Yom HaKipurim (AKA Yom Kipur for short) is upon us, one of my favorite times on the Jewish calendar. This period is an opportunity to engage in the psycho-spiritual realignment process of תשובה, Teshuva – return.
Teshuva, the Healthiest Feeling
The great Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook – a luminary of the early 20th century and an influential leader in the land of Israel (1865 – 1935) wrote:
“הַתְּשׁוּבָה הִיא הַהַרְגָּשָׁה הַיּוֹתֵר בְּרִיאָה שֶׁל הַנֶּפֶשׁ… מִתּוֹךְ הַשְׁקָפָה מְלֵאָה אוֹר וְשִׂמְחָה עַל הַעֲלָאַת הָעוֹלָם וְשִׁכְלוּלוֹ.”
“Teshuva is the healthiest feeling of the soul… stemming from a perspective filled with light and joy regarding the elevation and perfection of the world.” (Orot HaTeshuva 5:1)
Guilt-Driven Religion Paralyzes the Spirit
Traditional approaches to Yom Kipur often emphasize feelings of brokenness and regret. Rav Kook, who believed that guilt-driven religion paralyzes the spirit, viewed Teshuva as a natural, joyful process of spiritual evolution – the soul yearning to align with its original goodness.
According to Rav Kook this is our time to ask ourselves whether our life is progressing toward fulfillment of our most cherished callings? Or is our life otherwise regressing. And if so, how do we bring our life-direction back on course?
A Twenty-Five-Hour Bubble in Time
As a community, we support one another in self-assessing and correcting course before and during Yom Kipur. This special day functions as a retreat from ordinary life, a twenty-five-hour bubble in time during which we gather in Jewish spiritual community, pray, fast, and engage in honest soul-searching.
Furthermore, the word “Yom Ki-purim” literally means “a day like Purim (the holiday of)”. It is not meant to be a day of melancholy, but a day of spiritual ecstasy, mirroring the uninhibited joy of Purim, but on a higher, purely spiritual, level.
Meaningful Realignment
May we be blessed with meaningful realignment this Yom Kipurim, individually, collectively, Jews, humans, and Mother Earth herself. We do need it. May the coming year be one of rising joy, deepening peace, inner and outer strength, and abundant blessing.
