THE BIG IDEA

One of the explanations for the fast of Yom Kippur is that in keeping with the profound sanctity of the day, we liken ourselves to angels who neither eat nor drink. Some go so far as to explain the white kittle as the dress of the angels and the fact that we stand so much on Yom Kippur has to do with the single-leggedness of angels. They actually do have a leg to stand on, but only one, and it has no joints, so they are forever standing. Just thinking about it makes my feet sore.

Nonetheless, I love this explanation, which is really odd because I don’t think, in my heart of hearts, that I actually believe in angels of any sort. But I do believe that some people demonstrate a quality of goodness and selflessness in their lifetimes which is angelic in nature. Even more importantly, I believe that human beings ought to do what angels are supposed to do which is to be the messengers of God. In Hebrew, the term for angel is malakh, and malakh is a messenger. So if on Yom Kippur we are meant to be angels, what exactly is God’s message we are to be delivering?

God’s message at this time of year is that of a poorly run airline which gets you to where you need to be, but sadly, not your baggage. In this case, however, the loss of baggage is a boon to you and all those around you. You are going to make it into the New Year, but without all the baggage you’ve been schlepping around for years—the anger, the frustrations, the disappointments, the resentments, the cynicism and the grudges. Lost. Misplaced. Disappeared. Irretrievable. We can enter the New Year with an opportunity to focus our energies on productive growth, our thoughts turned to the future, not the past.

OK—there are angels. But not in heaven. The angels are here with us on earth, in a multitude of personalities who refuse to let negative energy dominate their lives. The message of God is a big one and yet so simple. Forgive others their sins against you, and you can live freer and more positively focused than ever before in your life.