Beit Midrash
- Sections
- Chemdat Yamim
- Parashat Hashavua
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- D'varim
- Vayelech
Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are known as the "The Fearful Days," but the Rabbis also define them as days of light and salvation. They say "‘My light’ (Tehillim 27:1) refers to Rosh Hashana; ‘and my salvation" (ibid.) refers to Yom Kippur" (Vayikra Rabba 21:4).
Certainly, the days are fearful. When one knows he is standing, face-to-face, before the Creator of the world, and that there is nothing forgotten before His throne of glory and nothing is concealed from His "eyes," he naturally is seized by panic. One can explain his actions with 150 excuses, but he knows this will not work before He who knows man’s thoughts. There are even times when a person may succeed in fooling himself and quiet his conscience with various excuses. There are times he realizes he did something wrong, but he tries to make himself forget it. He may argue to himself – in the final analysis, that which happened is over; why should we dig it up and deal with outdated episodes? However, a person is required to be accountable for all of his actions. It is as if that which relates to the past is not in the past but the present. Actions are brought back to stand before him as if they are occurring now. A bad action is like an accusatory angel, which calls out: "Why would you do such a thing? Woe unto us because of the day of judgment! Woe unto us because of the day of rebuke!"
However, along with the feeling of fear, there is an awakening of regret, which is the "mother of repentance." While it is impossible to ignore the past, it is very possible to remedy what went wrong in the past. Every evil act can be viewed as a matter of darkness. It clouds your thoughts and overpowers your senses. It even instills a feeling of helplessness, making you feel that it is so strong that you are compelled to follow its dictates. You become like a robot without a will of your own. Actions are dictated to you, and you are not the master of your own decisions.
Suddenly, a ray of light bursts into the dark recesses of the spirit. At first, you try to avoid it and more efficiently keep yourself in the darkness. However, when you do not succeed and the light keeps on flowing in and penetrates deeply, then instead of avoiding it, there is a moment of recuperation and recognition that all we require is to align our actions with that which is appropriate.
It is good that it is impossible for us to ignore our mistakes. Fortunately, there is an "eye that sees" and observes us and a "hand" that guides us and assists us to shake off the dirt and the unseemly. If an act of evil is darkness, at least we know that the one day, Yom Kippur, comes to replace the darkness with light and make everything one unit. This is the "one day" to which the Rabbis referred.
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