D’Var Torah

5785 (October 4, 2024) Yom Kippur

Rabbi Micah Friedman

A study sheet, “Models of Teshuva“, to accompany this shiur, can be found here.

As I was preparing for this Yom Kippur, I felt an unsettling sense of instability, uncertainty, and concern. This past week, it seemed like every time I tuned into the news I saw drastic reports coming from two of the places in the world where I have made my home – from the Tampa Bay area in Florida where I was raised and from Eretz Yisrael, the land of Israel – the ancient homeland of our people – where I was privileged to move my life after graduating from college. In my personal experience, we are living through a time when it sometimes seems like the world as we know it is changing all around us. The world feels unstable and it is scary.

Yet, the holy day of Yom Kippur continues to offer us comfort and an invitation to spiritual practice. While the world is uncertain, Yom Kippur is constant and consistent and, so are the spiritual needs which are addressed by Yom Kippur. Though our practices have shifted since the time of the Temple, Yom Kippur continues to guide us to embrace life and to express a full-throated desire for life – even and especially when we’ve experienced loss – even and especially when our pursuit of life requires sacrifice. In ancient times, it was the responsibility of the priests – the Kohanim – to do the Avodah (work) of Yom Kippur. Increasingly over the history of our people, we have understood that this work is to be shared by all of us as a kingdom of priests – ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש. 

How did Yom Kippur start? What is the origin story of this day? In the narrative of the Torah, Yom Kippur is born in the wake of tragic loss, the sudden death of Aaron’s two oldest sons Nadav and Avihu. In the book of VaYikra, after the people of Israel have come together to construct and consecrate the Mishkan (our traveling sanctuary), Nadav and Avihu are unexpectedly and mysteriously struck dead inside the Mishkan. The Torah explains that they brought “strange fire” but commentators have not agreed on what precisely this means. Whatever the reason for the death of Aharon’s sons Nadav and Avihu, it is in the wake of this loss that Aharon is instructed in the practices of the first Yom Kippur. 

It is this passage of instructions that we read today from the first Sefer Torah which details the sacrificial actions of Yom Kippur. It is clear from the context, that these actions – this avodah – is meant to prompt Aharon and the people of Israel to continue in their mission in the face of shocking loss. In the wake of sudden death, Aharon is given a prescription for embracing life in an ongoing way and continuing to serve the people of Israel through his work as a priest in the Mishkan. 

By the book of BaMidbar, the next book of the Torah from which we read our Maftir Aliyah, it becomes clear that these prescriptions are meant to become institutionalized as annual practices for generations to come and, therefore, no longer be dependent on the immediate context of the deaths or Nadav and Avihu. So, still to this day, we observe this holy day of Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur we take stock of our losses and engage in our ritual practices that involve sacrificing our comfort and pleasure in order to wholeheartedly express our desire for ongoing life. As we fast and raise our voices together in prayer, we affirm our desire for life in the year to come and to continue to embrace our collective role as a kingdom of priests. 

Since the time of the Mishkan – the traveling sanctuary, much has changed in the way we observe Yom Kippur. At some point, the Mishkan was lost, and we erected a Beit haMikdash – a house of holiness – a Temple in Jerusalem and transferred the sacrificial rites to that Temple. Then, our Temple was destroyed, many of our ancestors were cast into exile from the land of Israel, and we returned, rebuilt the Temple and revived the rites of Yom Kippur that were given to Aharon haKohen. Of course, for a second time, our Temple was destroyed and Jewish worship was forever transformed, becoming increasingly focused on the work we do in our hearts. In the language of the rabbis, of blessed memory, Avodah shBaLev – the labor of the heart. However, even in the time when the 2nd Beit haMikdash stood, we understood that people need to actively participate in the avodah of Yom Kippur in order to be deeply affected by this day, and our communal rites reflected this understanding. 

While the Kohen Gadol was the only individual who actually slaughtered the sacrificial animals, sprinkled their blood on the altar and dramatically entered the holy of holies to confess on behalf of all of the people of Israel, many, many more people were involved. A host of priests and sages prepared the Kohen Gadol for his duties and the Temple courtyards were filled with people waiting in anticipation for the Kohen Gadol to pronounce the name of G!d and to emerge safely from the holy of holies in which Nadav and Avihu lost their lives. In the proper moments, we all bowed down to the ground and then joined together in joyous song. 

The actual avodah – the psycho-spiritual work – of Kippur cannot be accomplished by a single individual. This is why – today – we all read the Seder Avodah – a narrative reenactment of the work of the Kohen Gadol and we are all encouraged to identify with the Kohen Gadol and his efforts – to be inspired by his dedication and heartfelt prayer on behalf of himself, his family, and all of the Jewish people. 

We are all commanded – in the book of Exodus – to be to G-d “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” While we continue to trace the heritage of those of us who are descended from Aharon’s two surviving sons: Elazar and Itamar, the vast majority of the spiritual work in which we engage as Jews is open to us all. We all share responsibility for being a Kingdom of priests. 

But, what does it even mean to be a Kingdom of Priests? In simple words, the great medieval sage Nachmanides says “we are all meant to be servants of G-d.” A key word here is ALL. At the same time that the Torah mandates special roles for the Kohanim, the Torah teaches us that we are ALL meant to participate in this work. 

Now, we know that we are all meant to participate in our shared priestly avodah, but what is this avodah – this spiritual work? Since the rites of Yom Kippur were some of the first that Aharon the High Priest enacted in the Mishkan, we can learn from that context about the purpose of the work of our collective priesthood. 

The work of Kippur – of atonement – of cleaning the slate – means that no matter what we endure – instability and destruction – loss and grief – drastic and dangerous change – we will continue to gather and demonstrate that we desire life. Just as Aharon observed the first Yom Kippur as a way of continuing to embrace and pursue life in the wake of the destabilizing loss of his sons, we too – in our observance of Yom Kippur – insist that we continue to yearn for life no matter what we’ve been through. 

Our people’s insistence on returning to this stance – year after year – every Yom Kippur – is part of how we have survived so long through so much strife and it is part of how we can collective serve as a kingdom of priests, a holy people, and a light to the nations of the world. 

As we prepare for an uncertain year – amidst instability and the fear it stirs up – we return again to the consistent practices of Yom Kippur that encourage us to shout and to repeat:

• Write us in the book of life, blessing and peace!
• Seal us in the book of life, blessing and peace!

As we prepare to daven Musaf, where we turn our attention to the Temple rites of the ancient priests, I want to invite us each to imagine ourselves as a priest, as part of this people of priests, and to inhabit the idea that our genuine spiritual work can be of service to the whole world. 

Wherever this year ahead will bring us, we can be certain that the Jewish people will come again to the day of Yom Kippur. Again, we will fast and pray, again we will remember those whom we have lost, and again we will sing and we will dance as we celebrate the gift of life and we call out together in prayer for ongoing life, blessing, and peace.

G’mar Hatimah Tovah! May we be sealed well in the book of life.