Yom Kippur 5784

by Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields

In the days leading up to Yom Kippur, we are supposed to be engaging in self reflection – cheshbon hanefesh – and analyzing how we want to change. We need to ask for forgiveness from our fellow persons. We must see how we have missed the mark. We must take personal responsibility for changing our actions and improving our behavior. The Torah reading we read on Yom Kippur morning is about the scapegoat that is sent out as a way to send off our sins – onto this goat. It is all too common to see scapegoats in everyday life; the issue, or person, that gets blamed when things do not go the way they were supposed to go. To truly change, one needs to take personal responsibility and not blame the scapegoat. Sometimes the responsibility is not just personal, but a communal responsibility as well. We need to look to each other, to support each other in changing and improving, and not just blame and use others as scapegoats. Together as a community we can improve, and learn what needs to be changed, to make 5785 a better year. Am Yisrael Chai!  The People of Israel Live!