Facebook Post from a Jewish Acquaintance Today:
Generic Yom Kippur status update asking general forgiveness from everyone who I may have wronged. Ok? We good now? Perfect! Shana Tova!
Most years since I became a follower of Jesus Christ I feel deeply sad on the eve of Yom Kippur. The evening before is called "Kol Nidre," meaning "all vows."
Kol Nidre is an ancient prayer (in Aramaic originally) in which all vows, oaths, and prohibitions are repudiated by the people of Israel. The scene is a courtroom where there is a judge, a prosecutor, a defendant. The defendant is guilty and pleads for mercy. Courtrooms are depressing to me.
The next day is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It is the one day of the year that Jews believe God opens the Book of Life and decides whose names will be written in it for the next year.
How does he decide? In the mind of a Jew there is a vague notion that God weighs our good deeds and bad deeds and make a judgement. Yom Kippur gives us the opportunity to repent, to "throw away" all of our sins of the last year and to start with a clean slate.
I love the Jewish people (MY people), but I am so heavy-hearted at Yom Kippur. This holiday (more than any other Jewish holiday) is a dead-end street in many ways today; it's a dramatic picture of how religious ritual alone ultimately falls short. What is most frustrating to me is that Yom Kippur so powerfully foreshadows the Messiah - the Lamb who was slain! And yet the Jewish people miss it.
Tomorrow morning I hope to go to a Yom Kippur service. Possibly a messianic one, possibly a traditional one. I will wear my yarmulke and tallis, I will recite the prayers. And I will carry a sadness for my people, and will pray that they seek and find their Messiah.
Generic Yom Kippur status update asking general forgiveness from everyone who I may have wronged. Ok? We good now? Perfect! Shana Tova!
Kol Nidre is an ancient prayer (in Aramaic originally) in which all vows, oaths, and prohibitions are repudiated by the people of Israel. The scene is a courtroom where there is a judge, a prosecutor, a defendant. The defendant is guilty and pleads for mercy. Courtrooms are depressing to me.
The next day is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It is the one day of the year that Jews believe God opens the Book of Life and decides whose names will be written in it for the next year.
How does he decide? In the mind of a Jew there is a vague notion that God weighs our good deeds and bad deeds and make a judgement. Yom Kippur gives us the opportunity to repent, to "throw away" all of our sins of the last year and to start with a clean slate.
I love the Jewish people (MY people), but I am so heavy-hearted at Yom Kippur. This holiday (more than any other Jewish holiday) is a dead-end street in many ways today; it's a dramatic picture of how religious ritual alone ultimately falls short. What is most frustrating to me is that Yom Kippur so powerfully foreshadows the Messiah - the Lamb who was slain! And yet the Jewish people miss it.
Tomorrow morning I hope to go to a Yom Kippur service. Possibly a messianic one, possibly a traditional one. I will wear my yarmulke and tallis, I will recite the prayers. And I will carry a sadness for my people, and will pray that they seek and find their Messiah.
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