When there was a cholera epidemic in 1848, Rabbi Israel Salanter posted announcements on all the houses of prayer of Vilna on the eve of Yom Kippur, urging people not to fast on that holy and awesome day, to cut short the recitation of the liturgical poems of the day, and to go walking in the fresh air. After the morning prayer on Yom Kippur, he took a piece of bread in his hand and ate it before the eyes of the entire congregation so that people might see him and follow his example, for much is permitted when there is mortal danger, and the life of a single person was dearer in his eyes than all the wealth in the world. (Ir Vilna) During this time of pandemic, let us remember always that the highest value is pikuach nefesh, preserving life above all else. As we observe these holidays, let [...]

Rabbi Eleazar taught: it is often the case that when a person insults another in public and after a time wishes to be reconciled, he approaches the other person privately to apologize. The one who was wronged might rightly say: “You insulted me in front of others! Gather together all the people before whom you spoke against me, and I will be reconciled with you.” But this is not the way with the Holy One of Blessing. A person can stand and blaspheme and revile God in the marketplace and then the Holy One says to him: “Do teshuvah when you are alone and I will accept it.” (Pesikta d’Rav Kahana) The first part of the story reminds us that our repentance must be measured and just. If we have damaged someone’s reputation, it is not enough for us to apologize directly to that person. We must also endeavor to [...]

Every person is given free will. If we wish to turn to the good, to the way of the righteous, we have the power to do so. Or if we wish to turn to evil and to be wicked, we have that power, too… Do not believe what the fools and the blockheads say: to wit, that the Holy One of Blessing decrees whether we will be righteous or wicked at the moment of our creation. It is not so. Every person may become righteous like Moses or wicked like Jeroboam. Wise or foolish, compassionate or cruel, miserly or generous, and so on with all the other qualities. — Maimonides, Laws of Repentance Certainly we are shaped by our history, our experiences, our environment, and so forth. But now is the time to acknowledge that, ultimately, we are responsible for our behaviors and our actions—for the people that we are. It is [...]

One year before Yom Kippur, the great sage Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk sat in his study, worrying. “How shall I face God on Yom Kippur—I have committed so many transgressions?” He began to count them one by one. As he reflected on the ways he had fallen short in the year that had passed, he was filled with sorrow, heart broken about his behavior. “Well then,” he said, “may my broken heart stand me in good stead on the Judgement Day.” Regret alone will not make us worthy of forgiveness but it is the beginning of repentance. Now is the time to reflect on our misdeeds, to be filled with remorse—heartbreak even—about the ways we have fallen short. And then we must change. — Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback

Rabbi Eleazar, the son of Rabbi Shimon taught: Both the world and the individual are judged by the majority of their actions. Happy is the one who does a single good deed because it can tip the balance of judgment for the individual as well as for the entire world! (Kiddushin 40b) While I’m not sure that I believe that we are judged in this way, I do think that it is an incredibly helpful way to frame our behavior. Every action has the possibility of tipping the scales both for ourselves and for others. We do the right thing both because it benefits ourselves as moral creatures as well as the broader community and even the world. During these days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur especially, we focus on that metaphor of the balance. All of our good deeds (our love, our compassion, our honesty, our integrity) are [...]