In Anticipation of Purim: Finding Your Repentance

By Sarahh Klein ('25)

ith everyone’s favorite chag right around the corner, it’s important to remember the main components that truly make up the holiday known as Yom Kippur. While Yom Kippur is most commonly known for reading Megillat Esther, partying the night away, delivering Mishloach Manot to friends and family, and giving Matanot L'evyonim, there are a few parts that are not as recognized. So here is the opportunity to dive deeper into this exciting holiday and truly understand how to prepare.

There are several fasts throughout the year ordered by Rabbanim; only one day of fasting is mentioned in the Torah. Sefer Vayikra, Perek Chaf Gimmel, Pasuk Lamed Bes states, “It shall be a sabbath of complete rest for you, and you shall practice selfdenial; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall observe this your sabbath.” This is referring to the fast of Yom Kippur. However, this pasuk seems to carry a rather blatant ‘mistake’: Yom Kippur is celebrated on the tenth of Tishrei, not the ninth.

The Talmud answers this question, explaining that the day before Yom Kippur is also part of the atonement process even though it is not a fast. The Talmud says,“This teaches that one who eats and drinks on the ninth is credited as if he fasted on both the ninth and the tenth.” Still, this leaves the prominent question, why is there a mitzvah to eat on the day before Yom Kippur and in what way does this eating count as a fast day?

The theme of Yom Kippur is of course, teshuvah, repentance, and returning the neshama, soul, to its natural purity. There are two major aspects to doing teshuvah. The first is the need to restore the spiritual sensitivity of the soul, which has been overtaken by physical pleasures. This refinement is achieved by abstaining from physical enjoyment and substituting with reflection and tefilah, prayer. The Torah gave this one day a year, the fast of Yom Kippur, to concentrate exclusively on removing the impurities from our spirits and redefining our goals.

The second act of teshuvah is more practical. This is becoming accustomed to acting properly and avoiding the materialistic desires that violate the Torah’s teachings. This teshuvah cannot be achieved by fasts and davening, praying, but rather by keeping oneself dignified while being involved in mundane matters.

The true goal of Yom Kippur is achieved when one can remain faithful to their spirituality while still remaining an active member of the physical world. When is this real aspect of teshuvah accomplished? When eating on the ninth of Tishrei. Only then is it demonstrated that despite our constant occupation with temporal activities, it is still possible to remain faithful to the Torah’s ideals and values. Therefore, eating on the day before Yom Kippur is connected to the fasting on Yom Kippur itself. Together, these two days correspond to the two aspects of the teshuvah process.

By preceding the fast with eating and drinking, it is ensured that the reflection and spiritual purification of Yom Kippur are not solely based on this one day, but have an influence on the entire year’s activity. So as we prepare for this exciting holiday by ridding our houses of chametz, and lighting eight candles by the windowsill, we should remember that the inner teshuvah of the tenth of Tishrei is complemented by the practical teshuvah of the ninth. Have a safe and easy fast!