BOOK: Yom Kippur; Thread: Relevance to Catholics

[Crumpy]

“Yom Kippur – Its Significance, Laws, and Prayers
A Presentation Anthologized from Talmudic and Traditional Sources”
by Rabbis Nosson Scherman, Hersh Goldwurm, Avie Gold
Mesorah Publications

This book discusses the Jewish perspective of the Hebrew Scriptures on the

possibility and necessity of repentence for sins.

(The Torah is God’s instruction, which is the first five books of the Bible. The

Talmud (“study”) is the collection of Jewish thought on interpretation of the

Torah. The Talmud is considered to be very authoritative, next to the Torah.

There is no central “magisterium” in Judaism. The Talmud contains varying and

sometimes opposing points of view. The Jews and the Muslims each consider

themselves the “people of the book” – of their respective books. They consider

the “book” to be the complete instruction for life, be that instruction explicit

or be it that a lot of study and discussion is needed to understand the will of

the Divine.)

This is book is beyond citing scripture to support any of its assertions. It is

not an academic book, per se. It is probably considered a book of meditations

to enhance a Jewish person’s observance of the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.

In terms of atoning for sin, prayer and repentence are considered to be the

substitute for animal sacrifice prescribed in the Torah. Repentence and prayer

are the means of obtaining God’s forgiveness. Verbal confession seems to be a

part of the process.

A Jew is urged to repent at every moment of every day. But, Yom Kippur has been

divinely established to press the issue, to lead every Jew to repentence in a

formal observance.

Yom Kippur follow the New Year Rosh Hoshanah by ten days, called the Days of

Awe. The highest motivation for repentence for sin (and amendment of life) is

the love of God. Even the feeling of embarrassment after committing a sin is

considered to be a valid form of repentence.

The spiritual preparation for Yom Kippur reminds me a lot of the Catholic

obligation for Confession and Communion during the Lenten and Easter seasons.

There is an emphasis is that Yom Kippur is for atoning for sins against God.

But, atoning for sins against our fellow man is entirely different. That is

encouraged all year, but especially also during the days of Awe. The requirement
of restitution is carefully outlined.

The scriptural demand to afflict one’s soul on Yom Kippur includes a total fast

for 24 hours.

Every Jew is a member of the spiritual nation of Jews, and every individual

repentence counts for lifting up the body of Jews to God.

Repentence has an analogy in scripture related to circumcision. Circumcision

removes something which separates one from God, as does repentence. So, the

closeness of repentence to fulfillment of the covenant is highlighted.

The Christian New Testament has its unforgiveable sin against the Holy Spirit,

which is a denial of the possibility of salvation and the gifts of the Spirit.

Likewise, in Judaism, a hardness of heart which prevents a person from

repentence is an unforgiveable denial and rejection of the greatest gift of God,

the opportunity for repentence.

The synagogue reading for Yom Kippur is the book of Jonah (“Yonah”). This story

shows the generosity of God and God’s eagerness for people to repent, even

involving foreigners, non-Jews. It’s an object lesson how eagerly Jews should be

to repent.

The last part of the book deals with the issue of praying for and offering works

of charity for deceased Jews. Yes, the Protestant horror of the Catholic

teaching on purgatory was that when the coin hit the collection basket, a soul

was released from Purgatory. Not dissuaded, Jews believe that the living can

make sacrificial charitable offering to the merit of the deceased. This seems to

have been downplayed by the Church as a result of the reformation.

The charitable gift is not simply for the merit of the deceased, but is a

completion of something they may have not been able to do in their lifetime.

The journey towards the presence of God is not called Purgatory by name, but

seems to have all of its characteristics. But, suffering is not mentioned as an

attribute of purgatory in this book.

The book is very devout and sincere about urging one to change one’s life. A

Catholic reaction should be, if Jews can do that much, how much more should we

do and how much more eager should we be to repent and to confess and get closer

to God in this life.

 

[meltzerboy]

“Yom Kippur – Its Significance, Laws, and Prayers
A Presentation Anthologized from Talmudic and Traditional Sources”
by Rabbis Nosson Scherman, Hersh Goldwurm, Avie Gold
Mesorah Publications

This book discusses the Jewish perspective of the Hebrew Scriptures on the

possibility and necessity of repentence for sins.

(The Torah is God’s instruction, which is the first five books of the Bible. The

Talmud (“study”) is the collection of Jewish thought on interpretation of the

Torah. The Talmud is considered to be very authoritative, next to the Torah.

There is no central “magisterium” in Judaism. The Talmud contains varying and

sometimes opposing points of view. The Jews and the Muslims each consider

themselves the “people of the book” – of their respective books. They consider

the “book” to be the complete instruction for life, be that instruction explicit

or be it that a lot of study and discussion is needed to understand the will of

the Divine.)

