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Yom Kippur starts on Wednesday at 6:06pm and ends on Thursday at 7:05pm.
Shabbat starts on Friday at 6:08pm and ends on Saturday at 7:06pm. The weekly Torah portion is Ha’azinu.
Move the clock one hour forward on Saturday night to start DST.
Mincha continues at 1.45pm at A-P GF/459 Collins on Mon using the WhatsApp group to confirm numbers.
Weekly sushi & shiur is in recess until after Sukkot (usually on Wed at 1.20pm (before 1.45pm mincha) at A-P GF/459 Collins – and via zoom). Current topic: tax exempt status of Torah scholars. Details here and on the WhatsApp group.
Thought of the Week with thanks to Rabbi Dovid Gutnick.
What does the word Kippur actually mean? While “atonement” is often given as its figurative translation, the literal meaning is both slightly different and more revealing.
A close reading of Scripture shows that the Hebrew root k-p-r can mean both to cover (see for instance the word describing the coating smeared on Noah’s ark or the lid covering the Ark of the Covenant) and to uncover (see for instance the word used for Yaakov appeasing Esav and revealing his true brotherly disposition, or when the Kohanim wash their hands and expose their cleanliness).
It is not unusual for a Hebrew root to mean something and its opposite. But here, it opens a profound window into Yom Kippur:
Covering can be revealing.
On Yom Kippur, we cover the superficialities of our mortal existence through the five classical restrictions and series of other disciplines such as extended prayer over five stages, muted white clothing and the like. By covering the superficial we reveal the authentic, exposing our pristine neshamah and aligning ourselves with it.
(This is similar to the badeken, the bridal veil at a Jewish wedding. Some lexicons link the root k-p-r with the Yiddish/German word badekken. In that moment, the bride’s face is covered, yet what shines forth is not concealment but essence, as the focus shifts to souls uniting beneath the chuppah.)
Yom Kippur also holds a subtle link with Purim, hinted at in its name Yom Kippurim, literally “a day like Purim”. On Purim, masks and costumes cover us, but paradoxically remind us of deeper truths hidden beneath the surface. Yom Kippur, in its own way, performs the same uncovering through restricting and covering.
May your Yom Kippur be a true avodah, stripping away the soiled garments of superficiality worn this past year and revealing the radiant clarity of your soul.