By the Grace of G-d
Dear Friend, What does one do to prepare for the holiest day of the year? So, first of all, let’s be practical. We have a close to twenty-six hour fast beginning this evening so we need to eat and fortify ourselves. It’s actually a mitzvah to eat today. Holiness can be tricky. Let me explain what I mean. I was invited to visit a dear Jewish friend, who has a huge heart and a great spirit, but not so learned about Torah and Judaism. He wanted me to join a lunch he was hosting for religious leaders. There were at least five religions represented. And me. Not wanting to be alone, I took along my colleague Rabbi Wilhelm. While the others were eating, Rabbi Wilhelm and I sipped our mineral water as the food was not kosher. The topic at the table moved to holy people who were to be admired. A tale was told about an ascetic mystic who lived on the peaks of a cliff. For decades he sat and meditated. He was kept alive via some kind fisherman who would put two fish into a basket that would be lowered down from the cliff every day. The clergy around the table all nodded and agreed that indeed the meditating mystic was a saintly person. A man of great holiness. Admirably pure and pious. I found myself blurting out ‘what did the world or any fellow humans gain from his asceticism’? ‘Wouldn’t it have been better if he would have helped others rather than live in solitude for his entire life on an isolated peak?’ Ten eyes looked at me in astonishment. I realized I had said something ‘politically incorrect’ for that setting. This morning as I prepared to pray, the story jumped into my mind. We are about to enter the holiest day of our year. Every Jew feels Yom Kippur in some way or another. There is a G-dly presence that is in proximity to our souls. It is sensed. We don’t always know what we are feeling. Some think it’s only because of their childhood. Others recognize that there is something real, albeit ethereal, in the ‘air’ that makes them feel different than just any other day of they year. Across the spectrum, on Yom Kippur Jews look to return to who they truly are. Nary a Jew doesn’t mark Yom Kippur by some form of observance. By fasting, by refraining from forbidden activities or by pledging to be better in the coming year. That special inexplicable and indefinable feeling is no really ‘earned’ by us. It comes automatically from above. G-d beams it down to our souls so to speak. As long as you don’t consciously fight and block it, you will access it. Yom Kippur will work its holy ‘spell’ on you if you but so allow it to. But what can one do from below to prepare for that? What can one do that is objectively holy? What would be the best way to prepare for the holiness of the day of Yom Kippur? G-d granted me the great gift of spending several Yom Kippurs in the presence of a holy person. The Lubavitcher Rebbe embodied everything the Torah says in describing our great saintly Jewish leaders of yesteryears. To me, the Rebbe was the ultimate of what it meant to be a holy man. My mind goes back to reminisce about my Brooklyn Yom Kippur experiences in the presence of the Rebbe. How did the Rebbe prepare for the holy day of Yom Kippur? If you have a few minutes, click on the below link and you too will see what the Rebbe did all day before Yom Kippur. The Rebbe stood on his feet for hours upon hours and distributed ‘Lekach’ honey cake. Here is the background. There is a minhag custom on the day before Yom Kippur to ‘ask for lekach’. Just in case it had been decreed that one would need to be a recipient of a handout from a human during the upcoming year. By being a recipient of a sweet piece of cake from a fellow human, one would have ‘fulfilled the decree’ of receiving a ‘handout’ and from now on they could be recipients directly of G-d’s beneficence. The Rebbe spent hours upon hours receiving anyone who wanted to come and receive a piece of honey cake directly from his holy hand. He would utter thousands of times, annunciating to each individual that passed, the blessing for a ‘shana tova umesuka’ ‘a good and sweet year’. As the Rebbe uttered those words and handed them the piece of sweet honey cake he gazed upon them with kind fatherly eyes. An unforgettable experience. But what about preparing for Yom Kippur? The holiest day. Wouldn’t the Rebbe’s time be better spent by praying and learning in private meditation? Obviously not. This, the bestowing of kindness and grace unto others, is obviously the way one should prepare for the holiest day of the year. For holiness is not defined by what makes you feel more exclusive or pious. Holiness is defined by what brings you closer to G-d. In a way that is almost counterintuitive, getting closer to G-d can only be gauged by how loving you are to others. Its confusing. Spatial disorientation in the context of a pilot flying a plane means that the pilot no longer knows what is up and what is down. This can obviously pose a grave danger G-d forbid. That is why it is critical to have instruments that remind the pilot where is up and where is down. In a similar vein, if one finds themselves feeling holy yet those around him are feeling hurt or ignored, they are likely in the state of spiritual disorientation. The ‘litmus test’ of whether you are acting holy is how loving others perceive you to be. Click below inspiring for an inspiring story of how holy Tzadikim expressed their holiness by caring for others. So, as you go about your preparations for Yom Kippur the holiest day of the year, make sure to keep your bearing about what true holiness is. Look out for those around you and make sure that they are cared for and loved. Start with yourself. If G-d gave you back your soul this morning its is because he NEEDS you. and if you are needed by G-d you must be lovable. And you must try to live up to what He expects of you Move on to your family and loved ones. Widen the circle if you are able, to include those more distant from you. Prepare for Yom Kippur by helping others!!!! Say a nice word. Give a smile. Send a message via social media to someone you haven’t reached out to in a while. Do some random acts of kindness and goodness. Give tzedakah to those in need. You will be holier, feel holier and merit G-d’s blessings for a good and sweet year!!!! Chatima Umgar Chatima Tova Shana Tova Rabbi Yosef Kantor PS if you are joining us at the Rembrandt Hotel for services, I will be happy to give you a piece of sweet cake at the pre-fast meal starting at 4:30 PM PPS Tzedaka for the needy in Israel for the needy closer to home in Thailand
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