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Writer's pictureDr. Doug

A New Look At Yom Kippur - 2024


Yom Kippur is the most holy day of the year. Why is it so important? Rosh HaShanah is more than just the first feast in the Month of Tishrei. It is more than the start of the Jewish New Year and more than the day the world was created. HaShem created the earth approximately 5784 years ago. Peter stated in II Peter 3:8, “Do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance."

The famous Jewish scholar the Vilna Gaon explains that this statement is the key to understanding redemption. He stated, “If you divide 1,000 years by 24 hours, each hour of creation corresponds to 41.67 years of history. Accordingly, the 6th day of creation corresponds to the years 5,000-6,000 of history. Animals were created on Thursday night, and man’s creation began on a Friday morning, corresponding to the year 5,500 because the halachic day begins at nightfall. Sanhedrin 38b recounts the hour-by-hour process of Adam’s creation in the first hour (years 5,500-5,541); God piled up the dust; in the second hour (5,541-5,583), He formed Adam’s body. In the fifth hour, about 11:00 am of the first Friday morning of creation, the man stood on his feet. This corresponds to the year 5,708 (1948), the year of the founding of the modern State of Israel. This was when the nation of Israel stood on her feet. Accordingly, Shabbat, corresponding to the redemption (Yom Shekulo Shabbat), is supposed to come in maximum by the year 6,000 (2,240 A.D.), but we are supposed to accept Shabbat and bring her in early! Why wait? Let’s do as many mitzvot as possible, return to the Land of Israel, and bring the Mashiach/Shabbat in as early as possible." This is known as zerizut. (Kol HaTor pg. 45).

Peter spoke about zerizut (זֶרִיזוּת) in II Peter 3:8-12, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all of these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of HaShem because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise, we are looking for new heavens and earth in which righteousness dwells." The word translated as “hastening” describes the concept of zerizut. Zerizut means to “fulfill your obligation at the best possible time or as soon as a commandment takes effect."

The time between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur is an important time for all of us. It is a time when we can evaluate our zerizut. The Sages agree that Rosh Hashanah is the time of judgment while Yom Kippur is the time of cleansing. The word Kippur does not mean atonement; it means cleansing. Daniel 12:10 states, “Many will be purified, made white and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand (the sign of the Acharit Hayamim - last days), but the wise will understand." Chazal tells us that there is a strong connection between purification and the mikveh. HaShem purifies people just like a mikveh purifies those who are impure. This connection is not a metaphor but a profound spiritual truth we should relate to. The mikveh was used to cleanse from ritual impurity, which, in Hebrew, is called tumah. Tumah can be caused by such things as touching a dead body, touching an item that had been in contact with a dead body, or touching anyone with an issue of blood. To put it bluntly, tumah can be caused by birth, sex, disease, and bodily fluids.

The Kotzker Rebbe stated that when it “comes to the mikveh, you are either totally in it or you are not considered to be in it.” If someone is mainly in the mikveh but partially outside of it, even a little, he is not considered to be in the mikveh. A person is either in the mikveh or they are not. This description makes it easy to see why the mikveh is comparable to the purification of HaShem. The Kotzker Rebbe also said, “If even one hair on a person’s body is outside the mikveh, his immersion does not count." The same can be said with the purification process of teshuva (repentance and return to HaShem); if we are missing even a little bit of purity from our teshuva, we are missing the entire cleansing and purity of Yom Kippur. To be made clean, ritually pure, a person must be all the way in the mikveh. The same is true for cleansing provided by Yom Kippur; you must be all the way in HaShem through the acceptance of the sacrifice of Yeshua.

When a person is in the mikveh, even all the way in, ritual purity has not yet begun. It begins the very second that a person leaves the mikveh. The key to being all in with Yeshua is never to leave. We must continually be all in. Here is a real-life example of the process of purification. The flood in Noah’s time was not just punishment but a purification of the earth. In other words, the earth was placed in a mikveh so that purification could occur. The flood completely covered the earth for forty days and forty nights to the level of forty seahs of water required to make a ritually fit mikveh. The waters of Noah cleansed the world by immersion in the same way one is purified by immersion in the waters of the mikveh. This separation and removal of all extraneous and undesirable elements aims to bring the world and a person to a higher level. Remember, when a person is in a mikveh, it is enough to be in it for just a second, as long as he is totally immersed in the water. The same is true with Yom Kippur because on Yom Kippur, a person has to come to just one moment of truth, and from that moment onward, he draws for purity. (On the Essence of Spiritual Impurityhttps://www.mikvah.org/article/on_the_essence_of_spiritual_impurity).

