THIS YEAR'S YOM KIPPUR- Prayers for All Israel | Rabbi Ari Shvat | Beit Midrash

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The Essence of Yom Kippur

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THIS YEAR'S YOM KIPPUR- Prayers for All Israel
Q. Yom Kippur of today is a day of heartfelt tefillot, familiar haunting melodies, the congregation and the shul itself all dressed in white. The atmosphere is very special, even holy. Yet while the Beit Hamikdash was here, Yom Kippur was completely different. We were observers rather than participants. We watched the Cohen Gadol perform his Avoda. And when the Cohen Gadol went into the Kodesh Kedoshim, a rope tied around his waist in case he died, the nation waited, hoping, anticipating, davening that his teshuva for the nation be accepted and that he would emerge unscathed. Here's my question:
Is Yom Kippur meant to be a day of PERSONAL Teshuva and repentance? Or NATIONAL Teshuva and repentance? What is the main focus of the day? Because I find a discrepancy between the atmosphere of Yom Kippur of today and Yom Kippur during the time of the Beit Hamikdash. And since we are rapidly nearing the Geula, perhaps we need to change our focus on Yom Kippur? Thank you.
A. Our sages say that "a wise question is half of the answer" (Ibn Gvirol)! The very fact that you noticed the problem, that's a sign that there's a problem. Yes, for the last 1,900 years, Yom Kippur was a focus on the individual, but then again, so was all Judaism! During Galut, the Jew didn't fight with a sword and battalion, but rather with his passport, and on a passport, you can only save yourself- not even your spouse or children. As recent as my father-in-law, his 3 siblings who did survive the Holocaust, ended up in 3 different continents. In contrast to Yom Kippur, Rosh HaShana was always more focused on Am Yisrael- our forefathers/self-sacrifice/redemption etc., and even there, a latter-day prayer like U'Netaneh Tokef, engrossed us more with ourselves ("בראש השנה יכתבו וביום צום כיפור יחתמו"), "who (in singular) will live and who will die".
Growing up in Galut, we were taught that Judaism's reward for mitzvot is to "get to heaven", but in fact the Torah (see Vayikra 26, Devarim 28, as we say every day in והיה אם שמוע...) almost totally ignores the world to come, rather offering national reward and punishment in this world (rain, victory, peace…). Rav Kook (Orot p. 110; Igrot I, p. 134) explains that during the time of the Beit HaMikdash, we are supposed to care more about the welfare of Am Yisrael, and be less focused on our egoistical selves & needs. We were in fact over (!) occupied with our national security, economy and politics, which were distracting us from spiritual religiosity. As an educational punishment, Hashem sent us to the other extreme, to Galut (Orot p. 114), where Judaism turned into a religion of individuals or local communities, totally neglecting our national land, language, security & economy. Nevertheless, we always knew that "my fellow Jew's physical needs, are my spiritual needs" (R. Y. Salanter).
Last year's and this year's Yom Kippur are inevitably moving every good Jew back to the original authentic Judaism. How can we not focus on Israel's security when our lives, as well as that of our children and grand-children, depends on the welfare of Israel! Even the anti-Semitism felt more and more by the Jews in America & Australia, is directly connected with our national and international pro-Palestinian enemies. Even the conservative Haredi world is beginning to break out of the Galut-mentality, & recall that in our Milchemot Mitzvah, the Jewish army halachically supersedes MY personal yeshiva learning (I pray they will all visibly & publicly disassociate & chastise the Satmar Hassid recently caught spying for Iran). Just as Moshe Rabbenu, Yehoshua, David HaMelech, and the Maccabees didn't learn in yeshiva when Am Yisrael was at war, but contrarily, LED the charge against the enemies of the G-d of Israel, the G-d of history is LEADING us slowly but steadily out of Galut.
I admit that the it's hard to identify with the Yom Kippur service in the Temple. It seems foreign to our western mind-set, to serve G-d through messengers (like the Kohanim & Kohen Gadol), but the women in the ezrat nashim have always done so, and they're already "one step ahead". Rav Kook (Orot, p. 159) stresses that in our return to Israel, we must be careful NOT to revert to the problematic national issues which distracted us TOO much from spirituality. Rather take the good from the 1,900 year intensive individual religious seminar, and harmonize it to return to the original and authentic balance of the G-dly Ideal & National Ideal.
At this stage, I wouldn't worry yet about us shul-goers totally forgetting about our personal & individual needs. Let's not PRETEND and skip stages in the Ge'ula process. Our prayers must be real and from the heart, and not pretending to already be totally altruistic & national, as if we are already in the Beit HaMikdash (especially when the ideal is both: personal & national!). But praying for our children or neighbor's children who are in the IDF, today is already sincere and a step in the right direction, for whether in Riverdale or Ra'anana, the RIGHT DIRECTION is Yerushalayim! Shabbat Shalom and Gmar Chatima Tova, Rav Ari Shvat (Chwat)

The Essence of Yom Kippur