Muswell Hill Synagogue
Tzav 29/30 March 6.14pm 7.18pm

Happy Yom Kippur!

Now you may be asking – do we really consider Yom Kippur a happy day! We fast on Yom Kippur. We dress in white on Yom Kippur with one idea behind this custom being to remind us of death and sober us up to correcting our ways. We mention on Yom Kippur the destruction of the Temple, the 9th of Av and many martyrs who were killed by the Roman leadership over Judea early in the Common Era. So there is plenty to be serious about.

But the Talmud is clear – there are two days that are considered joyous beyond any others. And one of them is Yom Kippur would you believe! Yom Kippur is the day when G-d’s presence returned to the Jewish people after the disastrous worship of the Golden Calf. It took a number of months of teshuva, repentance on the part of the Jewish nation. But G-d did return to guide the nation through the desert and into the Land of Canaan.

Yom Kippur is a day of reconnection. We have Shabbat in a way to do that. Shabbat reconnects us with our soul and what it yearns for. But Yom Kippur is the ultimate Shabbat – it is called in the Torah ‘Shabbat Shabbaton’. It reconnects one potentially to our family and those around us as we ask forgiveness and apologise for the mistakes we have made over the year. It reconnects us with our community as we spend long periods of time with others who sit around us in the Synagogue. And it reconnects us to G-d as we all pray for forgiveness and mercy.

This may not be joy and simcha as we know it. But it is joy nevertheless.

Have a happy and meaningful Yom Kippur wherever you are and if you are in Muswell Hill Synagogue I look forward to seeing you. My sermon on Kol Nidrei night will continue the theme of the individual and the community and looks at the effects on the family. At Neilah I will be addressing the Yom Kippur War, its 40th anniversary and lessons for us on Yom Kippur. We will also be hearing a sermon from our rabbinic intern Sam Fromson, who will also give the Understanding the Service session.

Gmar Chatima Tova. May we all be written and sealed in the Book of Life!