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The Gates of Mercy \ Yom Kippur
This week’s Torah reading discuses Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The verse states, “For on this day He shall provide atonement for you to cleanse you from all your sins, before Hashem you shall cleanse yourselves” (Vayikra 16:30).
The order of the purification process seems to be reversed! We would expect that HaShem would first expect man to “cleanse himself” and afterwards HaShem “will wash away” the impurity of his iniquities. However the verse states the opposite sequence, first it states “For on this day He shall provide atonement for you to cleanse you from all of your sins,” followed by “before HaShem you shall cleanse yourself.”
HaShem created man upright. Good and Evil is laid out equally in front of him, so that he can exercise his free will to choose Good. However, when man commits a sin, the negative side is intensified — and compromises his capacity to “choose Good.”
As a rule, man has to initiate the action in order to receive Divine assistance. In light of this, when HaShem sees that a person wants to perform repentance, he sends him Divine Assistance to help him return to the Good path.
However on Yom Kippur, when the Gates of Mercy are open, HaShem first sends His help so that the man can chose Good, even before he contemplates on repentance!
Therefore, our Yom Kippur prayer expresses, “Please HaShem, awaken Your mercy.” We beseech HaShem to send His Divine Assistance, even before we engage in repentance! HaShem responds by cleansing the impurity from our souls. The grace of HaShem restores our capacity to choose Good and perform repentance on Yom Kippur.
With this elucidation, we understand why the verse reverses the order and states, “For on this day He shall provide atonement for you to cleanse you from all your sins, before Hashem you shall cleanse yourselves.”
Let us strengthen our awareness of HaShem’s amazing compassion, especially in relationship to repentance and Yom HaKippur.
(Based on Chochmah U’Mussar of the Sabba Kadisha M’Kelm)
