Yom Kippur: It’s one of the most significant days of the whole year. We go into this day hoping for some weighty things… forgiveness, a chance to be a better version of ourselves. So it’s confusing that the Torah doesn’t give Yom Kippur any big buildup at all. Instead, we get a long description of the High Priest’s service in the holiest parts of the Tabernacle… and only at the end do we find out when this service is supposed to happen: Every year on Yom Kippur. Oh, and by the way, “on this day atonement shall be made for you, to cleanse you of all your sins.” Wait a minute, that sure sounds like the main point! So why didn’t that come first? Why does the Torah seem to introduce Yom Kippur in such a topsy-turvy way? 

In this episode, Rabbi Fohrman digs into the Torah’s presentation of this day. It’s about forgiveness, all right… but before that, it’s about something else. Something that brings us to the true source, the ultimate way to achieve atonement and a new beginning.

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