The question needs to be asked: When in the Torah is Yom Kippur established? It is mentioned in Leviticus and Numbers, but where was it first established? This occurred at Mt. Sinai. If you recall, Moshe went up to the top of Mt. Sinai to receive the lukhot habberit (לוּחוֹת הַבְּרִית), the tablets of the covenant. He was on Mt. Sinai while the sin of the golden calf was taking place. HaShem told him to "go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned from the way which I commanded them. They have made a molten calf for themselves, have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it and said, This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egpyt!” Yom Kippur was established when Moshe interceded on behalf of Israel. In Exodus 34:6-7 HaShem explains to Moshe the 13 middot, the 13 attributes of mercy. Yom Kippur is the only day that the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies, call upon the name of HaShem, and offer a blood sacrifice for the sins of the people. This exemplified the “life for a life” concept that became foundational for all sacrifices and began the “great day of intercession,” made by the High Priest on behalf of the people of Israel.

The bull and one goat, the only offerings of the entire year whose blood was sprinkled in the Kodesh Hakodashim, atoned for tumah (impurity) of the Temple and its offerings, that is, for someone who knew he was tamei (unclean) and nevertheless entered the Temple or ate sacrificial meat. The bull atoned for the kohanim, while the sacrificial goat atoned for the sins of the people. The other goat – the “scapegoat” that was cast away in the wilderness represented freedom for the penalty of sin.

A powerful law of Korbanot (sacrifices) needs to be mentioned here. According to the laws of Leviticus in the Bible, when performing animal sacrifices, the blood of a bull or sheep could not be mixed with the blood of another animal; each sacrifice had to be presented with its own separate blood, ensuring purity and following the prescribed ritual guidelines. Rabbi Yehuda said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel that one who slaughters an offering must raise the knife upward so that the blood should not drip from the knife to the receiving bowl, for it is stated, the anointed Kohen shall take the blood of the bull, which implies not from the blood of the bull and something else such as the knife, in order that the blood of different animals are not mixed on Yom Kippur. The High Priest wants the pure blood of the bull to enter the bowl and not the bull’s blood on the knife. (Talmud Yoma)

This is why quickly wiping off the blood of the knife is related to Rosh HaShanah, where you were judged, and your sins were quickly wiped away just as quickly as the blood was wiped off the knife. This is the picture of the atoning sacrifice of Yeshua. HaShem's judgment for our sins was laid on Him, and our sins were quickly wiped away.

It must be stressed that the two goats had to be identical. They had to be the same size. They had to be identical in appearance and value, and they had to be purchased at the same time. They had to be so close in appearance that a person could not distinguish between them. They had to be so close that they were interchangeable. The goats represent people. Even a goat's blood is similar to that of a human. This is the reason that Joseph's brothers dipped his coat of many stripes in goat's blood and presented that to their father. To state it emphatically, the two goats had to be so close together that it was impossible to tell them apart until the lots were cast, and one was offered for sin and the other driven into the wilderness. They would tie a crimson thread between the horns of the Azazel and turn him loose in the wilderness. He would eventually wander back around a town or be seen by witnesses, and the crimson cord had turned white. In Yoma 39b, we see a change. "The Sages taught that during the tenure of Shimon HaTzaddik, the lot for God always arose in the High Priest's right hand; after his death, it occurred only occasionally; but during the forty years prior to the destruction of the Temple, the lot for God did not arise in the High Priest's right hand at all. So, too, the strip of crimson wool that was tied to the head of the goat that was sent to Azazel did not turn white, and the westernmost lamp of the candelabrum did not burn continually."

Was this due to the death of Shimon HaTzaddik? It is also the time that Yeshua was born, approximately 40 years before the destruction of the Temple. This much is sure: Yeshua was represented by the sin goat, and you represent the Azazel. He was identical to you in every way. He was as much man as if He had never been God and as much God as if He had never been man. Consider the two goats for just a few more minutes. They had to be identical. Yeshua had a choice to make, even as we do. He had to decide to follow HaShem and the Torah. He made His choice and became the sacrificial goat for us. We have a choice to make as well. He had a choice to make, and He made it. Now, you have a choice to make. Will you allow the judgment of Rosh HaShanah to bring you the cleansing of Yom Kippur?


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