by Avigail Simmonds Rosten - CCJ Programme Manager

As Rabbi Abbahu said: In the place where penitents stand, even the full-fledged righteous do not stand, as it is stated: “Peace, peace upon him who is far and him who is near.” Peace and greeting is extended first to him who is far, the penitent, and only thereafter is peace extended to him who is near, the full-fledged righteous.
(Talmud, Tractate Berakhot, 34b)

The message of Teshuva (repentance) during this period of the Jewish Year, is one which best translates to ‘return’. To repent is thus not to move forward or move on, but to revert, to our natural state of closeness with G-d.

The Talmud in Tractate Megilla, 31a, instructs that:

On Yom Kippur they read the portion of “After the death” (Leviticus 16), and they read as the haftora the portion of “For thus says the High and Lofty One” (Isaiah 57:14–58:14).

The reason for the former reading is intuitive; it describes in great detail the service in the Temple carried out by the High Priest on The Day of Atonement. However, the Haftorah (the accompanying reading from Prophets), is an interesting choice.

The passage contains the following question:
Is such the fast I desire,
A day for men to starve their bodies?
Is it bowing the head like a bulrush
And lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Do you call that a fast,
A day when the LORD is favourable?
(Isaiah 58:5)

On a day which is dedicated to fasting, atonement and penitence, what role does this reading have? Why did the Sages choose this passage to accompany the reading of the temple service – which serves as the prototype for our prayer services today?

The answer lies in the contrasting nature of the passage. The text forces its listeners to dive below the expressions of fast into the depth of essence – which ought to define a day such as Yom Kippur. Isaiah is not a mirroring of the Torah portion, but a supplement, a complementary perspective which ensures the fast of Yom Kippur is imbued with the intentions and meanings of a true display of remorse and dedication to change. The texts probes our ritual, it disenchants our fasts, and asks us what our intentions and actions truly expose. Isaiah redirects our vision outward to our deeds which build a society of G-dliness, which pursue or neglect our purposes, which make us worthy or unworthy of forgiveness.

No, this is the fast I desire:
To unlock fetters of wickedness,
And untie the cords of the yoke
To let the oppressed go free;
To break off every yoke.

It is to share your bread with the hungry,
And to take the wretched poor into your home;
When you see the naked, to clothe him,
And not to ignore your own kin.
(Isaiah 58:6-7)

If we believe our fast to mean only our renunciation of sustenance, and not our obligation to sustain others, we have failed to give G-d the fast required. If we believe Yom Kippur to entail only the afflictions we inflict on ourselves, and not the command to relieve the afflicted, we have misunderstood the resonance of ritual, and failed to align the service of Yom Kippur with true servitude to G-d.

This Yom Kippur, let us heed the advice of the sages through the words of Isaiah, and allow our services to reflect our commitment to a true fast. Let us carry the message that reverting to our closeness to G-d cannot be achieved but through our relationships with others and our actions outside of the service as well as our sincerest prayer and Cheshbon Hanefesh (accounting of the soul).