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Shabbat ends in London at 7.18pm
| Yom Kippur insights | Rabbi Reuben Livingstone |
| Eating on erev Yom Kippur - a mitzvah | Rabbi Daniel Roselaar |
| The Bible didn't say it first | Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis |
| Timnah | Simon Goulden |
| Riddle of the Week | Michael Dean & Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis |
Yom Kippur is arguably the most extraordinary day in our entire calendar. On this day, our hearts - usually preoccupied with myriad concerns - fill with a greater degree of faith and a sense of humility and submission before the Almighty's greatness. In the case of every other festival, we set aside part of the day for prayer and part for enjoyment. Yom Kippur, on the other hand, is devoted entirely to prayer and teshuvah. We have no less than five services, ten admissions of guilt, ten supplications for forgiveness, and we abstain from five things - namely eating, drinking, bathing, adornment and conjugal relations. Thus, we dress in white to symbolise that we are purer on this day - beyond the reach of the temptations of other days.
It is often noted that the Hebrew word for the Devil - 'HaSatan' - is numerically equivalent to 364; indicating that at least for one day a year he is inoperative.
In Temple times on this day, uniquely, the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies. He would pronounce G-d's ineffable name from inside the Holy of Holies while the priests and the people stood outside in the courtyard (azarah). Upon hearing that name, they used to kneel, fall on their faces, and say, 'Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom from now and forever'.
It was on the same day that Moses descended from Mount Sinai with the second set of tablets containing the Ten Commandments, signalling G-d's forgiveness after the breaking of the first tablets in the aftermath of the sin of the golden calf. Moses succeeded not only in procuring Divine atonement for that incident but also in establishing Yom Kippur as a day of pardon to all penitents forever thereafter. In the words of Vayikra (16:30): 'For on that day He shall atone for you; to cleanse you from all your sins before the L-d'.
Interestingly, the Midrash expounds the words 'before the L-d' as indicating that only sins between man and G-d can be expiated on Yom Kippur. Sins 'between man and fellow man' cannot be forgiven unless the wrongs are corrected and hearts reconciled. This means that anyone who has committed such a wrong has to go and ask forgiveness. If the offended party will not accept the apology when first offered, then the wrongdoer is obliged to repeat the approach three times.
Even if the person sinned against has died, one must go, in the company of a minyan, to the grave of the deceased and ask forgiveness in their presence. This profound act of humility and condescension is the very essence of penance - as David declares, 'The sacrifices of G-d are a broken spirit; a humble and contrite heart G-d will not despise' (Psalms 51:17).
Fasting, although the most potent and pervasive mitzvah of Yom Kippur, will not achieve its end if one remains arrogant. In the words of Isaiah (58:3): 'Wherefore have we fasted ... and you do not see? ... We afflicted our souls and you take no knowledge? ... Is this not the fast that I have chosen to weaken the bonds of wickedness and to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free?'
Isaiah points out to us the benefits and requirements of fasting. Firstly, fasting is about subduing corporal power in favour of spiritual force. It awakens us to the fact that it is through the soul that a man is a human being, not through his body.
Secondly, fasting facilitates that type of concentration which is necessary for worship and prayer. Normally, even while in Synagogue, one's thoughts are often distracted by various other subjects and it is easy to forget that one is in a house of G-d. While fasting, one is constantly reminded by one's hunger.
Thirdly, fasting is a salutary lesson to the better off. It makes us feel the painful state of the poor, who more routinely suffer hunger and privation. It is an object lesson in empathy for the more oppressed.
Finally, fasting frees us from the normal distractions of Yom Tov. No Kiddush, no lunch, no socialising, etc. We actually gain an opportunity for spiritual contemplation which is not normally available to us.
In this way, Yom Kippur is a unique chance to renew our connection with G-d and our fellow man - and to refresh our souls. But, like all special opportunities, it is a narrow window which may open and close before we realise its extraordinary possibilities.
Expounding on the obvious difficulties presented by the verse 'And you shall afflict your souls on the ninth of the month (of Tishri)', the Talmud concludes that just as there is a Mitzvah to fast on Yom Kippur, there is also a Mitzvah to eat and drink on the preceding day.
Many reasons have been advanced to explain this additional Mitzvah, including the following three:
1. R.Asher (13th-14th Century) suggests that it is simply a means of assisting the following day's abstentions. In order to ensure that one will be able to fast on Yom Kippur, it is necessary to eat on the previous day.
