From Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur, we step into a realm apart — a world elevated far above the entire year. During these ten days, the presence of Malchus Shamayim is evident and closer than at any other time, as Chazal teach (Rosh Hashanah 18a):
“דרשו ה’ בהימצאו קראו בהיותו קרוב”, אלו עשרה ימים שבין ראש השנה ליום הכיפורים.
“Seek Hashem when He can be found, call upon Him when He is near” (Yeshaya 55:6) – these are the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
On Rosh Hashanah, our tefillos of Malchuyos and Zichronos reveal our deep shayachus—belonging and connection—to Malchus Shamayim in every situation of life, to the point where “לא הביט און ביעקב”—”He does not look upon iniquity in Yaakov.” Even our smallest actions are significant to Him, as it says, “כי מידי דברי בו זכור אזכרנו עוד”—”for whenever I speak of him, I remember him more and more.” On Yom Kippur, we go further, realizing we can even impact His world, in the Kodesh HaKodashim—lifnai v’lifnim.
On Yom Kippur, we resemble malachim, fasting from food and drink. The avodah of the day reaches lifnai v’lifnim, into the Kodesh HaKodashim, to the extent that Chazal (Yalkut Shimoni, Tehillim 888) connect this day to the pasuk in Tehillim (139:16): “Days have been formed and one of them is His.” This day is, as it were, not part of the regular days of the year. On this day it is possible to truly operate in the Borei’s world itself, lifnai v’lifnim, in the Kodesh HaKodashim.
The Hakafos with the Sifrei Torah
After Kol Nidrei, we circle the Sifrei Torah among the kehillah, a custom that can be understood through the teaching in Tanna d’Bei Eliyahu (14): “The Borei declares: There are two things in My world that I love with complete love: Torah and Yisrael. Yet I do not know which comes first. According to the ways of bnei adam, they say the Torah comes first, as it says (Mishlei 8:22), ‘Hashem acquired me as the beginning of His way.’ But I say Yisrael comes first, as it says (Yirmiyahu 2:3), ‘Holy are Yisrael to Hashem, the beginning of His produce.’”
Throughout the year, we are the ones that approach the Sefer Torah, the Aron Kodesh, or the bimah; the Torah stands above us. But on this unique day, outside the count of ordinary days, the Sefer Torah, as it were, approaches each person, proclaiming: “You come first!” You belong to the Kodesh HaKodashim, capable of dwelling in a higher world.
This revelation expresses once a year where we are truly shayach — to a world far loftier than our routine, mundane existence. On Yom Kippur, we can view our lives from alef to tav, as reflected in the order of viduy, with a different and more elevated perspective. Even mundane acts like eating or sleeping become elevated and connected to the Borei; we review our material life’s reality, and we confess every detail.
The Essence of Teshuvah
Our avodah of teshuvah during these days is to leave behind the shallow, superficial world we inhabit and forge a shayachus to that higher world, seeing our lives through a loftier lens. As we say in the piyyut, “עזוב נא בן אדם עזוב נא”—“Abandon, a person should abandon”— which is speaking about how we live in the wrong world, and we must abandon it and ascend to a higher reality.
Our core issue is not our actions, although they certainly are also lacking. The root of the deficiency lies in not living in a world of proper values. During the Aseres Yamei Teshuvah, we have the opportunity to do teshuvah and become shayach to a rectified world, to the point of shayachus with the Kodesh HaKodashim that Yom Kippur reveals.
The starting point of teshuvah is charatah: “How did I trade an eternal world for a fleeting one?” — as Rabbenu Yonah writes in Shaarei Teshuvah (1:9). He doesn’t write about exchanging the King’s command for passing pleasures, but rather about exchanging one olam for another. The essence of teshuvah is recognizing that we’ve misunderstood the very
nature of life.
Living in a Higher World
In the past, we could see gedolim who worked on themselves and grew the entire year, they lived in an elevated and exalted world, whether through the unique atmosphere of yeshivos that formed a distinct reality or through their shayachus to gedolei olam who constantly challenged them to grow. Today, however, the worlds of home and yeshivah are relatively similar, making it harder to discern a higher, distinct reality.
Even if living in such a world feels out of reach, and even if we slip back into our superficial routines after Yom Kippur, we must strive to understand with even greater intensity – how can we nevertheless be shayach to a higher ideal? How can we maintain a shayachus that drives our avodah throughout the entire year?
To achieve this, we must identify our points of connection—our shayachus—and let them challenge us. For instance, someone strong in bein adam l’chaveiro shouldn’t settle for offering mere support or advice to a friend. They should recognize that another person is an entire world, deserving deeper thought and care beyond simple support or advice. By this, we elevate this shayachus, and the more it is elevated, we gradually abandon our mundane and superficial world and approach a more exalted one.
