For Yom Kippur

The important liturgical poem, Unetaneh Tokef, is a core of our service on both Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur. The metaphor is that God has a giant ledger we call the Book of Life in which it is determined “who shall live and who shall die” in the coming year. The metaphor is attributed to Rabbi Yohanan in the Talmud [BT Rosh Hashanah 16b], although the prayer itself was written only a bit more than 1,000 years ago by an unknown author. It appears in the earliest existing machzorim for the High Holy Days. Our fate is written on Rosh Hashanah, and sealed on Yom Kippur, suggesting that we have the chance to change our destiny during the intervening days.

            Despite the fact that the prayer itself is neither Biblical nor Talmudic in origin, many consider it the focus of the Yamim Noraim. The prayer is a reminder that we live lives of ambiguity; we do not know what is in store for us. Perhaps this is a reason why this poem resonates so strongly, since on these days we spend more than a little time thinking about what the future might hold.

            Some of us have problems with the metaphor. It suggests that once Yom Kippur has ended, and our fate is “sealed,” that our exercise of free will has ended. It seems so at odds with our actual experience. Honorable and good people suffer; there is no doubt that evil doers flourish. How can God “seal” those destinies? In addition, seemingly random acts lead to unexpected results. We turn left instead of right, and avoid getting hit by a bus; we walk right instead of left, and miss the train, and are late for an appointment, and fail to get a job we wanted.  

            The concluding statement of Unetaneh Tokef  is “repentance, prayer, and acts of loving kindness can “avert” the decree (at least that’s how the Hebrew is usually translated). A second translation suggests that engaging in these actions “eases” the impact of the bad decree. Yet another interpretation is that by repenting sincerely, praying with kavanah, and treating our fellow human beings with kindness, we can find a way to live with the evils that inevitably lie ahead in our path.

            I hope that these brief words offer some new insights to you as we approach Yom Kippur. May you and yours be inscribed and sealed for a good year of health, security, happiness and peace.