Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the great and most well known fast of the Jewish Year. Since there are many addition prohibitions on this day, besides fasting, such as no bathing or wearing leather shoes, one might think that Yom Kippur is a day of sadness and mourning, certainly not a day of happiness and celebration.
However, the last Mishna of Ta’anis (Fasts) explains that “there were no more joyous days for Israel than Yom Kippur and the Fifteenth Day of Av and Yom Kippur.” Furthermore, Yom Kippur cuts short, or even entirely cancels, the mourning period that one goes through after a parent passes away. In the words of the Gemorah (Talmud): ” The rejoicing of the nation (it states that with every holiday or festival Jews must rejoice, including Yom Kippur) pushes aside the mourning of the individual.” The fact that Yom Kippur is included with all the usual festivals that cancel mourning proves again that Yom Kippur must be seen as a day oh happiness because how else could it be compared to other happy holidays such as Succos. Moreover, Shabbos can never coincide with a sad holiday, such as Tisha B’Av (the Ninth Day of Av, memorial of the destruction of both); However, as we can see from this year Yom Kippur can and does fall out on Shabbos.
On Rosh Hashana we commemorate the creation of the world and accept Hashem as our King. On Yom Kippur, we focus on our special bond with God. On this day, every single person as the ability to be elevated and connect directly to Hashem. This holy day gives us an extra lift, so we can touch the top of the mountain and get a glimpse of that place we would like to reach. We are given the opportunity to create a new and greater bond with God and therefore the day is not sad-filled, but rather a joy-filled day where we all can start anew. Even more so we have Neilah services (the concluding services of Yom Kippur) where it is said we have a direct line to God and have the opportunity to gather all our energy, concentrate with all we have, and pour our hearts out to make the most of the last moments of this unbelievable holy day.
You see, when one says that Yom Kippur is a sad day, they focus on the fasting aspect; but we must look beyond that and see that beyond the physical food there is spiritual food, and on Yom Kippur we have the opportunity to fill ourselves full with connections and inspiration to last the entire next year.
May we all have a sweet new year, Good Shabbos, and G’mar Chatimah Tova!
Benji Kurnick
NCSY Regional Board