{"id":44968,"date":"2018-09-17T21:49:34","date_gmt":"2018-09-18T03:49:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=44968"},"modified":"2020-01-11T21:35:59","modified_gmt":"2020-01-12T03:35:59","slug":"rabbis-explore-themes-of-yom-kippur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/rabbis-explore-themes-of-yom-kippur\/","title":{"rendered":"Rabbis Explore Themes of Yom Kippur"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By NICHOLAS HAMBURGER, <em>Special to the CCJN<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>I have swept aside like a cloud thy transgressions<\/em>.\u201d Merciful in its authority, ethereal in its imagery, and intimate in its address, this line, uttered by God to the people of Israel in the <em>Book of Isaiah<\/em>, resounds with the chief concerns of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in the Jewish calendar. Also referred to as the \u201cDay of Atonement\u201d or the \u201cSabbath of Sabbaths,\u201d Yom Kippur concludes the first ten days of the Jewish New Year, known as the \u201cDays of Awe,\u201d with a 24-hour period of fasting and repentance.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_44970\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Rabbi_Silver2.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44970\" class=\"wp-image-44970 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Rabbi_Silver2-300x215.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"215\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Rabbi_Silver2-300x215.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Rabbi_Silver2-768x552.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Rabbi_Silver2-1024x735.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/215;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44970\" class=\"wp-image-44970 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Rabbi_Silver2-300x215.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"215\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Rabbi_Silver2-300x215.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Rabbi_Silver2-768x552.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Rabbi_Silver2-1024x735.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-44970\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rabbi Deborah Silver of Shir Chadash (Photo by Alan Smason)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>This year, Yom Kippur begins at sundown on Tuesday, September 18 and continues until nightfall on Wednesday, September 19. As the holiday approached, the <i>Crescent City Jewish News <\/i>spoke with the rabbis of three synagogues &#8212; one Reform, one Conservative, and one Modern Orthodox &#8212; in the New Orleans metro area, and explored, through a series of one-on-one conversations, the emphasis Yom Kippur places on such weighty topics as forgiveness and renewal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYom Kippur is for me the most intense day of the whole Jewish year,\u201d said Rabbi Deborah Silver of Shir Chadash, a Conservative synagogue located in Metairie. \u201cIt is set about with restrictions but at its heart there is an intoxicating freedom.\u201d Many Jews likely would agree with Silver that Yom Kippur, which stipulates a rigid abstinence from bodily needs, is unmatched in its physical and spiritual intensity. In addition to fasting, the holiday demands that Jews not bathe or engage in sexual intercourse.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can rest assured that I will be brushing my teeth on Yom Kippur night and on Yom Kippur morning and even on Yom Kippur day, because my breath will smell bad having not eaten any food,\u201d said Rabbi Matthew Reimer of Temple Sinai, a Reform congregation located in Uptown New Orleans. Bad breath notwithstanding, in turning one\u2019s attention away from the physical world, \u201ca more spiritual or lofty state\u201d can be attained, suggested Rabbi Gabriel Greenberg of Congregation Beth Israel, a Modern Orthodox synagogue in Metairie. Similarly, this withdrawal from the body, according to Reimer, is a way \u201cto help focus us,\u201d paring away potential distractions to the soul as it concentrates on asking God for forgiveness of one\u2019s sins.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_44974\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Reimer_Matthew.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44974\" class=\"wp-image-44974 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Reimer_Matthew-300x244.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"244\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Reimer_Matthew-300x244.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Reimer_Matthew-768x624.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Reimer_Matthew-1024x832.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/244;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44974\" class=\"wp-image-44974 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Reimer_Matthew-300x244.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"244\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Reimer_Matthew-300x244.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Reimer_Matthew-768x624.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Reimer_Matthew-1024x832.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-44974\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rabbi Matthew Reimer of Temple Sinai (photo by Alan Smason)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cYom Kippur is the day that we apologize to God,\u201d Reimer continued. \u201cBut there\u2019s a huge <i>only if <\/i>before that. And the <i>only if <\/i>is, and I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ve ever framed it this way, we\u2019ve only earned the right to ask for forgiveness from God &#8212; and be forgiven by God &#8212; if we have done the work of asking forgiveness from each other, and from and for ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Implicit in the act of asking for forgiveness is a return to those that one has wronged. Reimer pointed out that the Hebrew word \u201cteshuvah,\u201d which refers to the self-reflection performed by many Jews during the Days of Awe as an avenue towards forgiveness, can be translated literally as \u201creturn.