Yom Kippur 5784
- Torah Tavlin
- Oct 11, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 7
ויאמר אליהם שאוני והטילני אל הים וישתק הים מעליכם ... (מפטיר יונה א-יב)
In the final year of his life, the Mashgiach of Chevron Yeshivah, R’ Leib Chasman zt”l, was greatly weakened from fasting on Yom Kippur, and immediately upon the conclusion of Neilah, he left the yeshivah to walk home. There were still a few minutes left until the fast would end, and a minyan of talmidim accompanied him to his home.
As they sat together in his home waiting until the time to daven Maariv, the Mashgiach said over the following:
“In Maftir Yonah, we find that the Navi Yonah told the sailors on the ship, ‘Lift me up, and cast me into the sea.’ One might ask: why did Yonah have to say, ‘Lift me up’ - it would have sufficed for him to say, ‘Cast me into the sea.’? But Yonah wanted to accentuate the moment they lifted him up to emphasize the importance of even one final second of life. We have but a few minutes left of this holiest of all days, Yom Kippur. Let us not waste them!”
For forty days - from Rosh Chodesh Elul until the conclusion of Yom Kippur - each and every Jew is striving toward the ultimate goal of complete repentance and drawing himself closer to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. This is what we yearn and strive for - to do everything in our power to fulfill this special and crucial desire. On Yom Kippur, as we conclude Neilah and look ahead toward the night when we can break our fast and go back to our regular lives, it behooves us to remember that those last few minutes are precious. Do teshuvah - even up to the very last minute!