Yom Kippur is upon us. As a kid it was that long day of fasting starting from the previous evening. Though it was quite tiring, I can't remember ever whining about food, and/or not eating while the fast lasted, unlike kids my age and younger who burst out in tears and had to be sorted outside the assembly hall. (I was that stoic even at my age then, not because I enjoyed fasting, seeing as I cannot even fast to save my life now, but I just respected the fact that I was doing this because YAHWEH willed it. That's why even though I can fast twenty four hours at Yom Kippur, the weekly six hour fasts, remain a chore for me, to this day). I did notice that some of the adults couldn't even hold out, having witnessed a few situations where it was decided that the fast could end ahead of time, just because there'd been some prophetic interventions, meaning that our prayers had been heard on high, and therefore no reason to continue with the fast, and of course who was little me to make protestations at such decisions?


When exactly I came to understand that it was about our sins, I can't really tell but I got that much before my teen years. From having nothing but the sins of my fathers to atone for, to atoning for loads of them over the years, soon became the norm. A few of those sins becoming regular subjects with each passing year, due to seeming helplessness in breaking habits that fuel and enable them. The modes of prayer also changed as I recall, from when we could sit during Yom Kippur on seats, to sitting on the bare floor, and then back to the seats again, because of scriptural insights that suggests that when we fast, we are not to let outsiders know what we are doing, neither appearing to men like one fasteth.


Then we got to know that in some other denominations, a show was made of brethren making up with those with whom they had ought against, or vice versa in the past one year. An exercise in forgiveness which when it works exalts the assembly, and when it doesn't leads to disunity leaving such a congregation only as a shadow of its former self. After sorting the man, next is for the man to settle with his creator, for which Yom Kippur observance is key for the Jew. We moved from directing the thoughts of our prayers by ourselves, to giving voice to the words of sages, who did so much better in articulating our prayers better than we could've ever imagined. You know it is true that we really cannot pray for ourselves, when you read what tzaddikim and their likes have penned for such a time as this.


We came to the understating that the books are open on Rosh Hashanah, and closed on Yom Kippur, a Shabbat greater than any other shabbat. When all the children of YAHWEH are to present themselves before HIM. Not a few believe that it was on such a day that the fate of Job was decided, as many fates will be decided this time also. If at any time there was ever going to be a change in the destiny of a man, a day like Yom Kippur is such when that could happen. Death could easily be replaced with life, the lowly could find elevation, and the highly placed relegated. It is a day anything can happen, hence it behoves on us to do all we can to be in the right with our creator, if our fortune is to be positively highlighted on the day.


Getting right with the creator isn't just by mouthing it, because THE ONE we are dealing with knows when we are approaching without sincerity. HE knew the work of the hands of Job, and attested to it before the accuser of the saints, and though the latter suffered greatly afterwards, he was more than sufficiently compensated in the end, and it is said that his latter days were far better than his former days. You'd glean from the aforementioned that there's is therefore more to Yom Kippur, than just asking forgiveness, of both man and of his creator.


Yes, cleansing is an important part of it, but ultimately it is with reconnecting with one's creator and that entails more than I can ever put into words here. Remember how Adam had this relationship with YAHWEH, such that HE came to look for the former in the garden, to ask after his welfare. It is such a relationship that we ought to crave, and is the ultimate that we look forward to when we present ourselves before YAHWEH on this most holiest of days. It is true that our sins constitute the barrier between us and HIM, and that is why it takes a day when we are sinless (to the best of our abilities) and can therefore approximate a connection with HIS HOLINESS, for us to want to make the best of the holiday with our creator, hoping that our lives will make more meaning with his plans than same for ours or just about what our society expects of us.


I haven't seen a Yom Kippur where my perspective towards it haven't been novel, even this would be no different, leaving me wondering how long I will have to live if every Yom Kippur must be different in perspective to the one before it. Are the perspectives so many that it cannot be exhausted in a lifetime? I sincerely hope so, because the contrary will mean that I won't be here that long, should my life depend on the perspectives. So, this year, I will be going into Yom Kippur not just as myself, for myself, but also for my soul, understanding that connecting with YAHWEH goes beyond the mere physical, but far into the spiritual. I understand that it goes beyond me, and my meagre lifetime, but like that single strand that contributes to the huge rug, I ask of YAH, how would my life be of use to YOU?


'kovich


PICTURE CREDIT:
- www.dailymail.co.uk


YOM KIPPUR PERSPECTIVES https://madukovich./2020/09/26/yom-kippur-perspectives/