Yom Kippur: Day of At-One-Ment
Swami Adbhutanada, a disciple of the great 19th century Indian holyman, Sri Ramakrishna, used to say: “The mind craves the intoxication of worldly enjoyments.”¹ We are all very attached to the body and its cravings. We are engaged in constant activity to try and satisfy the mind’s longing for stimulation of the senses.
The purpose of all the disciplines on Yom Kippur is to stop this constant activity and break the link between the mind and desires — to silence the craving mind through fasting and other restrictions, so that we can create a space for God to come in. On Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, we spend the whole day in synagogue in prayer and contemplation. This builds a vibration of holiness that clears the mind. This, in turn, sanctifies the heart and enables us to enter into the stillness of the Self.
According to the tradition, Moses was given the second set of tablets of the Ten Commandment — luchot — on Yom Kippur. The second tablets represented more than just a replacement of the originals. They symbolized the repair of our essential human brokenness — our ceaseless desire for worldly enjoyment — our constant running after a god made out of material form.
The story of the revelation on Sinai and the subsequent fall into the abyss of the Golden Calf reflect a pattern that often occurs in the spiritual life. When we first turn towards the divine and become interested in the spiritual life, there is an initial moment of great expansion and spiritual awakening. For most of us, this initial awakening is followed by a return to our normal way of life, with the assumption that we can simultaneously hold on to God and the world.
Later on, a time comes when the Omniscient One points out to us with searing clarity, the spiritual effect of the desires that fill our heart. In this manner, we come to realize that if we want the divine presence to dwell within us, we must rid ourselves of our material consciousness.
The Children of Israel underwent a similar process in the desert. After Mount Sinai, the people thought that they could return to a life just like that of every other nation. So when Moses disappeared up the mountain for forty days, they worshipped God in the physical manner that they had learned in Egypt. When Moshe came down from the mountain, smashed the tablets and destroyed the Golden Calf, the Children of Israel were jarred out of their spiritual complacency. Suddenly, they realized that it was not enough for them to have left the physical bondage of Egypt; they had to overcome the spiritual bondage of Egypt as well. They understood that despite the miracles they had witnessed during the Exodus and the awe-inspiring revelation on Mount Sinai, the one Who was the source of all purity would not dwell in their midst, unless they broke the hold of the ‘slave consciousness’ that they had brought with them from Egypt.
After the tragedy of the Golden Calf, the Eternal One told the Children of Israel to build a Mishkan — a tabernacle — a dwelling place for the Divine Presence; as it says in the Torah (Exodus 25:7), “Make Me a mikdash — a Temple — so that I may dwell among them.”
The Hebrew word for ‘among them’ is ‘betokham.’ ‘Betokham’ literally means ‘within them.’ The Baal Shem Tov teaches that this phrase is more than a command to build a physical structure; it is an exhortation for each of us to create a sacred space inside ourselves where the Holy Blessed One’s presence is alive and real.
“For on this day he shall provide atonement for you to purify you; from all your sins before God shall you be purified.” (Leviticus 16, 30)
What is a sin? It is a blockage in our spiritual body — a lack of spiritual clarity. Our goal on Yom Kippur is to purify our consciousness — to clear away the miasma and remove the blockages so that the Timeless Boundless One can be revealed to us. In Temple times, this was the purpose of the elaborate offerings on Yom Kippur. These offerings reached their climax when the High priest came out of the Holy of Holies and pronounced the “ineffable Divine Name”. In that moment, all the people’s sins were wiped clean.
From where did this great power of purification arise? The Hasidic Master, Klonimus Kalman of Cracow teaches that on each Yom Kippur, the people of Israel receive the energy of keter — the crown center. The energy of keter is the Will of God — the essential life force or driving impulse behind creation. On that day, the Eternal Will descends down from way up in the Kingdom of Heaven to flow through into the Soul of Israel and the people.
It was the combination of this energy with the Shekhinah energy in the Temple that created the great cleansing effect of that day. The conjunction of the holiest day (Yom Kippur), with the holiest place (the Holy of Holies), and the purest of human vessels (the High Priest) enabled a great influx of divine force to pour through the spiritual centers of all those standing in the Temple courtyard and clear away all the blockages that were there.
On Rosh Hashanah we reach into the Heart of the Sovereign of Sovereigns, where the divine plans and desires are revealed. On Yom Kippur, we touch the place in the Universal Consciousness where the Eternal Purpose is enshrined.
On Rosh Hashanah, we are given a glimpse into what we have to do in the coming year. On Yom Kippur, we receive the will, strength, and courage that we need to fulfill the vision we have been given and bring the promise of Rosh Hashanah to fruition in the New Year.
The touch of the Will of God will have a tremendous effect on a person — it will stimulate everything inside him or her— both the good and the bad. Similarly with a people or nation — everything inside them both good and bad is awakened.
This past year has been a divine touch that brought all the impurities of Israel to the surface. Yom Kippur is the divine touch that will break open the boil and clear all the impurities away.
The energy of keter is linked into the essence of Israel. On Yom Kippur, the people of Israel have an opportunity to tap into the supernal source from which they have come and reawaken their awareness of who they are and why they were created.
Yom Kippur is the spiritual moment when Israel realigns itself with its collective Soul, Knesset Yisrael, and firmly establishes herself in the Divine Will. The energy of Yom Kippur empowers Israel to be more than themselves — it gives Israel the strength, courage, and vision that it needs to strive for the highest ideals both as a people and as a nation. It is the power of the Will of God that has upheld Israel in the past, and we must return to that “way of Divine illumination” if we are to survive our present national crisis.
Psalms 24:3–5 declares: “Who may ascend unto the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand within His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart; he who strives not after vanity and swears not deceitfully.”
Yom Kippur is not simply an isolated event; it is the culminating moment of a long process of inner purification. The revelation of Yom Kippur is only made possible through the work of purification and preparation that takes place during the month of Ellul, and on into the ten days leading up to the day of Yom Kippur. If we go about our daily lives after Rosh Hashanah, behaving as if ‘business is a usual’, then we cannot expect the Most High to reveal Him or Herself to us on Yom Kippur.
On Yom Kippur, we receive divine grace according to the vessel that we have brought with us: if we approach the All-Merciful One having prepared a large vessel, then we will be filled with abundant blessing, but if we come before the Almighty with a tiny vessel, then all that we will receive is the barest of spiritual benefit.
During the Temple period, as Yom Kippur approached, people would ascend to Jerusalem from all over the land of Israel. This pilgrimage to the Holy City did not follow a random pattern; it was a carefully orchestrated Divine event. Of those who came up to Jerusalem, only those individuals who had labored to prepare themselves beforehand found themselves in the Temple courtyard on Yom Kippur day. And of those that entered the Temple, only the people who were spiritually ready to receive were cleansed of all their sins at the moment when the High Priest pronounced the Divine Name.
As we approach the last few days and hours before Yom Kippur, let us make a final push to turn our hearts and minds towards That which is Infinite and Eternal. Let us strive to detach from the worldly attachments that preoccupy us and invest all our energies into fulfilling the true purpose of life.
copyright © 2023, by Yoel Glick