This is book is beyond citing scripture to support any of its assertions. It is

not an academic book, per se. It is probably considered a book of meditations

to enhance a Jewish person’s observance of the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.

In terms of atoning for sin, prayer and repentence are considered to be the

substitute for animal sacrifice prescribed in the Torah. Repentence and prayer

are the means of obtaining God’s forgiveness. Verbal confession seems to be a

part of the process.

A Jew is urged to repent at every moment of every day. But, Yom Kippur has been

divinely established to press the issue, to lead every Jew to repentence in a

formal observance.

Yom Kippur follow the New Year Rosh Hoshanah by ten days, called the Days of

Awe. The highest motivation for repentence for sin (and amendment of life) is

the love of God. Even the feeling of embarrassment after committing a sin is

considered to be a valid form of repentence.

The spiritual preparation for Yom Kippur reminds me a lot of the Catholic

obligation for Confession and Communion during the Lenten and Easter seasons.

There is an emphasis is that Yom Kippur is for atoning for sins against God.

But, atoning for sins against our fellow man is entirely different. That is

encouraged all year, but especially also during the days of Awe. The requirement
of restitution is carefully outlined.

The scriptural demand to afflict one’s soul on Yom Kippur includes a total fast

for 24 hours.

Every Jew is a member of the spiritual nation of Jews, and every individual

repentence counts for lifting up the body of Jews to God.

Repentence has an analogy in scripture related to circumcision. Circumcision

removes something which separates one from God, as does repentence. So, the

closeness of repentence to fulfillment of the covenant is highlighted.

The Christian New Testament has its unforgiveable sin against the Holy Spirit,

which is a denial of the possibility of salvation and the gifts of the Spirit.

Likewise, in Judaism, a hardness of heart which prevents a person from

repentence is an unforgiveable denial and rejection of the greatest gift of God,

the opportunity for repentence.

The synagogue reading for Yom Kippur is the book of Jonah (“Yonah”). This story

shows the generosity of God and God’s eagerness for people to repent, even

involving foreigners, non-Jews. It’s an object lesson how eagerly Jews should be

to repent.

The last part of the book deals with the issue of praying for and offering works

of charity for deceased Jews. Yes, the Protestant horror of the Catholic

teaching on purgatory was that when the coin hit the collection basket, a soul

was released from Purgatory. Not dissuaded, Jews believe that the living can

make sacrificial charitable offering to the merit of the deceased. This seems to

have been downplayed by the Church as a result of the reformation.

The charitable gift is not simply for the merit of the deceased, but is a

completion of something they may have not been able to do in their lifetime.

The journey towards the presence of God is not called Purgatory by name, but

seems to have all of its characteristics. But, suffering is not mentioned as an

attribute of purgatory in this book.

Crumpy, I’m not familiar with this book, but may well look into it based on your recommendation. A few remarks about your own comments. Jews are indeed urged to repent any time, as well as on the Holy Day of Yom Kippur. Prayer and charity–not animal blood sacrifice–were always considered the main means of atonement in Judaism, even in ancient times. Sins of commission and omission are classified according to several categories and degrees of gravity, much as they are in Catholicism. Certain sins may be committed without our knowing we have sinned, and while this kind of sin may be less severe, it is often considered a sin nonetheless. It is always surprising to me just how comprehensive the Torah and the Talmud are about describing behaviors one might not have thought about as sinful. For example, showing dexterity in front of someone who is disabled, is regarded as not merely discourteous, but often sinful. Or not feeding one’s pet first before oneself and one’s family is sinful, in that animals do not have the capacity to delay gratification. Although some may think they have not sinned, in truth they have, and often. However, according to Jewish teaching, a guilty obsession with being a sinner should not be the focus of one’s thoughts; but rather, a sincere effort to make amends and do better is the primary focus. And if one stumbles a second time, or a third, one should not despair but instead keep on trying. The continuous process of improving oneself as best one can and in small increments is itself thought to be pleasing to G-d.

 

[Crumpy]

Yes, thank you. There are many points in the book that I could not recall, from a single reading and with my scanty notes.

Surely, I don’t know if this is the best book or even typical, but I surely get a lot out of reading the Jewish perspective, as you say, for its thoroughness and the depth of the sincerity.

As usual with all the Jewish commentaries I have read, the authorship is very friendly towards the reader, in general, to teach as much as possible and as carefully as possible.

Catholicism is often characterized as a bunch of “don’ts” – very legalistic and perhaps arbitrarily so. I find a lot of satisfaction from reading the Jewish perspective on morality. It just cannot be totally expressed in a post or summarized.

This book surely is intended for someone who has a reading knowledge of Hebrew, by the way.