Remember the day of Shabbat to sanctify it.
On Shabbat, we stop doing and start being — and to be, we must be our true selves.
Yom Kippur is called a Shabbat Shabbaton—an intense Shabbat. It’s the day we stop everything, even eating, and return to our most authentic selves.
It starts with Kol Nidrei. Though sung like a prayer, it’s actually a communal annulment of vows: we ask that vows made in anger or excitement be declared void. The annulment works retroactively because the “person” who made the vow isn’t the “same” person who asks to cancel it – the real person would not have made it. This idea sets the tone for the entire day: we stand before God, rediscover our true selves – the pure, beautiful, and good neshama, soul, disown the mistaken and hurtful egotistic acts of the past year, and find forgiveness and cleansing to go forward free to bring the Godliness we are capable of into this world.
Sometime this week, and especially on Yom Kippur, get in touch with your authentic self: During a few quiet moments, ask, “Who am I? What is the mission my neshama, soul, has been sent to this world to do? What is the light I am meant to shine?” Throw everything else off and commit to taking some real steps to live from that true self.
Set your intention for the day by reciting The Aseret Affirmation: Ten for Ten first thing in the morning.
Wishing you safety and strength,
Nitzan Bergman