{"id":143,"date":"2013-10-25T01:44:33","date_gmt":"2013-10-25T01:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marcmangel.net\/?page_id=143"},"modified":"2013-10-25T01:44:33","modified_gmt":"2013-10-25T01:44:33","slug":"yom-kippur-5773","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/?page_id=143","title":{"rendered":"Yom Kippur 5773"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Drash for Yom Kippur 5773 (2012)<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Marc Mangel<\/p>\n

Today is the day on which God answers when we call.<\/p>\n

We are together as individuals, each uniquely different.\u00a0 We say the same prayers \u2013 and both individually and communally acknowledge our shortcomings.<\/p>\n

But because we are individuals the prayers, meditations, and insights that come today with God\u2019s answer will affect each of us differently.<\/p>\n

But to be sure, we also share common aspirations that brought us here.\u00a0 We would like to be better people. We would like the world to be a better place.\u00a0 The purpose of Teshuvah [returning to our Godly person] is to help make this happen.<\/p>\n

Teshuvah has two components:\u00a0 First, the remorse over what happened in the past. Second, the commitment to act differently.\u00a0 They are linked because the only test of sincere remorse is the subsequent behavior that is different.<\/p>\n

The last Lubavitcher Rebbe said \u201cTo be contrite about the past without changing one\u2019s behavior is a hollow gesture\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to general guidelines, we need starting points for Teshuvah.\u00a0 Where do we find them?<\/p>\n

We spent 7 weeks last summer in Tacoma, WA.\u00a0 Tacoma is located in Pierce County and the Shaliach there, Rabbi Zalman Heber,\u00a0 mounted a fund raising campaign for a new building.\u00a0 He built it as a replica of Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn and it opened in June 2012.<\/p>\n

[An aside:] Remind Susan or me to tell you the story of the Dutch candlesticks at break fast.<\/p>\n

The sanctuary of the Chabad House in Pierce County has 10 stained glass windows.<\/p>\n

These windows represent the 10 campaigns that the last Rebbe organized as one way of making the world better.\u00a0 They are the starting points that we need:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Tefillin [phylacteries that we are commanded to wrap around our arm and head]<\/p>\n

\u2022 Torah<\/p>\n

\u2022 Mezzuha<\/p>\n

\u2022 Tzdaka [usually translated as charity, but better as righteousness]<\/p>\n

\u2022 A house full of (holy) books<\/p>\n

\u2022 Shabbat candles<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sanctity of the family<\/p>\n

\u2022 Kashrut [eating kosher food]<\/p>\n

\u2022 Education<\/p>\n

\u2022 Love of the people Israel<\/p>\n

These are campaigns in which each of us could be a spiritual soldier.<\/p>\n

Imagine the Kol Tefilah Yom Kippur Experiment (KTYKE) in which each one of us took on a bit of one of the campaigns just for a week or two \u2013 or maybe even longer.<\/p>\n

This is not hard to do, some examples are<\/p>\n

Tefillin \u2013 if you have never put on tefillin, learn about them, or speak with one of the local rabbis to try it out<\/p>\n

Torah \u2013 Try reading a bit of the upcoming Torah portion each day, or reading a Psalm a day, or try simply being rather than doing for just a few hours on Shabbat<\/p>\n

A house full of holy books \u2013 buy a new holy book in hard copy or for your electronic device, or check one out of the Kol Tefilah library (but do that after sundown)<\/p>\n

Shabbat candles\u2013 if you don’t regularly light Shabbat candles, try it for a couple of weeks<\/p>\n

Kashrut \u2013 try to by an item with a Hecksher [a symbol that a Rabbinic authority has approved the food as meeting kosher standards] when you are grocery shopping to replace one that does not or go to Trader Joes and buy kosher meat even if it costs more<\/p>\n

If each one of us did this for a week or two it would help us on the path to teshuvah and also bring more Godly energy into our world. And if enough of us did it long enough it would not be an experiment, but a movement \u2013 the Kol Tefilah Yom Kippur Movement and it could spread!<\/p>\n

What about Tzdaka and Love of the Israel?<\/p>\n

They allow us to jump start this process of Teshuvah.\u00a0\u00a0 Imagine the power of each and every one of us sometime tomorrow gave to \u00a0Tzdaka to a Jewish organization.\u00a0 Imagine the power of that.<\/p>\n

Have any easy fast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Drash for Yom Kippur 5773 (2012) by Marc Mangel Today is the day on which God answers when we call. We are together as individuals, each uniquely different.\u00a0 We say the same prayers \u2013 and both individually and communally acknowledge our shortcomings. But because we are individuals the prayers, meditations, and insights that come … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":53,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"full-width-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-143","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=143"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":144,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/143\/revisions\/144"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/53"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}