Dear Friends,
This evening is Kol Nidre, the beginning of the 24 hours of Yom Kippur. If memory serves, it is the MOST attended Jewish service by American Jews. If you can’t make it to a physical Jewish space there are a number of online options. Just do a Google search and choose one. Quite likely a synagogue near you is streaming their service.
I want to wish you all G’mar Chatima Tova. May each of us be inscribed for a good new year.
The closing service of Yom Kippur is Neilah. As the sun lowers, the sanctuary takes on a soft light. I usually am feeling a little light headed and a tremendous peace fills the space (for me). The repeated refrain is that “the gates are closing”. This emphasized the idea that we need to repent before this opportunity passes us. Yet the sages teach that the gates of repentance are never truly closed. Still the message of urgency can be used to push ourselves to examine what we want to do better in the coming year.
May each of us do a little better in 5786 and may we each be blessed with greater happiness and peace. May the entire world be healed and may we be part of the healing.
May each of us and the entire world have love and peace.