“Rosh Hashanah is our day of enlightenment; Yom Kippur, our day of salvation. (Midrash Tehilim 27:1)

It makes sense to call Yom Kippur a day of salvation, but how can Rosh Hashanah, the day of judgment, when our lives and fortunes are on the line, be called a day of enlightenment?

If G-d is the epitome of endless love, why doesn’t He give us Yom Kippur (forgiveness) before Rosh Hashanah (judgment)? Then we wouldn’t need to tremble in fear at all.

The Shofar Our sages taught that the Shofar is sounded to inspire repentance and to crown G-d as king (Reb Saadya Gaon, Ta’amei Tekias Shofar). On the surface, these seem very different: people who routinely violate the King’s order are not the obvious choice to crown Him. However, upon closer examination, a new insight emerges that reconciles the two ideas.

Stop Hiding Repentance is not merely about begging forgiveness for our shortcomings. Before we can list our sins, we must reach the point of caring. Let’s face it: when we stoop to enjoy a transgression, we are not thinking of G-d. We don’t have Him in mind when we speak harshly to someone or cut corners in business. We certainly don’t have Him in mind when we walk into a casino on Yom Kippur.

At such times we think only of ourselves: how to get ahead, how to enjoy some pleasure. We block G-d out because if we let Him into our minds, our G-dly soul would not allow us to sin.

We sin for many different reasons: greed, anger, desire, habit. But regardless of the motivation, we must first block G-d out of our minds before we can go ahead with it. This is possible only because we hide behind........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)