souls. And as long there is no Taharah, Hashem’s Love
wouldn’t be restored and His Shechinah would stay removed
from them.
When Moses descended from the Mountain and saw the moral
devastation, he broke in despair the two stone Tablets with the
Ten Comm inscribed on them, and called up to the people:
“Whoever is for Hashem join me!” Only the tribe of Levi
Responded positively.
After the ordeal was over, the people cried out and repented
for 80 days (33: 4) but this did not purify them nor restore
Hashem’s Love for them.
Moses, then, ascended the second time on Mt. Sinai and
besieged Hashem for another 40 days, without drinking or eating.
He wished to undue the Sin completely, to cleans their souls’
blemish entirely. Since their sin was in identifying Hashem,
replacing Him with a Calf,
“If I have found face in your eyes,” Moses said to Hashem,
‘tell me your Name and Your ways and I shall teach it to Israel”
(33: 14-16)
Hashem responded positively and ordered Moses to carve out
new stone Tablets by himself, with the Ten Comm inscribed on
them again by Moses. It would be a new beginning, a restoration
of Hashem’s Love as it was with the first Tablets pair.
And as Moses was holding those new Tablets (34: 5) Hashem –
the Shechinah – came down and stood by Moses, teaching him
the precise holy Name by which He preferred to be known, and
the 13 attributes of Mercy which describes His merciful ways.
Those attributes are
:
“Hashem, Hashem, El, Compassionate and Gracious, Slow to
Anger, and Abundant in Kindness and Truth, Preserver of
Kindness for thousands of generations, forgiver of iniquity, and
Willful sins, and Errors, and Who cleanses – but does not
cleanses completely, recalling the iniquities of parents upon
the children, and grandchildren
, to the third and fourth generations.” (34: 4-6)
Hashem said –
“Now go down and inform the people that I have forgiven them as
you have asked. ( ). To undue their IDOLATRY, teach them my
precise, full Name and my 13 merciful ways.
Instruct them to build for me a Tabernacle where they
would bring their offering with repentance, and call my full Name
in purity and holiness, and I shall come closer to them and restore
my Love to them.
Moreover, Hashem said, take down the second set of the Tablets
with you. The Torah will mold their heart to love me, so that I
would increasingly Love them and Dwell in their heart rather than
in the walls of the Temple.
As instructed, Moses came down of Sinai on day 40, which
happened to be the 10th day of the 1st month, 10 days after RH.
The entire people of Israel came on their own decision to hear his
message (Exodus 35: 1.) It would serve as a YK day of
atonement for posterity. He held the two new Tablets, and
ordered the construction of the Tabernacle.
Henceforth, on every YK, the High Priest of Israel would enter
The Holy of Holies chamber facing the Holy Ark where the two
new Tablets of Moses were kept. After performing few
ceremonial acts he pleaded to Hashem –
to let His Mercy overcome His Judgment, as quoted by
the Talmud.
Then he exited the Hall with the glory of the Shechinah wrapped
around him and asked forgiveness in the name of the people
while invoking the full Name of hashem as had been told to
Moses.
And when the people in the Temple Courtyard head the Holy Name
uttered in public,
they bowed, bent their knees, and prostrated
on the ground and accepted His
Kingship and Hiis Torah forever and ever
That service on YK, receiving not only forgiveness but purification
of our heart from the taint of sin
can’t be duplicated in any other site on Earth
or in the Universe. Humanity needs Israel and the Temple
as the only place where the Holy Name of Hashem could be
called.
Why do we need purification of our heart?
First, we need to restore Mankind purity as it was before the primordial sin in Eden.
Secondly, let me quote Rabbi Hayim from Volozin –
“Hashem created Adam and placed him in charge over multitudes forces and infinite universes…that he would lead them and establish them by his actions, speech and thoughts. Whereas for good or bad…b/c by his good ways and thoughts he would sustain them in holiness…and the opposite is true – by actions and thoughts and speeches that are not good he can destroy infinite world and universes…”
The purity of Adam heart affect not only himself and the society
around him but the entire world. Moreover, it affect also the infinite alternative worlds which today we know about their existance more than ever before.
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What then is the connection between RH and YK?
RH is a day when all mankind stands in judgment, as shown in Genesis Ch1.
However, Mankind needs the Holy Temple in Jerusalem as the only place where the Holy Name of Hashem could be proclaimed on YK – in purity and holiness.
As shown to Moses, this would not only achieve not achieve atonement and canceling of any retribution by the HC, but also restore Hashem Love for Mankind as it was before the Primordial Sin in Eden.
Only then Mankind would become Very Good and merit entering the Sabbath eternal Day.