For many of us, the most amazing experience of a lifetime is falling in love. But as wonderful as love is, relationships invariably bring complications. Ego gets in the way. We mess up. We hurt each other, even if unintentionally. Inevitably, we need to forgive in order to continue.
So it is in our relationship to the Divine. As much as we try to commit ourselves to Spirit, to our best selves and to the people we love, all of us fall short. This is why there is a Yom Kippur.
Yom Kippur is about forgiveness. It is the day set
aside to give and receive forgiveness from our fellow human beings, from ourselves, and from God. It is also called the Day of Atonement—“at-one-ment,” the day we strive
to become one with our community, ourselves, and Spirit.
Yom Kippur begins in the evening with Kol Nidre,
literally “all oaths and promises.” This deeply meditative
service is built around the theme of the promises we make and then, too often, break. It concludes with a commitment to change.
On this day, we turn inward. We shun physicality and many of us abstain from eating and drinking. Some of us abstain from washing, physical intimacy, even using lotions, wearing leather shoes, make-up, or jewelry. Many of us wear white.
The Rabbis teach us, that regardless of how we choose to observe, what customs and practices we take upon ourselves, the day itself changes us. Simply being in this day, in consciousness, moves us into love, presence and vulnerability. We pray for the ability to accept the human condition—both of ourselves and of our fellow beings—to understand our frailty and our imperfections, to let go of the defenses that stand in our way of becoming at one with all that is.
G'mar Chatima Tova -
May you have a meaningful fast.
Chani
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