\u201d If forgiveness involves returning &#8212; to the wronged, to oneself, or to God &#8212; it also coincides with the return of a new year, a paradox central to Judaism in which time is experienced as at once cyclical and linear.<\/p>\n<p>In repeating the process of repentance each year, Yom Kippur offers the opportunity for renewal. Silver elaborated on the import of this: \u201cYom Kippur represents a huge Jewish idea \u2013 that change is possible. We do not have to remain trapped in old, destructive patterns of behavior. Audaciously, Judaism tells us that we never lose our potential to learn, to grow and to flourish.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kol Nidre, the melodic opening ceremony of Yom Kippur, perhaps epitomizes the way in which the holiday brings about renewal. Oriented to the past and to the future, the prayer, which translates to \u201call the vows,\u201d frees one from the broken promises of the bygone year in order to make new vows for the year to come.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_44973\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Greenberg_Gabe.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44973\" class=\"wp-image-44973 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Greenberg_Gabe-300x207.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"207\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Greenberg_Gabe-300x207.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Greenberg_Gabe-768x531.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Greenberg_Gabe-1024x708.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/207;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44973\" class=\"wp-image-44973 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Greenberg_Gabe-300x207.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"207\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Greenberg_Gabe-300x207.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Greenberg_Gabe-768x531.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Greenberg_Gabe-1024x708.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-44973\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rabbi Gabriel Greenberg of Beth Israel (photo by Nicholas Hamburger)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cKol Nidre has historical roots,\u201d explained Greenberg. \u201cIn the Torah, and then all the more so in the rabbinic commentaries like the Talmud, there\u2019s a heavy emphasis on a category of actions called \u2018vows.\u2019 There are a lot of different words for types of vows. I\u2019ve joked in the past, which doesn\u2019t imply that this is funny, and it\u2019s probably not, that I grew up hearing the Arctic native peoples had many different words for snow. Well, Jews have a lot of different words for types of sins and types of vows.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silver intends to use the context of Kol Nidre to mention a teaching of Rabbi Akiva that is nearly two thousand years old. \u201cHe analogizes Yom Kippur to a \u2018mikveh,\u2019 a ritual bath,\u201d Silver said. \u201cThat is, it is capable of effecting actual transformation.\u201d But if Yom Kippur, like a purifying \u2018mikveh,\u2019 holds the possibility of personal metamorphosis, the success of that renewal hinges on whether the individual can resolve any ambivalence they feel towards someone in their life.<\/p>\n<p>As Greenberg notes, \u201cyou cannot go into the \u2018mikveh\u2019 with any problematic relationships.\u201d If one does, according to the conditions of Judaism, the process is undone. \u201cA faulty societal or communal relationship,\u201d Greenberg continued, \u201cnegates an individual\u2019s relationship with God.\u201d To this end, Jewish renewal is predicated on forgiveness, on returning to those that one has wronged, on moving towards reconciliation.<\/p>\n<p>In asking for forgiveness, Reimer explained, \u201cyou\u2019re returning to humanity. It\u2019s all tied together &#8212; you\u2019re returning to what it means to be a neighbor. You\u2019re returning to, in your deepest self, what it means to be a member of society. And that\u2019s as much work to do with your neighbor as it is to do with yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This sensitivity towards one\u2019s neighbor, and ultimately towards oneself, is integral to Yom Kippur. Near the end of the Book of Isaiah, an anonymous prophet relays a string of questions asked by God of the children of Israel. In his line of rhetorical questioning, the speaker perhaps hints at the compassionate vulnerability underlying the act of fasting. \u201cIs it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house?\u201d he asks. \u201cWhen thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Rabbis%20Explore%20Themes%20of%20Yom%20Kippur\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":44970,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,642],"tags":[7739,9625,8790,8795,7986,8788,8821],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44968"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44968"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44968\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52866,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44968\/revisions\/52866"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}