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KOSHER DELIGHT - YOUR JEWISH ONLINE MAGAZINE!
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KD MAGAZINE!
ב"ה
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B"H
Shalom
and Bracha!
May you,
your family and your loved ones be sealed in the book of life, blessing,
peace, prosperity, salvation, comfort and good decrees, together with
the entire Jewish people for a good and peaceful life!
This
year, Yom Kippur falls out on Shabbat. The Talmud teaches us that
the sanctity of Shabbat enhances Yom Kippur and the sanctity of Yom
Kippur enhances Shabbat. Yom Kippur is referred to in the Torah as
the “Shabbat of Shabbats,” and when Yom Kippur falls out on Shabbat
it reaches yet a higher dimension.
Seemingly, Shabbat and Yom Kippur contrast sharply. Shabbat is a day
of rest, a day of rejoicing, a day when we indulge in physical
pleasure. Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement, when we afflict
ourselves in order to atone for our sins. How then, is Yom Kippur
the Shabbat of Shabbats? We can answer this by a deeper appreciation
of both Shabbat and Yom Kippur.
Shabbat
is not simply an opportunity to gorge ourselves and go to sleep.
Shabbat is the day that we elevate our physical lives from the
mundane to the holy. On Shabbat, Hashem’s presence in the world is
much more revealed then during the week. As such, acts of work are
an affront to Hashem. We rejoice on Shabbat because we feel Hashem’s
presence in the physical world. Every act of pleasure is therefore a
form of rejoicing with G-d. Shabbat we feel the soul of the world.
Yom
Kippur we go a step further. Yom Kippur we rejoice with the soul
itself. Yom Kippur the essence of the soul radiates and is united
with the essence of Hashem. It is this unity that affect the
atonement, because there can be no barrier between the essence of
the soul and Hashem. Indulging in eating or corporeal pleasures on
Yom Kippur would be violating the very nature of the day. Fasting is
not merely self affliction, but self elevation. When Yom Kippur
falls on Shabbat, certain penitential prayers are skipped. This is
because our bond with Hashem is further intensified, and the
atonement comes directly from Hashem.
One
year Yom Kippur the first Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi,
was late coming to synagogue. The entire congregation was waiting,
and as time passed, they sought him throughout the village.
Eventually, they discovered that he had gone to the home of a poor
woman who had recently given birth and had nothing to eat. He cooked
for her and fed her (her condition was such that it was permissible
to cook for her and for her to eat on Yom Kippur). The Chassidim
learned that caring for others precedes everything.
Every
Yom Kippur begins with inviting the excommunicated to join us in our
prayers in the synagogue. This is because we must look at every
fellow Jew as a pure soul, who is one with Hashem. As a result,
Hashem will view us in the same manner. May Hashem invite us to join
Him this Yom Kippur in His sanctuary in Yerushalayim with the coming
of Moshiach!
Shabbat
Shalom and G’mar Chatimah Tovah,
Rabbi
Biggs
Dedicated to Mazal
Harary. May she be the pride of her parents, her family and her people
and may Hashem’s blessings constantly surround her.
A Project of Chabad of Great Neck
400 East Shore Rd. Great
Neck NY 11024
516 4874554 fax 516
4874807
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KOSHER DELIGHT MAGAZINE
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