Parshat Netzavim: Accomplishment of Yamim Noraim

The non clearly defined rules of Parshat Hakel have led to much debate among rishonim. Once every seven years on Sukkot, following Shmitta, some Torah portion is read in front of some number of people. One of the points of debate is why specifically on Sukkot. The Abarbanel makes the argument that following the immersive spiritual experience of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur the Jewish people are now in a very high spiritual state. It is the opportune time to gather them—all of them—to hear the Torah being read. The emphasis on ensuring there is a receptive audience is especially significant when we consider what the Abarbanel believes was read by Hakel. As opposed to focusing on the dramatic episodes that occur in Berishit, Shmot or Bamidbar, the Abarbanel instead assumes that they only focused on the repetitive and dry Sefer Devarim. It might then have been imperative that the audience was as receptive as possible, to that end it was specifically read after the Yamim Noraim.

For fear of foreshadowing a Sukkot drasha, the attitude expressed in the Abarabanel presents a very high bar of what we must accomplish over the Yamim Noraim. While we obviously will not have the opportunity to experience a Hakel, we must put ourselves in the framework ready to accept a Hakel.

So let us spend some time thinking about the experience of the Yamim Noraim, specifically on the avodah that was performed on Yom Kippur. It is fascinating that the description of the work to be accomplished on the holiest of day provided in the Torah is found in two parshiyot. In Parshat Pinchas the Torah describes among the musafim brought on other chagim, the musaf of Yom Kippur. Parshat Achrai Mot on the other hand describes the processes through which the Kohen Gadol immerses himself (seven times) throughout the day while switching the from the Royal Gold clothes he generally wears to the simple white garments he adorns on Yom Kippur.

The Ramban argues that these two parshiyot highlight that there are two very distinct themes to the day. One is that of any other chag, we bring the karbon musaf and celebrate that it is a holiday. It is therefore discussed in parshat Pinchas along with all of the other Karbanot Musafim brough on every other holiday. This also has practical ramifications in the Avodat Yom Hakipporim. The Ramban maintains that the Kohen Gadol only needed to do the Avoda that was unique to Yom Kippur, namely what was mentioned in Parshat Pinchas. Parshat Achrai Mot that describes the unique avoda of Yom Kippur can only be done by the Kohen Gadol.

The Rambam, however, has a fundamentally different position. He maintains that all the Avoda of Yom Hakippurim—even those that were done on any other holiday—must be done exclusively by the Kohen Gadol. This view underscores the Rambam’s view on a fundamental perspective of Yom Kippur. On the holiest day of the year, the avodah cannot be split into the “regular” work and the “holy” work. The entire day demands excess holiness. All parts of the day are part of the unique nature of the avodat Yom Hakippurim.

Rav Rosensweig takes this one step further. He argues that the Rambam’s position reveals our approach to the significance of Yom Hakippurim. Yom Kippur is not simply a day that we work up to, enjoy its spirituality and then return to our daily lives. Yom Kippur is a totally unique day that informs how we must consider the rest of the year. A sole day of spirituality, devoid of any physical pleasures and focused solely on holiness informs how we live all days of our lives. While we may be confused by our daily tasks involving going to work, eating, playing with our children or spending time with our spouse, all parts of our lives are infused with spirituality. The exclusive focus on spirituality on Yom Kippur is the spirituality that infuses are every day lives.

We may argue then, that this is the message of Hakel per the Abarbanel. Once we have prepared ourselves spiritually on the holiest of days we are finally prepared to join together, learn together during Hakel on Sukkot and then be prepared for transitioning to our every day lives. This is what we must work on in the coming weeks. We must prepare to engage in the holiest of days so that spirituality will influence the rest of our year.

So what do we do next? We must ask ourselves how do we practically prepare for this day. We can all reflect on our own lives on how we feel we may best prepare but I would like to offer a suggestion for us as a community. Starting tonight, every day we will say slichot, a series of prayers that are meant to prepare us to be receptive for the experience of the Yamim Noraim. To that end, let us allow the slichot to have the intended effect. The last slicha said is done verse by verse, with our chazzan leading us as we all say the prayer together. The night before, or even just a few minutes before, let us all read the translation of the communal slicaha together. This one small step, one that will hopefully just be one of many, will help us prepare for the experience of Yamim Noraim to the fullest extent.