Yom Kippur thoughts

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  • #599759
    BaalHabooze
    Participant

    I would like to exchange some insights, dvar torah, or any random thoughts on the coming Yom Tov. Please feel free to add something.

    #973482
    sam4321
    Participant

    Rav Shlomo Zalman say one should be metkaven for kiddush during marriv shmoneh esrei on yom kippur shabbas(brings from tosfos rid in pesachim,also see shmiras shabbas kihilchasa).Rav Nechemia Goldberg adds that yom kippur shabbas is different than all other shabbasim by the fact that zecher yitzias metzrayim is included which many hold is needed for kiddush.

    #973483
    sam4321
    Participant

    Yom Kippur: We learn a Kallah and a king can wash there face on yom kippur(tosfas yeshanim yoma78) but we pasken chatzei shiur assur so how can this be permitted?

    A:Rav Chaim Kaniefsky says that maybe the tosfoas yeshanim hold chatzei shuir is only by achila.

    A:Rav Michal Yehuda Lefkowitz says the maseh rechitza is the whole body and there is no shuir for it,rather washing ones face is is not like rechitza.(M’rafsin Igri)

    #973484
    sam4321
    Participant

    It says in Vayikra(16:30) Lefnei Hashem Titaharu. The mishna in keilim(17:14) says certain days of creation the items of that day can become tamei.On Sunday earth was created and earthenware can become tamei.On Tuesday trees were created which can become tamei.On Friday animals and man were created which can become tamei.On Monday, Wednesday, Thursday are all days that the items created cannot become tamei.

    The Calendar used today, yom kippur can only fall out on mon,wed,thurs,and Shabbos.It makes sense for the the holiest day of the year to fall out on the purest days.(Avnei Shoham/shabbos delights)

    #973485
    Sam2
    Participant

    Sam4: We assume that washing is only D’rabannan. Why not just say Heim Amru V’heim Amru?

    #973486
    Wondering…
    Member

    A person has to feel real regret over their Aveiros and the distance their sins have caused them to have from Hashem. One should specify during Viduy their sins and regret, – its like a thick rope from Hashem to us, each time we say Viduy sincerely we loosen the rope until we hope it breaks apart from all the Viduy and regret we have done.

    Any thoughts anyone?

    #973487

    Tatte.. Its me. I know that I haven’t spoken to You in a while. I have been so busy, but now I realize that everything I was busy with was just a waste of time.

    Tatte… its me… do you recognize me? I know that You see me all the time, but I havent seen you. I have been so lost. But now I see you everywhere. I see You in the sky, the moon, the stars, the clouds. I see you when a blade of grass moves and when the wind blows my hair. I see you when a leaf falls and when the tree branches dance for the greatness of Your name. I see You when I say Shema at night and when I wake up in the morning. When my hands are over myself, I remind myself that even when I am blind, when things are so hard and I mamesh can’t see anything. When my pain is sometimes blinding, I know that in hat darkness you are there, holding my hand, guiding me. When I put my hands over my eyes and I can’t see, I know that You will guide me every step of the way. When I look in the mirror. There is a piece of You in me. You are my Creator. I see you when I look at the reflection in my eyes. I want to make you proud. I want to give You nachas. I know that I got a little lost along the way. But I see now that my “wrong” turns weren’t wrong turns. They led me directly back to You. I have made alot of mistakes, and I felt like You weren’t happy with me. It is easy to feel that way, but it was my Yetzer Hara. That Yetzer Hara is so powerful. But I know, I realize now, that every mistake was a step of growth, a step of humility, a step closer to You. When I thought it made me distant, I realize that the only one causing the distance was me. You were there with me all along. It has been a year of obstacles, of struggles, where I had no where to turn, but right into Your arms. I did Tatty, aren’t You proud of me? I know You are. I can feel it in my heart. I know I am a diamond in Your eyes. I am a little dirty though, a little rusty, from all of the distractions and taivas that came my way. I know that I have to clean myself up a lot more. But I am still a diamond. Your diamond. I know you can see how beautiful I really can be. With hard work and Your help, I can shine with Your light, and reflect it on to others. Please help me see myself as the diamond that I really am in Your eyes, and help me and all of Klal Yisrael shine with your light, bringing the geula shelaimah and having that light revealed throughout the world. She’Cholas Ahava Ani, Your daughter.

