Boulder Aish Kodesh

Friends – Yom Kippur is upon us like April 15^th of the soul, but there are no deferments.  This is it.  Bu the time before and after is as important as the day itself.  One of the great Rebbes said, ‘According to the Gemarra, one day of a year is considered a year, and one moment of a day is considered a day, so in the last hour before Yom Kippur, let us all return to G-d…’

The Gemarra in Yoma says that the day of Yom Kippur itself atones – even if you are siting at the beach.  So why are you all coming to shul?  Let’s go to the beach!  Well, it is a bit more complicated than that.  There is a concept of ‘tovel v’sheretz b’yado’ – one who goes to the mikveh because of impurity with an impure animal in his hand.  Granted, the mikveh purifies, but as soon as he gets out he is once again impure.  So, too, if you spent Yom Kippur day on the beach with a ham sandwich in your hand and waited for three stars to emerge and then ate it, you would be atoned for.  And then you’d start right in where you left off.  We want to be clean and atoned for AND we want a good shot at starting off the year on the right foot.  Some people therefore have a custom of spending the entire day in the shul.  We spend most of it, but for good reason – to be an active part of our own atonement, so we focus the light of the day onto how we work, and be better equipped to have this year be a year of healing and purity.

So throw away that ham sandwich, grab a kittel and let’s make this Yom Kippur an amazing new beginning, individually and as a shul.