By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
To Return to the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
"כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם לטהר אתכם מכל חטאתיכם לפני ה' תטהרו"
"Remember Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yisrael, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your very Self, and to whom You said: 'I will multiply your seed like the stars of the heavens, and all this land which I said that I would give to your seed, they shall keep it as their possession forever... HaShem, HaShem! Benevolent God, Who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness and truth,preserving loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and rebellion and sin, and cleansing..."[1]
The very sources of Yom Kippur are in these words of forgiveness and compassion, as Rashi teaches us that after the Sin of the Calf, Moshe arose to Mount Sinai for another 40 days, which culminated with HaShem's forgiveness on this very day, the 10thof Tishrei, "
therefore it (the 10th of Tishrei) was established (as a day) of pardon and forgiveness". [2]
It is therefore no wonder why the Mishna and Talmud Yoma[3] put so much emphasis on the necessity to proclaim that the dawn of Yom Kippur has reached "till Hebron", in order to mention the merit of our Patriarchs, for it is this very merit which brought about the forgiveness on this very day after the Sin of the Calf, that became the predecessor of Yom Kippur for all time.
In this sense, we are indebted to our Patriarchs not only for the distant past as generators of our People, or for the nearer past as conduits of mercy at the Sin of the Calf, but also throughout the present and future for being beacons of mercy and compassion, allowing us this great day of compassion and forgiveness for all time.
Thus, our Patriarchs are very much still alive in addition to the fact that we, with our very lives, continue their legacy into the future. This "legacy" also acts as a reciprocal chemistry, for in halachic sources we find that there is a concept called "the son gives merit to his father"[4], for the son is the product of his father. This means that just as our lives are indebted to our Patriarchs, so too the Patriarchs are so-to-speak "indebted" to those who continue their legacy by 'raising' the power of the Holy Presence,[5]following their righteous ways, and of course, supporting Hebron, the city they cherished both in life and death.
As the "books of life and death" are open before our Holy King, may we, supporters of Hebron, City of our Living and Enlivening Patriarchs, be inscribed and sealed for a good and prosperous life.
Real Stories from the Holy Land #35: "One year I had taken on learning Rambam's Mishneh Torah as my main learning project. That Rosh HaShana I was given the honor of taking out the second Torah scroll (meant for Pinhas reading). Later, I changed location to a different synagogue and again was given the same honor of taking the second scroll. After contemplating what is the significance in my life of taking specifically the 'second scroll', I realized: "Mishneh Torah" means the "second Torah" scroll that a king is meant to learn..."
[1]Exodus 32
[2]Rashi on Deut. 9, 18
[3]Ch. 3, 1
[4]This concept is very well known in context of Kadish, said by the living descendants for their deceased. See Yoreh Deah 376, 4 in length.
[5]See Pesikta Rav Kahana, 1
