Yom Kippur.....and Eliezer Ben Yehuda

Leviticus 16: 29 And it shall be a statute for ever unto you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and shall do no manner of work, the home-born, or the stranger that dwells among you. 30 For on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before the L-rd. 31 It is a Sabbath of solemn rest unto you, and you shall afflict your souls; it is a statute for ever.

The above three verses of scripture, part of the Torah reading for Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) provide the basis of the holy day, which begins at sundown Wednesday night. It is a 25-hour day of fasting and prayer when we delve into our souls, determine to right the wrongs we have committed, and gain forgiveness from G-d. It is the most important day of the Jewish year.

Here in Israel, there are no radio or television broadcasts, the airports are shut down, there is no public transportation, and all shops, restaurants, and businesses are closed – by law. Beyond those state-enforced restrictions, it is considered bad form to eat in public on Yom Kippur or drive a motor vehicle (other than ambulances and emergency vehicles). At sundown Wednesday, a holy silence will envelop the Land. Stephanie and I will be in Jerusalem, where it has been our custom to spend the holy day, and we will break our fast (G-d willing) at sundown Thursday, at the Western Wall of the Temple, where soldiers who have been on duty during the holy day will break the fast with those who have come to worship.

Leviticus 16:29-31 is a good description of Yom Kippur in Israel today, with one exception. Our calendar tells us the holy day falls NOT "on the seventh month…" but, the first month, "on the tenth day…" for the Jewish calendar we employ today is not the one used in Biblical times. Once in exile, we adopted the Babylonian calendar and continue to use it today.

Eliezer Ben Yehuda (1858-1922) is the man for whom the famous street in Jerusalem is named as well as the who is credited with reviving the Hebrew language. He came to Jerusalem in the 19^th century insisting that he (and, later, his wife and children) would only speak Hebrew. They were reviled by their neighbors and, for years, spoke to no one. It was Ben Yehuda who authored the monumental sixteen-volume Dictionary of the Hebrew Language.

Ben Yehuda was a Hebrew hero, but his attempt to change the Hebrew calendar was not as successful as his resurrection of the Hebrew language. Ben Yehuda didn't like counting the years since the creation of the world. He thought we should count the years since the end of Jewish independence in the Land (and he dated that as the year 68, the year the Roman destruction of Judea began). According to Ben Yehuda's reckoning of the years, this New Year would be 1940, not 5769.

Ben Yehuda's counting of the years caught on with a few. Authors Nachum Sokolov and Heinrich Graetz employed it, as did some others. But his idea was ignored by most people. Near the end of his life, Ben Yehuda came up with another idea: counting from the Balfour Declaration (in 1917). No one but he used this new system, but if you visit his grave on the Mt. of Olives today, you will note that he died on the 26^th of Kislev, in the year 6 of the Balfour Declaration. However we count it, may this be a year of blessing and peace. And may we all be inscribed in the Book of Life for a year of health and sweetness.

Rabbi Jeff Kahn