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Hatikva – The Hope

On April 15, 1945, British forces liberated the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in northern Germany. Sixty-thousand prisoners were living in the camp when the troops arrived, most of them seriously ill. Thousands more lay dead and unburied on the camp grounds. Five days after the liberation, the sick and starving survivors gathered for their first Shabbat service since the fires of destruction began.

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Towards True Freedom

In the Torah portion of “Acharei “ we read the following regarding Yom Kippur:  “For on this day it shall atone for you to cleanse you. Before the Lord, you shall be cleansed from all your sins”( Vayikra/ Leviticus 16:30).

Our sages based on these words have explored the redemptive power of the actual day of Yom Kippur.In the words of the Rambam “ On yom kippur , it is the day itself that atones ..as it is written “For on this day it shall atone for you”( Mishneh Torah ,laws of repentance 1:3)

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Out Of Exile

The Jewish people are returning out of a long and painful exile. The  healing that needed to  occur has been long and arduous. It is a process that will undergo many phases and changes, just as Ezekiel prophesied regarding  the return of “the dry bones “( Ezekiel 37).These challenges and changes of our people are mirrored in the lives and journeys of each individual Jew as well. Perhaps an exploration of the rituals and challenges facing an individual in the process of return will  give us direction in understanding the challenges facing our people.

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