    #973488
    Shticky Guy
    Participant

    Sam4321 and emunas itecha: Amazing posts both of you. Thank you so much! Any more?

    #973489
    BaalHabooze
    Participant

    Wow, those were beautiful. Thanks sam4321, sam2. Emunas Itecha you write beautifully, your words are so inspiring, spine-tingling, and profoundly touching. I read it over and over.

    Wondering… :

    I heard once a thought, that sometimes it is so difficult to do this over and over each and every year. I sin, and do teshuva, and now I’m basically back to where I started. Yom Kippur after Yom Kippur, year after year, we didn’t change better. Yet, if I tell you that Hashem didn’t give up yet on you, will you continue? Will you continue to strive to be better if you KNEW Hashem is waiting? Well. he is.

    We say in Shmone Esrei, that Hashem is “Kel Tov V’Saloch Atah”- the Good and Forgiving G-D. “Saloch” is in the present form and that means He is Ever-Forgiving, patient, and ALWAYS waiting for your teshuva. He never gives up. He is always welcoming us with open arms, year after year, like a father welcoming his lost child who finally finds his way home.

    #973490
    sam4321
    Participant

    The Rashba on Rosh hashana(15a) says when the chachamim said not to blow the shofar on shabbas there is no problem of bal tigra.The Turi Even concludes from this that if one does not perform a positive commandment he is oiver on bal tigra.

    Q:In Yoma(86b) it says if one does not perform a positive mitzvah tshuva is enough but a lo taseh you need yom kippur as well.This that the Turi Even says that one who deosnt perform a positive mitzvah is oivar on bal tigra(la taseh) then one should need yom kippur as well for being oiver a positive mitzvah?

    A:Rav Shlomo Zalman: By a lo taseh one performs an action,but by not doing an action(positive mitzvah)one is just missing an action which tshuvah suffices for.(M’rafsin Igri)

    #973491
    sam4321
    Participant

    why don’t we say a bracha before eating the pre- yom kippur meal?

    The Netziv answers since the Chachamim said to only say a bracha on the actual mitzvah not on the preparation

    Q:So why do we make bracha on shechita and tevilas keilim which is just preparation for the action?

    A:Rav Eliashiv says since the pre- meal is a preparation for the fast it becomes the tofel of the ikar(actual fast).By shechita and tevilas keilim there is no mitzvah to eat the animal or to use the keilm rather you need to do these actions to use them first.These mitzvos of shechita and tevilas keilim stand on there own and they alone are the ikar.

    #973492
    yitayningwut
    Participant

    Q. Why do we say Al Chet by Mincha on Erev Yom Kippur?

    A. 1) Because someone might choke on his food at the Seuda Hamafsekes and not get a chance to daven again.

    2) Because someone might get drunk at the Seuda Hamafsekes and be hung over all Yom Kippur!! (Yup, the Rambam actually lists this reason!)

    #973493
    Shticky Guy
    Participant

    I once heard a great question on the well known chazal that there are 3 books open on rosh hashana. Tzadikim gemurim are inscribed for life. Reshaim for the opposite. And for beinonim who have the same amount of mitzvos as aveiros they wait until yom kippur and are reassessed; if they’ve done teshuva they get life otherwise cv not.

    But why is the only option given to them that they must do teshuva? Surely if they have the same number of mitzvos as aveiros then there is another option open to them: to do one mitzva! They will then have more mitzvos than aveiros and will be called tzadikim. This way is not brought down. Why?

    A: We are all judged from rosh hashana to rosh hashana. So doing another mitzva after rosh hashana will not help as that will only be added to the new year’s count. It cant change last year’s cheshbon of equal mitzvos to aveiros. The only thing to change that is teshuva with charata on the aveiros of the past year. This will pardon and annul some of the aveiros leaving the past year’s balance with more mitzvos than aveiros!

    #973496
    Wondering…
    Member

    Thanks BaalHabooze that was really nice. And thanks Shticky guy for that explanation.

    I wish I could feel more regret for the sins I have done. Part of my problem is that I just dont care enough that I do things wrong/ not as they should be done…

    #973497
    am yisrael chai
    Participant

    Wondering…

    “I wish I could feel more regret…”

    You seem to be judging yourself, which may not be a healthy thing!

