Make Yom Kippur a day of friendship; He'll make it a day of forgiveness
Tucked away in the small print following the Avodah portion of the Yom Kippur Mussaf are perhaps the most significant words of the entire day, words that contain our mandate for how to approach the Yom Hakadosh: “Al kein b’rachamecha harabim — with Your great mercy, You have given us… a day when it is forbidden to eat and drink… a day of instituting love and friendship, a day of forsaking jealousy and competition, a day when You will pardon all of our iniquities.”
Now that we can no longer achieve closeness to Hashem through sacrifices and the avodah in the Beis Hamikdash, we need to achieve atonement on our own. Indeed, the Rambam writes that since we no longer have the se’ir hamishtaleiach to atone for us, we are left to our own devices. This is hardly an ideal situation.
By way of analogy, imagine trying to push a heavy object with the help of a strong, burly friend — who suddenly departs at some point along the way. After the friend leaves, you would not say that the job is easier now that you don’t have to coordinate your efforts with a partner. Similarly, in bygone times, the Kohein Gadol and korbanos helped us achieve kapparah, but now we are on our own.
Although our job has become almost overwhelming, this paragraph in the machzor offers us a strategy toward attaining atonement.
Create a free account to keep reading.
