Dear Friend,
As Yom Kippur approaches, it is a time to take account of our deeds and right any wrongs.
We have a chance to find those we may have offended (something that is all too easy in the digital era, when a sharp text, IM, or Tweet can be sent almost instantly to someone halfway across the world) and ask for forgiveness.
Yom Kippur, however, is more than just a day for repentance. After Selichot, Rosh Hashanah and the 10 Days of Repentance, one may wonder: what more is there to do? Have not all the words been said and all the apologies before man and G‑d been made?
Yom Kippur allows us delve deeper into our very essence. Each of the five prayers of the 25 hours of Yom Kippur allows us to dig deeper into our character. Like the layers of an onion, we can peel back one level to reveal another. Until, during the Neilah prayer, we stand alone before the Almighty G‑d. All layers have been removed and our essence stands bare, in the ecstatic union with the essence of the Creator.
We are one and our Creator is one.
One day, one people, one essence.
May we all be sealed for a year of sweetness and revealed good in all matters,
Mordechai Lightstone,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
