THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 15, 1994 TAG: 9409140017
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
Today is the Sabbath of Sabbaths, the most solemn day in the Jewish year. On Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, Jews seek to make amends for transgressions committed during the prior year and pray for the forgiveness of God before their fate is sealed for the coming year.
Jewish teaching holds that sincere repentance and prayer will affect the heavenly judgment decreed over a petitioner. But true repentance must manifest itself in acts as well as thoughts. The whole emphasis of Yom Kippur is on a new commitment to the righteous life.
The judgment of heaven is a product of the deeds done by believers on Earth. Deeds are a result of will. But the will to lead a righteous life must be an informed will. Thus one purpose of Yom Kippur, in the words of the Prophet Jeremiah, is for Jews to ``search and examine our ways,'' to see where they conflict with the requirements of Torah (the Law). This self-examination is aided on this day by abstinence from food, drink and marital re-la-tions.
Before the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 C.E. (A.D.), the high priest conducted an elaborate ceremony within the Temple that concluded with the driving of a goat (the scapegoat) symbolically laden with the collective guilt of Israel into the wilderness to face death. Since the destruction of thet Temple, the emphasis has shift-ed to individual penitence and renewal.
We send our good wishes to our fellow citizens on this holiday of repentance and renewal. by CNB