    Can you just accept yourself where you ARE, that you do indeed feel regret (even if it’s not to the extent that you wish) and just work from there without judgment?

    #973498
    Ken Zayn
    Member

    An amazing davening thought from rav yitzchok reuvein rubin of manchester, uk

    Sometimes things get in the way and we find davening difficult. To understand how this works, picture the akeida. Avrohom Avinu had risen to the highest level of closeness to Hashem. At the ultimate moment, Hashem stayed his hand. Avraham was so enthusiastic he looked around anxiously for some kind of sacrifice to offer. Out of nowhere appeared a ram. But this substitute had one drawback: it was entangled in the thicket by its horns.

    Avraham worked on freeing it from the thorns and only then did he sacrifice it. The Torah is telling us something very special here. What emanates from the head of a ram? Its horns. What emanates from our heads? Our thoughts.

    Just as the entangled horns of the ram kept it from becoming a sacrifice, so too our thoughts can get entangled in thorns of self illusion or brambles of anger, keeping us from coming closer to our Heavenly source. And like Avraham Avinu, we must get up and untangle. There is always the need to work at clearing the way for our next step.

    #973499
    BaalHabooze
    Participant

    Wondering…:

    You know, in all honesty, to a certain degree you’re not alone in this one! Let me explain:

    It used to be, in the olden days, a king was someone who would arouse fear when mentioned, let alone, if His Majesty, graced your town with his presence with a royal visit! Imagine the excitement of the town, the anticipation, the townfolk’s nervousness. They would work for weeks and weeks to clean up the town and make sure the decor and ambiance was inviting and fit for the King’s stay. Remember there were no electronical gadgets, no non-sense with which people would pass the time with. It was a different world. No Internet, no frivolousness, no chutzpa. A world of sincere respect for elders/authority (even by goyim), and the King’s visit was the topic of conversation for monthes! If you had a private audience with the king, you would be sooo nervous. You would rehearse over and over exactly what you would say, how you would say it, etc.

    In short, we don’t have kings nowadays(in our country, at least).

    Even the President today doesn’t evoke any fear whatsoevr, rather he is viewed as someone incompetent, mocked with cynical disdain and derision. So is there ANYONE nowadays who is of SOME AUTHORITY, WHOM WE FEAR, RESPECT, LOVE? How can we comprehend the seriousness, the fear, and the reverance of the RBS”O on Yom Kippur if we never felt these sentiments before? How can we truly feel regret for transgressing against the Master of the Univese if we have no mashal nowadays of even a mere mortal king, of flesh and blood, in our midst?

    So you see, to a certain degree we all can relate to your feelings. However, we MUST arouse this feeling of regret and remorse, because the reality is that we DID AN ENORMOUS CRIME! AN ADACIOUS AND WICKED ACT, by going against Hashem! It behooves us to study the seforim of mussar, hebrew or english, listen to a shmooze, and train ourself with WHATEVER RESOURSES WE HAVE available to us nowadays, and to put in MAX. effort and energy to increase our degree of awareness and understanding of what it means to sin.

    #973500
    Cutie
    Member

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    Lack of peace and joy

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    [g] Fearfulness

    [h] Rebellion

    Jealousy

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    #973501
    BaalHabooze
    Participant

    I could not have expected anything cuter from Cutie!

    That was ingenious. Cute, but ingenious.

    #973502
    BaalHabooze
    Participant

    there’s a mishna in Keilim that tells of the Halachic differences between fish and animals, if it’s tamei or tohor, etc. The mishna asks what about a kelev sh’bayom (i think it is a seal), is it to be considered a fish or an animal? So the mishna says it’s to be treated like an animal “sheborachas l’yabosho”(it runs to the dry land). So the question is, so what? it also swims in the water?! So the tosfos Y.T. explains there because it says it RUNS to the land. We see that it’s she’ifah, it’s main area, it’s comfort zone is to be on the land more than the water.

    I heard from my Rosh Yeshiva once, that a person can work a WHOLE day, but when it comes to his one hour night seder, he RUNS – that shows where his she’ifah is. He might be a businessman 15 hrs, but his goal, his comfort zone is in the Bais HaMedrash learning torah. that taiches up who he really is.

