Yom Kippur: A Time of Unity

Every Fall we gather in our Synagogues to observe Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. For 24 hours we fast, pray, read Scriptures, and repent, a lot.

If you have never attended a Yom Kippur service, you may not understand what Yom Kippur is all about. Even if you have attended one, you may be missing a key component or reason for this Appointed Time. 

Most of those reading this today will have at least a cursory understanding of what took place in Jerusalem at the Temple on this day. How two goats were chosen, one which was set free and one which was sacrificed. It was the one day a year that the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies and splash blood of the goat that was sacrificed upon the Ark of the Covenant to provide atonement for the People. We read about this in Leviticus 16:15:

“Then he is to slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people, bring its blood behind the curtain, and do with it as he did with the blood of the bull—sprinkle it upon the atonement cover, and before the atonement cover.

Yom Kippur, while a single day, is inextricably attached to the two other Fall Holy Days. It comes nine days after Yom Teruah/Rosh HaShanah and five days before the start of Sukkot. From the moment the Shofar sounds to herald in Yom Teruah, those who observe these Biblical Holy Days enter a time of personal reflection of searching their hearts for any unrepentant sins and unresolved disputes between people.

During these ten Days of Awe, we take time to honestly evaluate our actions and choices over the past year and seek opportunities to mend relationships with all of those where rifts have divided us. We then arrive at Yom Kippur and the solemn service begins as the community rises together and begins to pray prayers asking for forgiveness. 

We, in unity, ask G-D to forgive us for a long list of sins. For the sin of murder, for the sin of theft, for the sin of sexual immorality, for the sin of adultery, and so on. With each recitation, we tap our chest and with all sincerity ask for forgiveness. Even though we personally may not have committed murder, stolen anything, been sexually immoral, nor committed adultery. 

To the new observer this mass unified repentance might seem weird especially since many of those asking for forgiveness from the long list of sins had not committed the sin they were seeking forgiveness for. 

The reason this seems weird, and in the view of some disingenuous, is because the reason for saying these prayers of forgiveness or Selichot is misunderstood. This misunderstanding comes from thinking and believing that each person in the assembly is asking forgiveness for their personal sin and failures. The truth is that each person gathered together is pouring out their hearts sincerely asking for forgiveness not for themselves alone but for the entire people of G-D. 

You see on Yom Kippur that the goat that was sacrificed wasn’t for an individual but it was for The People. It isn’t a time where we focus solely on ourselves, hoping we alone would be forgiven. No, it is a day we stand together with all of those who love G-D as one living organism and cry out for forgiveness on behalf of our unified body of believers. 

On this day, we pray in unison not for personal atonement, but rather for the atonement of Israel. We are praying for the fullness of the promise found in Romans 11:26:

and in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer shall come out of Zion. He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.

One day Yeshua will return, one day Judgement will come, and one day All Israel Will Be Saved. On Yom Kippur we pray in unison and unity not for ourselves alone, but because we know deep within our soul that we are part of a connective living organism known as All Israel. So we pray for forgiveness as part of the singular body Paul described in 1 Corinthians 12:13:

For in one Ruach we were all immersed into one body—whether Jewish or Greek, slave or free—and all were made to drink of one Ruach.

As believers in Yeshua, both Jew and non-Jew, we often focus all our prayers, especially prayers of repentance, on ourselves. Yom Kippur causes us to look beyond ourselves and see ourselves as part of the greater body of believers. Because we are only one part of this body, we must pray that repentance and atonement will come to and for every other part of the body. Because when one part of a body is ill or broken it affects the entire body.

On Yom Teruah, the shofar calls us to begin preparing our heart for corporate repentance. On Yom Kippur, we gather and ask for corporate repentance. On Sukkot, we pray with expectation and celebration for the fulfillment of the gathering when All Israel will be saved.