THE HAPPIEST DAY
Rabbi Michael Whitman

Dear John,
Your presence at Kol Nidre is a presence of love, and proof of the possibility of reconciliation after even the deepest rupture.

The historical precedent for Yom Kippur, according to the Bible, is the day Moses returned from the top of Mt. Sinai with the second set of stone tablets, upon which were engraved the Ten Commandments – a replacement for the tablets Moses smashed in the aftermath of our terrible sin of the Golden Calf.

Moses’ appearance with the new tablets on the tenth day of Tishrei (on the Jewish calendar) confirmed that God accepted the sincere repentance of the Jewish People for their terrible sin. This establishes that day, for all time, as a day to seek forgiveness from each other and from God.

Along with the solemnity of the day – richly evoked by the haunting melody of Kol Nidre – we Jews insist that Yom Kippur is the happiest day on the Jewish calendar. This startling attitude is due to our confidence that, if we are sincere in our regret of our mistakes, and energetic to make amends as much as possible, and serious about our commitment to discontinue those mistakes, we are assured of God’s merciful forgiveness. Even the Golden Calf was forgiven on Yom Kippur. And we leave Yom Kippur in the exhausted glow of purity and holiness.

That promise continues for everyone who uses this sacred day to come closer to God and His children.