    #973503
    BaalHabooze
    Participant

    (continued)

    Rabbi Shalom Shwadron once said, we say, “Boruch Shem K’Vod Malchuso” out loud on Yom Kippur because we are compared to malachim. I don’t understand something. On Yom Kippur night, after eating a hearty seuda, and feeling great, healthy, strong, we are compared to malachim, yet 24 hrs later after a whole day of fasting, we just spent the entire day in kedusha, davening and teshuva, and comes ma’ariv and we say “boruch shem” quietly because we are now back to the status of a man?? It should be just the opposite!?

    He says beautifully – Where are our she’ifos? Yom Kippur night the only she’ifah, the only goal you have to look for ahead of you is 24 of fasting and begging Hashem for forgivenness and davening. That makes you a Malach. But at the end of YK, what are we thinking about? The cheescakes, the coffee, & the bagels! OH, that’s our she’ifas, then we fall back to the status of a man and say “boruch shem” quietly. Our she’ifa taiches us up, who we are. May we constantly have our eyes set toward striving in ruchnius, and coming closer to Hashem.

    #973504
    Sam2
    Participant

    BaalHabooze: The Artscroll Machzor gives a different answer to that. They say that after a day of fasting and Davening on Yom Kippur we realize how much left we really have to do.

    I always thought that is was a special law by Yom Kippur. Even a Tzaddik Gammur says it quietly all year round. On Yom Kippur (Kol Hayom Mechaper) we are like Malachim every second of the day, so as long as it’s part of Yom Kippur we say it out loud. As soon as it’s no longer than holy day we are not like Malachim, regardless of what level each individual is on.

    #973505
    BaalHabooze
    Participant

    Thanks, Sam2. I remember that vort from R’ Yitzchok M’Vorki well. I used to read it every year in my Artscroll machzor.

    #973506
    MiddlePath
    Participant

    Here you go, ayc!

    Here’s the lyrics for a song I wrote with my band back in high school about Yom Kippur. It’s called “Judgement Day”. Maybe I’ll put up the song on my music page sometime 🙂

    Year after year, through toil and strife

    My deeds are weighed, it’s a circle of life

    Fear imbues my mind as the day comes near

    What will be with me? I cannot bear

    Who will live, and who will die

    Who will laugh and who will cry

    All my sins I throw away

    I’m changing my ways, it’s Judgement Day

    To whiten the black, to cure the disease

    Asking forgiveness, down on my knees

    My body trembles, I’m numb from fear

    Sound of repentance pounds in my ear

    Who will live, and who will die

    Who will laugh and who will cry

    All my sins I throw away

    I’m changing my ways, it’s Judgement Day

    #973507

    When you go to shul Yom Kippur, or if you are davening at home, take a sefer Kedushas Levi with you and hold it close. Kiss the sefer once in a while. Reb Levi Yitzchok is going to be fighting for each one of you! It is good to have his sefer with you, or write his name, Levi Yitzchok ben Sara Sasha, on a piece of paper and stick it in your siddur. It is very mesugaldiik for this time of tefillah and teshuva, and attaching yourself to Hashem Yisbarech. We should all be zoche to do complete teshuva m’ahava!To get rid of every shell around your heart that keeps you from feeling the emes, from feeling Hashems sweetness everywhere, with you every second. Remember, Avinu Malkeinu. Hashem is our melech, but He is our Father first. He is waiting fo…r us to come home to Him, to call out His name. You should all be inscribed for a year of good health, simcha, parnassa in ruchnuis and in gashmuis. Hashem should give you everything you need and want (if it is good for you!) A year of emunah, growth, and strength. A year where Hashem showers upon you and your families an endless abundance of sweet brachas. That everything in life should be good, you should be able to perceive it as good, and not chas vshalom have nisyonos that are painful and have to work hard to know that it is good. You should only have the sweetest goodness! You should see tremendous nissim niflaos, yeshuos, refuos, and be zoche through our tears, our tefillos, and our desire for only the emes, to bring moshiach.

    #973508
    sam4321
    Participant

    Sam2:check Mishnah Brura, it is a dispute,and we treat as a doraisa.

    #973509
    sam4321
    Participant

    Sam2: 611:3 and shar hatzion 1 and 2.

