Reflections on Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement)

 Dear Friends,


There are certain days that one will always remember.  Yesterday was one of them.

Celebrating Yom Kippur a year after the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7.2023, in the midst of a presidential election, and surrounded by many personal and societal challenges was quite intense.

I want to share a few reflections with you.  

Elie Wiesel raises the following question which I saw in a quote on a website from Temple B'nai Israel in Panama City , Florida.

“The Gaon of Vilna said that ve-samachta be-chagekha (You shall rejoice in your festival; Deuteronomy 16:14) is the most difficult commandment in the Torah. I could never understand this puzzling remark. Only during the war did I understand. Those Jews who, in the course of their journey to the end of hope, managed to dance on Simhat Torah, those Jews who studied Talmud by heart while carrying stones on their back, those Jews who went on whispering Zemirot shel Shabbat (Hymns of Sabbath) while performing hard labor . . . ve-samachta be-chagekha was one commandment that was impossible to observe—yet they observed it.”

It may seem impossible this year to find joy in our Holidays and yet, being together with other people and celebrating our wonderful tradition, was very uplifting. I told  the congregation where I led services, that we live in the midst of the paradigm of the Jewish wedding.  The wedding is joyful and yet we break a glass at the end to remember the sad moments in our history.  However, then we shout out "mazel tov!" (good luck, congratulations!).  

We live in a time of conflicting emotions where we want to be joyful and yet we are somewhat overwhelmed by the intensity of some of the sadness and polarization we face.

As I was leading the Youth Service during Yom Kippur we prayed from a Machzor (High Holiday prayer book) that had an acrostic for the word teshuvah which means change.  (Yom Kippur: A Family Service by Judith Z. Abrams)  I think there is wisdom for all of us as we seek to make changes in our lives. 


We told the Truth..    .       we also  Tattled
We ran        Errands...       we          Embarrassed people  
We              Shared...        we           Spoke rudely
We              Helped...        we          Hurt others
We              Understood....we were Unpleasant
We              Volunteered...we were Very obnoxious
We              Acted properly... we     Acted badly
We              Hugged...            we     Hit 

I hope that we can do more of what is on the left side and less of what is on the right side in order to bring joy to our lives and the lives of others.

Finally, a good friend who works with artificial intelligence, put together a podcast of some of my blogs which I hope you find either entertaining or inspiring.


May we all be sealed for a good, peaceful, healthy, and safe new year.

Rabbi Bruce Aft

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