2. R'Yonah Gerondi (13th Century) writes that Yom Kippur, as a Yom Tov, really requires a festive meal. Of course, this is impossible, due to the obligation to fast. However, this requirement is satisfied by eating and feasting on Erev Yom Kippur. Based on this interpretation, the Shelah (16th-17th Century) rules that one should lay the table for the final prefast meal with two challot, just like every other Yom Tov meal.
3. The Perishah (17th Century) compares the Mitzvah of fasting on Yom Kippur to that of eating matzah on Pesach. In order to demonstrate that the matzah consumed at the Seder is for the purpose of fulfilling the Mitzvah, it is prohibited to eat matzah on Erev Pesach. Similarly, we are obliged to eat on Erev Yom Kippur in order to demonstrate that the following day's fasting is in fulfillment of a Mitzvah, and not simply because one prefers not to eat.
Latter halachic authorities have discussed the parameters of this Mitzvah in some detail. Questions that arise include the following: What, if any, is the minimum quantity of food that must be consumed in order to fulfil the Mitzvah? Is it merely a kezayit (an olive's bulk) like all other mitzvot which require one to eat (e.g. matzah and succah), or is it the larger quantity of a kotevet hagasah (a large date) for which one is halachically culpable if one consumed such a quantity on Yom Kippur itself?
Some authorities even recommend that one should try to eat continuously throughout the entire day and suggest sucking sweets or raisins in order to conform with this view.
By Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis
There are numerous commonly used phrases that many presume are from Tenach. Not are they not part of our tradition but, in actual fact, they have their origin in the Christian Scriptures.
The following are some examples:
by Simon Goulden, Agency for Jewish Education
Perhaps not King Solomon's Mines, but still worth a trip - Timnah.
Dating back at least three millennia, the copper mines of Timnah at one time prepared metal for the ancient Egyptians, Kings of Judah and (perhaps) for King Solomon himself. Perhaps that is why one of Israel's most astonishing natural wonders, formations made of Nubian sandstone rock are named after Israel's wisest monarch. One Biblical passage even mentions "the pots, shovels and sprinkling bowls. All these objects that Hiram made for King Solomon for the Temple of the L-d were of burnished bronze ( an alloy of copper)." (1 Kings 7:45)
The ancient Egyptians brought slaves to the Timnah Valley and forced them to dig a huge network of tunnels from which to extract copper from the earth. Smelting pots and industrial villages were established to produce pure copper, exported to the Nile cities. Aside from the remains of the copper industry, archaeologists have unearthed an Egyptian temple and, above it, a hieroglyphic picture of Ramses III presenting an offering to the Egyptian god Hathor. The discovery of fragments of writing in Proto-Hebrew, the earliest form of Hebrew, may even suggest who the workers might have been. Although explorers discovered the site some 150 years ago, another expedition in 1940 found seven copper smelting sites dating from the 10th-6th centuries BCE and the findings were published as "King Solomon's Mines", following the famous adventure story by H Rider Haggard. Israeli excavators, working 20 years later, discovered a stone built furnace of far greater antiquity, together with evidence of Egyptian mining activities from about the time of our slavery in Egypt. Finds of pottery of a Midianite type may throw additional light on the account of the relationship between Moshe and Yitro.
The Timnah Park, reached by a well signposted road just south of kibbutz Elifaz on Route 90, is well worth a day trip from Eilat.
Last week's questions:
1) set by Eitan Mirvis of Finchley.
There are two characters in the Torah whose father was also their grandfather. Who are they?
Answer:
Ammon and Moav.
Lot was their father and grandfather. (See Bereishit 19: 30-38)
2) EXTRA CHALLENGE - set by Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis.
What does this represent?
Lo Adu Rosh
Answer:
The first day of Rosh Hashanah does not fall on a
Sunday (A = Aleph)
Wednesday (D = Daled)
Friday (U = Vav)
This week's question:
1) set by Michael Dean of Stanmore Synagogue.
What is invalid if it is too big and invalid if it is too small and also invalid if it is both at the same time?
2) EXTRA CHALLENGE set by Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis.
On what occasions in our history was the beracha prior to blowing the Shofar "litkoah bashofar" (to blow the shofar) and not "lishmoa kol shofar" (to hear the sound of the shofar)?
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