    #973510
    Wondering…
    Member

    Thanks everyone, esp BaalHabooze for your gr8 posts…

    We should all be zoche to do Teshuva shleima & attain complete kaporah…and to have a gud gbetsht yr

    #973511
    Aishes Chayil
    Participant

    I would like to share an inspirational Moshol I just heard recently:

    There was a young girl who was blind. When it came time for her to do a shidduch, she obviously was in a very difficult position, being refused on a constant basis.

    Finally she found the most wonderful boy who agreed to marry her. He treated her like a Queen and took the utmost care of her. She was his greatest priority.

    A feww weeks after marriage ,he had met with a doctor who would be able to perform a surgery which would restore her sight.

    Excitedly, he came home and brought her the news, and as she was delighted to hear, she agreed to start this procedure as soon as possible.

    However, in a turn of events, the Doctor decided that the oepration cannot happen for another 20 yrs as he wanted to wait till it was more perfected. Saddned , the huisband relayed her the message.

    For another 20 years this man continued , to treat his wife with extreme care , love and respect (yoser megufo).

    Finally, after all those years, as she was waiting in the operating room for the surgeons to come in, her husband shocked her with an admission. ‘I too am blind’, he told her.

    After her successful surgery waz performed, they took off the patches and DID see that her husband was in fact a blind man. This time, it was her turn to do the deed and she spend years looking after him, the way he did her.

    It came to pass after a few years, that she was able to see, there were other men around who had their sight and were capable and independant. she decided that she wanted a normal life and couldnt commit to caring for her husband anymore. She asked him for a divorce, and he lovingly gave it to her but asked her to promise him one thing.

    ‘You got your sight back BH’, he said.

    ‘Please take care of

    those new eyes you have, because they are MY EYES,’ he continued, ‘I donated them to you before you had the operation years ago, because I wanted you to able to see’.!!

    We are all created Betzelem Elokim. Hashem gives each and everyone one of us a neshomo. We should take good care of it, use it the most positive ways.

    Gemar Chasima Tovah to all,

    AC

    #973512
    BaalHabooze
    Participant

    Wow AC, that was powerful! I loved it! Thank you so much for sharing.

    Emunas Itecha- thanks for the great eitzah, I will try to have a kedushas Levi with me when I daven.

    Now look with what your children Klal Yisroel are busy doing on this Day. Fasting, davening, and doing Teshuva.

    …So I ask you RBS”O- “Mee Yichyeh, U’Mee Yomus” – who will You let live, and who will You take?

    #973513
    Sam2
    Participant

    Sam4: The Mishnah Berurah might be Machmir for it and there really is little reason in most cases not to treat it as a D’Oraisa, but it is hard to say that Poshut P’shat is that it’s D’Oraisa. Still, according to the Shittos that it is D’Oraisa you would need a different answer.

    #973514
    sam4321
    Participant

    Sam2:Why would I need a different answer?

    #973515
    brotherofurs
    Participant

    a teacher of mine told me to

    make believe you had to write everything that you have on index cards, each thing on its own index card. then you take the millions of index cards and put them in a backpack. now, when yomim noraim come, our cards are spilled out of our backpacks and we have to ask for them back again. a person cannot go through life thinking that he’s autimatcally going to eat tomorrow, or have a mother, or be able to wake up. Hashem is close to us now more than ever and hears us -so ASK!

    #973516
    BaalHabooze
    Participant

    besides for doing azivas hacheit (withdrawing from sin), and charata (regret) during the teshuva process, is vital, but do not think that you are done. Rather it is only the BEGINNING. When one does a sin for the first time, he feels disgusted with himself (or SHOULD feel disgusted) from doing the terrible avairah. Then after committing the sin several times, na’asis k’heter (it becomes “normal” to do). This is a natural phenomenon.

    THEREFORE, whatever teshuva we do on Yom Kippur is really only the START of a LOOOOOOONG teshuva process, because you have to try to attain THAT ORIGINAL hergesh, sensitivity, and purity of mind, before you were to’eim taam cheit. That original repulsion you had, the feeling of “that sin is not for somebody with a holy neshama like myself”, or “I would NEVER tread THERE”, has to be reprogrammed into our brains and systems. THAT is indeed a long long process, which extends past Y”K into the year.

    G’Mar Chasima Tova

    #973517
    aurora77
    Participant

    That is very thought-provoking, as always, BaalHabooze — thank you!

    #973518
    BaalHabooze
    Participant

    *bump*

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