The solemnity of the Day of Atonement, which begins this year on Sunday night and ends Monday night, is axiomatic. It reaches its climax as the sun begins to set, which is the hour at which our Heavenly Judgement is sealed – and also the hour when our atonement is activated. As we say in the Ne'ilah prayer following Mincha: "Open the gate for us at the time of the locking of the gate, for the day is passing."

Why did our Sages institute this extra prayer, Ne'ilah, on Yom Kippur? The Jerusalem Talmud offers two proofs for the importance of adding prayers on Yom Kippur: 

R. Levi said: "[When you sin], even if you prolong your prayers I shall not hear" (Yeshayahu 1,15) – this tells us that [otherwise] one who increases his prayers will be answered. R. Ḥiyya said in the name of R. Yochanan, and R. Shimon bar Ḥalaphta said in the name of R Meir: "When she [Chana] prayed very long [and was answered]" (Shmuel I 1,12) – indicating that everyone who extends his prayers will be answered.

This does not necessarily mean that Chana prayed more in quantity, for we can assume that she prayed every year. Therefore we ask: Why was her prayer heard that particular year and not beforehand? The answer is that her prayer this year was stronger than before, because of two things that happened then: Her husband Elkanah said to her, "Why do you cry and why are you not eating and why is your heart so sad? Am I not good to you more than ten sons?" (ibid. verse 8) In addition, the High Priest at the time, Eli, actually thought she was drunk and reproved her for it. Chana then realized that she truly had no one to lean on other than our Father in Heaven, and thus her prayer was more powerful than before – and was accepted.  

Sometimes a short but powerful prayer can be that which achieves the best results. This was the case when Moshe Rabbeinu prayed effectively for his sister Miriam in only five short words: "G-d, please, heal her, please" (Bamidbar 12,13). 

And in our case, we are talking about a particularly receptive time for our prayers – the end of the Day of Atonement!

"For this, let every pious man pray to You at the time that You are found" (Tehillim 32,6). The Ibn Ezra explains that this is similar to that which is written in Yeshayahu 55,6: "Seek G-d when He is found… and you will find" – i.e., when you find Him, or when the worshiper finds his heart empty of distracting thoughts; then is when he should pray. Can there be a better time for that than during the Ne'ilah prayer? It is for this "time of finding" of the Ne'ilah hour that the pious man waits the entire year. 

I saw it written that HaRav HaNazir (Rabbi Dovid Cohen of Jerusalem, d. 1982) said about his teacher and rabbi, HaRav Kook, that he would longingly await Yom Kippur all year round. It is the wish of the pious man to wait for and anticipate the ultimate meeting with G-d that takes place on Yom Kippur and its climax, the Ne'ilah hour.

Throughout the Ne'ilah prayer, we keep the Holy Ark open – another indication of this climactic hour and encounter with G-d. We then conclude the prayer with the stirring repetition, seven times, of the words, "Hashem hu Elokim" – The Lord is G-d!" This symbolizes our connection with the different aspects of G-d and His essence, in an unparalleled time of purity, and precisely matched for acceptance of our prayers.

The importance of taking advantage of the right time for prayer is shown in this passage from the Jerusalem Talmud: "Whoever does not mention [the blessing of] Redemption adjacent to the Sh'moneh Esrei prayer is like one who is beloved to the king and who knocks on the king's door – but when the king comes out to greet him, he finds that the person has already left!"

Similarly, when one does a good deed, he must take advantage of the occasion and fulfill it as completely as possible. Even though Aharon HaCohen was Moshe's younger brother and might have been expected to be jealous of him, the Torah tells us (Sh'mot 4,14)that he was truly and sincerely "glad in his heart" to greet Moshe. On this point, the Medrash teaches that if Aharon had known that the Torah would speak so highly of him, he would have gone even further in greeting his brother with drums and cymbals. The Medrash makes the same point about others in the Torah who were praised for their actions. It's not that Aharon and the others would have sought to increase their honor, but rather that, by being made aware of what they were doing, they would have striven and succeeded in attaining the highest level of the mitzvah act. 

The next step is to preserve this feeling and certainly not to lose it. I saw a commentary by the Rupshitzer Rebbe who explained the meaning of the word ne'ilah, which is from the root meaning "lock." He said the time of the Ne'ilah prayer is when we should lock in the sensations of holiness within our hearts, just as one locks up a chest or closet so that the precious items within will not be lost or stolen.

To this end, we must start doing mitzvot immediately after Yom Kippur ends, by starting to build our Sukkah and preparing in other ways for the Sukkot holiday. In this way we pile up our feelings of holiness in the actual mitzvah items – the chafatzim of mitzvah. The Ramban explains the verse "Do not arouse the love until it is desired" (Shir HaShirim 2,7) as follows: "Desired" is from the same root as chafatzim, thus that the verse can mean: "… until you put the love into the item of mitzvah."

Translated by Hillel Fendel