Word Nerd Wednesday - Yom Kippur

Please welcome Adele-Alys back to My Messy Desk and she shares her unique perspective with us on this Jewish holiday celebrated today.

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YOM KIPPUR- Day of Atonement

“In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month,

you shall afflict your souls, and you shall not do any work …

For on that day he shall provide atonement for you to cleanse you from all your sins before the LORD.” Leviticus 16:29-30

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Picture it-a long lazy afternoon in the sunlight with that sense of well-being that only comes when everything is in order and you know things have been done right. Then-seemingly from out of nowhere-a crash- followed swiftly by shouts of frustration or mumbled words of shame.

Panicked now-you rise from that comfortable couch and rush into the kitchen-just in time to see your 5-year-old stepping down from the chair he had pulled up to the counter. There is a glass of milk in his hand-and what’s left of the cookies and the jar that contained them-hopelessly broken on the floor.

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Okay. I relate to that story. But why tell it here? What does that have to do with either Yom Kippur-the Jewish Day of Atonement or Black Friday-the day of Jesus’ crucifixion? Just about everything!!!

First: The High Holy Days are called “high” for a very literal reason. Jews believe that the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as well as the month of returning (Elul) that precedes them- correspond to the 40 days that Moses was up on Mount Sinai taking dictation from God.

You recall the story: Moses spent a glorious 40 days worshipping God and communing with him (face to face as a friend). And he came down with a gift: two tablets on which God himself had written everything that the Hebrews could do to align themselves with God’s will. But before Moses could deliver the good news that they were loved and need never again be in doubt about whether their actions were right or wrong in God’s eyes, Moses saw and heard the revelry around the Golden Calf-and he smashed those tablets.

Infinitely merciful, God gives the Hebrews “a do-over”. So Moses treks up that “high” mountain one more time. And on one particular day , Moses comes down with the second set of tablets-the ones he wrote (by his own efforts) according to what God spoke. That was the 40th day: Yom Kippur.

Second: Just as Yom means day, Kippur (comes from the word kapporet) which figuratively means atonement but literally means covering.

Can you think of any Biblical places that involve both a sin and a “covering?” If you said Eden, you’re right. In fact the whole system of atoning for wrongdoing by blood sacrifice tracks back there.

But wait-you say-Adam and Eve didn’t sacrifice anything. No-but God did.

“But the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of (animal) skin and clothed them.”

Genesis 4:21

Where did he get those skins? Did you ever wonder? God himself sacrificed those animals. But why? Adam and Eve had already made their own garments out of fig leaves (Gen 3:7). Why did God have a problem with that?

Because it was literally fruit of the poisoned tree. The rabbis teach that the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was actually the Fig Tree. It was the original milk moustache -and Adam and Eve were literally wearing the proof and the consequences of their sin. No wonder God had to intervene.

Knowing this makes Jesus sometimes puzzling behavior during his last week of life infinitely more understandable:

“On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance, a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, May no one ever eat fruit from you again. And the disciples heard it.”

Mark 11:12-14

The dismantling of the sacrificial system began later that day as well (Mark 11:15-19). In the same way that God the Father intervened (on behalf of Adam and Eve) in Eden, His Son Jesus stepped up and laid down his life at Golgotha (on behalf of all mankind). Hereafter, “clothed in Christ” (Galatians 3:27) and covered by his supreme sacrifice, believers could look forward not simply to once-a-year mercy from the judgement seat but rather the grace of the daily forgiveness that Christ extends from the cross and the deep and abiding peace that brings.

There is this one difference between the two stories and it is major:

In the Eden (and later the Sinai) stories, the SIN THAT IS COVERED is sin against God. The sins that can be atoned for by that covering are only those sins. If a Jew has wronged another person, they must go to them directly and make amends and seek forgiveness. That is why there are those 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur- to try to build the bridges and rebuild the relationships that they have broken.

At Calvary, however, Jesus doesn’t hang between idolaters, He hangs between two thieves. Seen in this context, The covering his death provides, like his words from the Cross “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do” goes beyond making us right with God. They grant forgiveness and make us right with each other.

That, my friends, is the very definition of grace.

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The daughter of a Lutheran minister and a Catholic college professor, Adele-Alys faith life has always been a patchwork. Married to a Jewish man for 38 years, she delved deeply into his faith. It sharpened my picture of Jesus and popped my spiritual ears in ways I could not imagine.” You can connect Adele-Alys via Twitter (@morgantonrose), Pinterest, and her blog (adelealysblog.wordpress.com).