By Brianna Fowler

Yom Kippur: Lev 16:1-34

I want to focus on one line this from the reading this week “ 6. Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house.”When we think of what we are atoning for this year I think that it important to look back at this text and remember that we are not only responsible for atoning what we have done but what our “household” has done. When I think of my household I think of my community.

What have we done this year that we need to reflect on? The question is hard enough when we just ask it of ourselves. When we look at ourselves as a much larger community and system that goes through this reevaluation process we are asked to think deeper.What are we, the Jewish people, choosing to do to make this world a better place? Take a look: War happening all over the world, basic needs and security not being something everyone has, and hate is still embedded in most communities.

Have we given all of ourselves to the things we claim are important? Do we keep ourselves morally accountable to how we want to see the world around us?

It is important and unique that we choose to be a part of a community where we work together and support one another to create and live within our values. It is also important to take the time to rethink, evaluate, apologize and allow room for growth. This year think not only for yourself or for your household, think about this day as a day to reflect how all people treat each other, and relate to each other’s differences.

This day of cleansing allows for us to imagine the possibilities with a clean slate in front of us. For me, this cleansing process is important for me to start by forgiving myself, for maybe not being the best version of my myself or for falling short of the person I strive to be. In addition, it is a space for me to allow for new beginnings, moving forward not holding on to anger, fear, sadness or disappointment from people or experiences from the previous year. This is an important step to really creating a clean slate for the new year. To allow ourselves to really feel cleansed moving forward.

Regardless what you do on this day, make time to think about what this cleansing process means for you and what we as a community need to do in the coming year to be better.