Tomorrow evening, we will usher in the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur. This is a day of great, deep spiritual joy, since on this day Hashem is close to each of us and forgives our sins. It is certainly solemn. We are reviewing our actions and asking for forgiveness, and if we are sincere we are taking it very seriously. But that should not be confused with sadness. If we do in fact accept responsibility for our lacks and mistakes, Hashem, our loving Creator and Father, is happy and waiting to forgive, and this should bring us a very powerful sense of optimism and joy.
There is an interesting verse in Tehillim (Psalms) that seems a little difficult to understand. “For You forgive, in order that you be feared.” (Psams 130:4.) We add this Psalm to our prayers throughout the Ten Days from Rosh Hashana to Yom Kippur. What does this mean exactly? It sounds counterintuitive. If Hashem forgives, there is less reason to fear! There is a beautiful Chassidic interpretation in the holy book Yahel Or, quoting Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of the Chabad movement. He gives an allegory of a poor man who owes a lot of money to someone. He knows that he will not be able to make the payment. So he approaches the lender and asks him to work with him and come up with easier terms. The lender refuses and demands the full payment on time. What is the borrower to do? There is no way he can make the full payment, so he just gives up and defaults on the loan.
Now imagine if the lender is compassionate and agrees to work with the poor borrower. He forgives a part of the loan, and offers an easy payment plan for the loan to be paid out slowly over time. In this case, the borrower will go out of his way to meet the new repayment terms. If at all possible he will accelerate the payments, and perhaps even pay more than was agreed to. The borrower feels grateful to the lender, and there is a bond of friendship created between them.
This is what the above verse means. “Fear” does not mean being afraid that Hashem will do something bad to us G-d forbid. It means being in awe of Hashem, feeling His closeness and being afraid to do anything that might affect our relationship with our very source of life. If Hashem was unforgiving and demanded that we be perfect all the time, then what chance would we mortals have to be connected to Him? We would just give up and forget about trying to bring Torah and spiritual meaning into our lives. But, as the verse says, Hashem is forgiving, and therefore we stand in awe of Him. We approach Hashem on Yom Kippur in the knowledge that if we just to do something to relieve our burden, if we commit to increase our observance and to be more aware of our mission and responsibilities, Hashem will accept our “payment plan” and even help us, with spiritual and material assistance, to fulfill our promise.
I think this is an important message that has to be spread, especially to our youth. So many have the image of a demanding, unforgiving G-d with unrealistic expectations, and they just give up and walk away from any Jewish observance. We must share this message of hope. Hashem loves us and wants us to succeed. He wants to see us successful and happy, and is willing to make it possible for us to return and to connect with Him, step by step. If we take that first step, we will be accepted and blessed. May we all be blessed with a “Gmar Chatima Tova” – may we be sealed for a wonderful year, a year of peace, harmony and abundance, and a year of Divine revelation for each of us and for the entire world.
As always, you, along with every Jew, are welcome to join us at Chabad for the services. Please click the link above for your closest Chabad House.