On the 10th of Tishrei, around the start of October, we will come about to the holiday of Yom Kippur. Commonly, in this world, it is a day on which we fast, on which we go pray in a synagogue and on which we ask for forgiveness from others, in case we offended them throughout the year. The body suffers a bit, we get forgiven for our sins, and we forget about it.

But on a spiritual level, as in the wisdom of Kabbalah, this is a specific day wherein we are commanded to speak about our crimes in the desire to receive – crimes to the world, to love of friends, to the group, to the Creator, to everything; and to truly think about what it means to be a criminal.

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What does Yom Kippur mean?

“Yom” means “day”, and in spirituality there is no time, but rather when we are talking about matters of time, we are talking about degrees. “Kippur” means “atonement” (alongst with “covering”, “expiating”). Thus, we can see that we refer to a degree wherein one tries to atone something, that something is covered.

Atonement implies a transgression, and that one is forgiven for this transgression but only by reconciling it; by making up for it. This is why Yom Kippur is also called both “day of repentance” and “day of judgement”. It's a day of calculation: who am I, what am I, who am I drawn to, what’s happening with me, what has happened and what do I want to happen?  

We need to feel how much we judge ourselves, and how suitable we are to reach the purpose of creation, to adhere with the Creator, and how much we are asking of Him to help us in this, to bring us closer. Simply, we should open up our eyes and hearts so we feel where we are.

There is fear that the outer ones might come into self-reception in mind and heart. This is why we must increase the awakening for repentance. Repentance means returning the desire to receive into being a desire to bestow. By this we return to adhesion with the upper source and are awarded eternal Dvekut (adhesion).

RABASH, Letter No. 23

Usually, a person doesn’t feel their inner desire, and that they need to correct it. Whilst here, we are asking the Creator to open up our hearts, and help us to understand what is inside our heart, how distant we are from the goal and to what extent we need to subjugate ourselves, to desire the correct thing.

All of these examinations, demands and corrections make Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, a very special day that allows us to deepen in these sensations.

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What do we do on Yom Kippur? And what attitude should we have on this day?

The state of Yom Kippur is at the beginning of the year, only 10 days after Rosh HaShana, meaning that it refers to a state that arises in the beginning of one’s work. Yom Kippur refers to our readiness to fulfill our purpose, and the limitations we agree to take upon ourselves for the sake of uniting with one another and uniting the whole world.

However, on the Day of Atonement our desires are not yet corrected, and therefore it is forbidden to use them. On all 5 levels of our desires (Keter, Hochma, Binah, Zeir Anpin, and Malkhut), we place a restriction (a Tzimtzum); we cannot fill ourselves. We cannot eat and drink, wash, use creams or oils, wear leather shoes, and engage in marital relations.

In this way, we stop receiving, and afterwards we will still need to move toward giving. But in order to begin giving to one’s neighbor, one must first completely restrict one’s egoistic desires, one’s intentions for personal benefit, and cease caring for oneself. A person refrains even from the desires most necessary to them.

1. One is forbidden to eat and to drink, because one should not be satisfying their will to receive with pleasures of this world. 
2. One is forbidden to wash themselves, because it is said that one should concern themselves with polishing their inner vessels, and not their outer ones.
3. One is forbidden to anoint the body with oil, because on Yom Kippur, one shouldn’t satisfy their desires for beauty and embellishment. 
4. One is forbidden to wear leather clothes, because leather refers to an attachment to the earth, which is the will to receive.
5. One is forbidden from engaging in reproductive acts, because in a state of restriction, one is not yet ready to perform a true Zivug (coupling), meaning to truly unite.

We should not complain that we cannot eat and cannot drink: Yom Kippur is a state when the desire that we need to correct is revealed and on this day, we can thus concentrate on revealing the force of separation, the force of the breaking in us, and only in regards to this force can we say that we have revealed evil. 

Then, with this evil, I can come to the Creator and demand correction from Him. The Day Of Atonement then becomes a day of joy because we reveal the ailment of egoism, my own nature that needs to be corrected. I reveal the condition, “I created the evil inclination,” and now I can ask the Creator for the Torah, which is the force to correct it, as It is written, “I [The Creator] created the evil inclination and I created the Torah as a spice, because the Light in it returns one to the Source”. 

At that point, on the one hand we are truly in a state of complete despair and lack of strength, and on the other hand we experience great joy because we can now finally cry out to the Creator asking Him to help us with the complete confidence that He will help us. 

We have this confidence because we have already checked ourselves and reached the realization that we all dwell only in evil, unable to do anything about it. But now, by virtue of the connection between us, we have the confidence that the Creator is helping us and is just waiting for this very moment, which is called “Yom Kippur”.