Go ahead, ask someone. Ask them what comes to mind when thinkng about the holiday of Yom Kippur. For starters, many will probably question you "what kind of holiday is this?" A fast day, most certainly! A holy, spiritual day, yes. But a holiday? NO way! Holidays are about eating delicious meals with family and friends, getting together and enjoying each others company, and perhaps going to shul/synagogue a bit. Even on Rosh Hashanah, despite the longer prayer service, there are great kiddushes and four festive meals over the holiday. For others, they may view Yom Kippur as a very serious, awe filled day.No eating, drinking, bathing...or even wearing leather shoes. Just a day completely filled with seriousness and prayer. Lots of prayer. A whole days worth!
The truth of the matter is, that Yom Kippur certainly contains the above mentioned aspects. It is a fast day, thus no eating or drinking. There is a level of "affliction" that the Torah describes, so that not only do we fast on this one day a year (the other fast days in the Jewish calendar are all Rabbinical fast days), but we also refrain from certain other pleasures. We definitely minimize the physical and accent the spiritual on this day, and thus find ourselves involved in prayer the majority of the day. However, by no means does this capture the essence of the day!
How many CEO's, heads of companies or even households, are there who would like to just wipe the financial slate clean and start over again? How many people are out there who, in general, want nothing more than just a second chance to prove themselves? For some , and perhaps many, starting over fresh and clean from scratch is just an extremely desired dream, more than it is a reality. After all, we live in a world where our actions have very real ramifications, and sometimes it is almost im[possible, while in other circumstances it truly is impossible, to totally reverse things, and start fresh and clean once again.
Now imagine if one day someone approaches such an individual and offers them a chance of starting over once again. Fresh and clean. No holdovers or baggage of any sort to bring along. A totally 100% percent new beginning. How much is that worth? For many, it is priceless! It is truly something that very often, money simply can't buy.
Yom Kippur is that magical day. Yom Kippur is the day, where Hashem gave us the most incredible gift ever- teshuvah, the ability to wipe the slate clean and start over again. For real, no gimmicks or catches. Hashem, as Creator and Master of the world, is not bound by the limitations that we human beings are bound by in our physical existance. Although there may be no turning back or reversing certain things in the finite physical realm, in the eternal spiritual realm, when one properly utilizes the gift of teshuvah, total reversal and a fresh new slate is a very real possibility and reality! The opportunity is there. Through the four step process of 1. regret, 2. vidui/confessing our misdeeds to Hashem, 3. stop committing the particular sin, and 4. commitment not to return to that sin again , we can and do wipe the slate clean! Through that process we have immersed ourselves in the purifying waters of Yom Kippur and emerged pure, ready for a fresh new start.
The name Yom Kippur, our sages teach us, can be understood as " the day like Purim" . Just like Purim is the time when the Jews returned to Hashem and created a brand new relationship with Him, so too , on Yom Kippur, we have that power and ability. But the sages also had something else in mind. Just as Purim is a most happy day, so too Yom Kippur should be viewed as a happy,(although yes serious) day. After all, Yom Kippur has that special quality and gift that money cant't buy! Wishing you a G'mar Chasimah Tovah! fffffffff