The High Holy Days

By Joseph Gray, Canadian Director

At this time of year, Jewish people around the world enter into the most solemn and holy season in the Jewish calendar. Known as the Days of Awe, these ten days begin with Rosh HaShanah (the New Year and the Biblical Feast of Trumpets) and ends with Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). The Days of Awe are a time of personal reflection, repentance and turning to God, culminating with Yom Kippur, a solemn day of fasting and prayers of repentance.

A Good Question
Since the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE (AD), the rabbis have taught that personal prayer, repentance and good deeds are sufficient to replace the biblical sacrifices required on the Day of Atonement. A good question we should ask as Jewish people is whether this rabbinic explanation is consistent with the instructions found in the Torah.

In Leviticus 17 we read, “I have given you the blood to make atonement.”

In chapter 16 of the same book, we read God’s original instructions to Israel concerning Yom Kippur. On this most holy day, the high priest would enter into the Holy of Holies to intercede on behalf of the people of Israel. The high priest could only enter into this holy space once a year on Yom Kippur. Before entering the Holy of Holies, the high priest had to prepare himself by ritual washing in the mikvah and personal sin sacrifices to atone for his and his family’s own sin.

This is important to remember. God gave Yom Kippur to Israel not out of His judgment for sin, but out of His deep grace, mercy and love for Israel.

In Leviticus 10, Nadab and Abihu, Aaron’s sons, had just been destroyed by fire from heaven because they entered into the Holy Place in a casual way. A few chapters later, God gave Israel the Day of Atonement as a sign of a greater atonement yet to come. God acted in mercy to restore the broken fellowship between Himself and Israel.

A Temporary Solution
The atonement sacrifices required on Yom Kippur could, however, only be temporary solutions, since the high priest himself was a sinner in need of continual atonement along with the people of Israel. The Yom Kippur sacrifices were also imperfect sacrifices, a sign of a more perfect sacrifice yet to come.

In addition to the special sacrifices on the Day of Atonement, the Bible commands that two goats be set apart for Yom Kippur. Lots were drawn and one goat was sacrificed for Israel. The other goat was chosen for Azzazel. Upon this second goat the high priest laid his hands and confessed the sins of the children of Israel. Then the goat was driven into the wilderness to die. According to tradition, a red ribbon was tied around the neck of the Azzazel goat, symbolic of the sins of Israel. Again, according to tradition, each year at Yom Kippur the ribbon miraculously turned white as a sign that Israel’s sins had been forgiven by God. Interestingly, this same tradition records that the Yom Kippur ribbon stopped turning white during the last generation that worshipped at the Temple.

The destruction of the Jerusalem temple by the Romans in 70 CE (AD) was and continues to be a traumatic moment in the history of the Jewish people. How could worship and atonement continue now that the temple had been destroyed?

As I mentioned earlier, many of our rabbis reached one conclusion. Prayer, repentance and good works, they taught, would now replace the temple sacrifices.

A Permanent Solution
But another voice arose at the same time, a voice that, perhaps, was more consistent with what the Hebrew Bible and the God of history had been saying all along. The writer of the Book of Hebrews, a Jewish follower of the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), encouraged the scattered exiles of Israel with these words:

“We have a better sacrifice and a better High Priest!”

Yeshua, Who is like us in every way, yet with out sin, offered His life as a complete and final atoning sacrifice. He is both the perfect sacrifice and Israel’s perfect High Priest. He lives to intercede for us before the throne of glory. Unlike the ancient temple sacrifices, His sacrifice does not need to be repeated each Yom Kippur. That’s a Yom Kippur that we can believe in and even celebrate with joy!

May you and your loved ones, be blessed with a sweet New Year and the assurance that your name has been written in the Lamb’s (Yeshua’s) Book of Life.