SHABBOS
SHUVA & YOM KIPPUR
“Kol Nidrei”
Kol Nidrei (Aramaic: כָּל נִדְרֵי) is an Aramaic declaration recited in the synagogue before the beginning of the evening service on every Yom Kippur. Kol Nidrei includes an emotional expression of penitence that sets the theme for Yom Kippur.
Kol Nidrei’s name is taken from the opening words, meaning "all vows". The formula proactively annuls any personal or religious oaths or prohibitions made upon oneself to God for the next year, so as to preemptively avoid the sin of breaking vows made to God which cannot be or are not upheld.
There is also a kabbalistic or spiritual
purpose to Kol Nidrei: God has vowed, in Scripture, to punish Jewry for its
sins; therefore by demonstrating that we can and do cancel our own vows, we
hope to induce God to cancel His own dire decrees.
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The
Shabbat before Yom Kippur is called the “Shabbos of Return”, Shabbos Shuvah, שבת
תשובה.
The
haftorah portion is taken from the Book of Hosea, and starts out at 14:2:
שׁוּבָה, יִשְׂרָאֵל, עַד, יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ: כִּי כָשַׁלְתָּ, בַּעֲוֺנֶךָ
‘Return, Israel to the Lord your God, for you have been led astray by your iniquity”.
The setting for the Book of Hosea is in the Northern Kingdom where Jeroboam the 2nd is King, at around the mid-8th century BCE. The Kingdom is prosperous, but continues to worship Canaanite gods and to also perversely worship Hashem using golden calves as an idolatrous representation.
Hosea’s personal life is used as a metaphor to describe the fractured relationship between God and us. He learns that his wife (in the role of Israel) is an adulteress. As a symbol of Israel’s estrangement from Hashem, Hosea names one of children Lo-ruchamah, which translates as "not pitied", and another as Lo-ammi, which translates as "not my people". These children as well as the kingdoms of Israel and Judah are redeemed at 2:3.
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In
2015, Rabbi Wein said:
"We
live with our past decisions, no matter whether they were fortuitous or ill
advised. However, in spiritual matters regarding our soul, we are granted this
great gift of a new start. And this is not just a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity but we are given this chance for renewal on an annual basis, on
this holy day of Yom Kippur".
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"Unetanneh
Tokef"
Unetanneh Tokef (ונתנה תוקף) ("Let us speak of the awesomeness
") is a that has been a part of the
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur liturgy for centuries. It is chanted while the
Torah ark is open and the congregants are standing. It is a central poem of the Day of Atonement. It is one of the most stirring compositions in
the entire liturgy of the Holy Day.
"All mankind will pass before You like a flock of sheep. Like a shepherd pasturing his flock, making sheep pass under his staff, so shall You cause to pass, count, calculate, and consider the soul of all the living; and You shall apportion the destinies of all Your creatures and inscribe their verdict.
On Rosh Hashanah will be inscribed and on Yom Kippur will be sealed
– how many will pass from the earth and how many will be created; who will live
and who will die; who will die after a long life and who before his time; who
by water and who by fire, who by sword and who by beast, who by famine and who
by thirst, who by upheaval and who by plague, who by strangling and who by
stoning. Who will rest and who will wander, who will live in harmony and who
will be harried, who will enjoy tranquility and who will suffer, who will be
impoverished and who will be enriched, who will be degraded and who will be
exalted.
But Repentance, Prayer, and Charity annul the severity of the Decree."
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