Sedra of the Week: Yom Kippur
Rabbi Mendel Kalmenson reflects on the forthcoming week's portion of the Torah
Rabbi Mendel Kalmenson executive director of Chabad of Belgravia, London
The Talmud (Taanis 26b) interprets the verse from Song of Songs, — “on the day of His wedding” — as the day the Jewish people received the Torah. Rashi comments this refers to the day God gave us the second tablets, rather than the first.
Remarkably then, the Talmud sees Yom Kippur as the wedding anniversary between God and the Jewish people!
Here’s why this is relevant. The problem with many relationships is that we tend to hold onto the mistakes made by the people we love, and often hold their present self up to their former self. In other words, when we interact with our husband, wife, parent, sibling or child, we tend to see them not in the present, but through the prism of their accumulated past.
Just imagine how different relationships would be if during each encounter we looked at the people in front of us with a new set of eyes, deleting, at least for this moment, any negative history between us.
Long before Eckhart Tolle wrote his bestseller The Power of Now, the mystics taught that the universe is created every single moment anew, so that the universe of this moment is not a continuation of the universe of a moment ago, but is an entirely new universe with its own infinite potential!
Approach God, your devoted partner in life, with an open mind and heart, and let go of the distance, the disappointment that may have built up inside you as a result of the times you felt let down by God, and begin this moment, and the new year by extension, anew and afresh, in love and with joy.
Rabbi Mendel Kalmenson is rabbi of Beit Baruch and executive director of Chabad of Belgravia, London
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
