Teachings
Feasts of the Lord
YOM KIPPUR
The Day of Expiation
Yaakov, Béla Orbán
The day of Yom Kippur, we read the followings in the synagogues:
In the morning:
Reading of the Torah: ATZARE MOT: Leviticus 16:1-34
Maftir: Numbers 29:7-11
Haftarah: Isaiah 57:14, 58:14
In the afternoon:
Reading of the Torah: Leviticus 18:1-30
Haftarah: Book of Jonah 1-4
Micah 7:18-20
Yom Kippur also means: the Day of Fate.
Indeed, because it is on this day that the destiny of man is being decided before God…
"Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah…" (Jonah 1,7)
No matter how Jonah wanted to escape from God, he could not... His destiny had already been sealed. He had no chance to slip away from the mission he had been sent for. There was no way back. It is his fate, it is his path, his calling. It is then absolutely useless to play hide-and-seek with God…
It is just the same at Yom Kippur’s day: I stand before God, I settle my life and I accept my fate…
By the way: in Hebrew, Jonah means pigeon or dove. The turtledove used for sacrificing… Well, it is somewhere here that begins the devoted Life, when being put on the Altar… Because this is your fate…
The book of Jonah is a warning for the Jews (first) and for the people of Christ:
We often refuse to fulfill the calling that we received.
While Jonah sleeps, the sailors are praying.
The habitants of Nineveh convert, while Jonah…
In a word: pagans do also have the possibility to convert.
This story could easily be the story of many of us.
Mostly in the case of a messianic Jew:
- Jonah runs away and hides in Tharshish … but God sends a storm over him
- Jonah is woken up while sleeping – they force him to pray
- He must confess his faith in God and his Jewish identity
… then, his is thrown overboard according to his own advice …
Then comes the whale and the prayer in its belly and finally God throws us out on the place of our ministry. He often does so in a very particular way.
Nineveh, the city that converted and that always have the opportunity to convert today with your aid.
The final prayer is the one called Neila, the shutting of the doors.
This word’s signification is to close, to shut, to end, to finish, to cease.
In the Jewish tradition, the « highest point », the crown of Yom Kippur is this final prayer, the ultimate seal. The moment when the final decision bears. We had been given time, but it passed away. The doors had been shut…
About what does this pray warns us? The time given by God does also have its limits. He grants us a certain time during which He is visible and reachable. A time when we are able to call Him and when man has many occasions to meet with Him. But the time also comes, when the doors will close. Yes or No! The decision is yours, but let’s take it on time so that you should not miss the opportunity. Because the one who arrives late will remain outside… and the doors will be closed…
The feast finally ends by the extended sound of the shofar.
Translated from hungarian by Richard (Ze'ev Shlomo)
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