Erev Yom Kippur: The Call to Prophetic Action
We have arrived at the concluding day of Aseret Y’mei T’shuvah, the ‘ten days of return’ that began on Rosh Ha-Shanah. T’shuvah is often translated as ‘repentance’, but the Hebrew encompasses so much more. As we reflect on the past year, and in particular, on the hurts and wrongs we have inflicted, and take steps to make amends, we also embark on a process that involves returning to ourselves and to others, and returning to the path of our lives. Rather than take us back to where we were, the process enables us to move forwards. When we return to the path of our lives, we find that we are further along.
The concluding day of the ten-day t’shuvah process has just begun. Observance of Yom Kippur is not a substitute for our engagement in the process prior to Yom Kippur. Our sages taught:[1]
[For] transgressions between a person and God [Ha-Makom], Yom Kippur atones; [however, for] transgressions between one person and another, Yom Kippur does not atone until they appease the other person.
But what if we haven’t done what we were supposed to do for the past nine days? What then are we doing here? Many of us may ask those questions. But there is only really one question we have to ask and respond to on this final tenth day: Are we prepared to acknowledge our failures, confess our misdeeds, and resolve to change our ways? Yom Kippur is a day etched in humility and renunciation. We cannot do anything now to change the past, so we must let it go and with it the unfinished business of the year we have left behind. But before we begin again, we are summoned to immerse ourselves completely in a day that the sages referred to in Aramaic, simply, as Yoma, ‘The Day’. Yoma, ‘The Day’ that is set apart from all other days of the year. The singularity of ‘The Day’ is expressed in signs and rituals. Traditionally, everything is white, the blank colour of death: the ark cover, scroll covers, the cloth that covers the reading desk. And beyond the sacred accoutrements, it is customary for the congregation as well as the service leaders to wear white, in particular, to wear the kittle, the ‘night-dress’-like garment that clothes those who have died. In an important sense, Yom Kippur is a day out of life; devoid of all the usual signs of life, including nourishment.
But Yoma, ‘The Day’ is much more than a day marked by absences. Yom Kippur is a day of disruption; a day that disrupts the rhythm of our everyday lives. In some respects, it is like a major demonstration on the streets that blocks thoroughfares, halts traffic, and brings a city to a standstill. The comparison seems completely inappropriate, until we delve deeper. The purpose of a demonstration is to stop people in their tracks, to obstruct the usual comings and goings of business as usual. To what purpose? To deliver a message loud and clear. Yom Kippur is like that. The purpose of Yoma, ‘The Day’ that disrupts the usual pulse and flow of our lives is to deliver a core message.
What is that message? Fortunately, despite the blanket of whiteness that envelopes ‘the day’ and its apartness from all other days, Yoma broadcasts its message on every page of the machzor and in the Torah and haftarah readings. But the message is complex, expressed in so many different ways, it is difficult to discern. Is it about our individual weaknesses and frailties? Is it the reminder of our mortality? Is it the restatement of the covenant between the Eternal One and the people Israel? Is it the summons to make confession? Is it the promise of forgiveness? The message of Yoma is all these things and more. And ultimately, the ‘more’ concerns not so much ‘the day’ itself, but the day after. We are here today to make a difference to tomorrow. The core message of the day is to stop repeating our habitual tropes and mistakes, our excuses and prevarications, and recommit ourselves to the covenantal task of putting the ethical teachings of our sacred texts into practice.
The clearest statement of that message can be found in the Torah and haftarah portions that we will read in the morning and afternoon. The passages from Deuteronomy chapters 29 and 30, remind us that the covenant made with our ancestors is also made with us, and also that presented with stark choices, we have the power to choose how we will act, for good or ill. The passages from Leviticus 19 make it clear that our relationship with God is lived out in how we conduct our relationships with others, in particular, how we treat the vulnerable and the marginal in our midst. The morning and afternoon haftarot speak in very different voices. The morning haftarah from Isaiah 58 declares that our ritual observance of Yom Kippur is meaningless if we do not challenge slavery, persecution, destitution and poverty. The Book of Jonah read as the afternoon haftarah, tells the story of a reluctant prophet, and a tyrannical monarch who repents, offering the reassurance that Divine forgiveness is available to anyone who sincerely changes their ways, even if they have committed the most heinous crimes.
The themes of all these texts concern not, how we have acted in the past, but how we will act in the future. Yoma, ‘the day’ apart from the every-day, devoid of the clutter and distractions of our day-to-day lives, offers an intensive training in ethical action. But of course, in the past two years, our day-to-day lives have not just followed the usual rhythms. For most of us, our consciousness has been dominated by events in Israel-Palestine, in particular, the horrors perpetrated by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel’s retaliatory war against Hamas, with its devastating impact on the people of Gaza. In the context of this ongoing catastrophe, Yom Kippur offers: an oasis away from the searing images that flash across our screens; a space to reflect; a framework of meaning; spiritual sustenance; and, above all, ethical teachings to guide us as we try to navigate a path ahead.
Back in January, overwhelmed by the horrors of the impact of ceaseless war in Gaza on the civilian population, and the continuing captivity of the remaining hostages, I felt completely powerless. What could I do? What could we do? The voices of our prophetic heritage were haunting me. I realised that we must reclaim Prophetic Judaism with its roots in the teachings of the prophets, those God-inspired individuals, who spoke ‘Truth to Power’,[2] and called out injustice; who addressed, not just the people, but very pointedly, the rulers of their day. The prophets demonstrated two key aspects of the prophetic task: to act on behalf of the poor, homeless, persecuted, vulnerable and marginal; and to call out one’s own people.
The first chapter of the Book of Isaiah could not be clearer. The opening verse sets the scene:
The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzzaiah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezikiah, Kings of Judah.
Isaiah goes on to present a searing critique of what he bewails as ‘a sinful nation, of people laden with iniquity. A seed of evil-doers that deal corruptly; they have forsaken the Eternal, they have spurned the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away backwards’ (1:4). And in the midst of his condemnation, the prophet makes it clear what is needed to put things right (1:17-18a):
Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, put away your evil doings from before My eyes, cease to do evil. / Learn to do good; seek justice, defend the oppressed
Have these words ever rung as powerfully in our ears as they do today? The status quo across the world – politically, economically, ecologically – with compounded devastating impacts on the poor, the homeless, and the persecuted, on those who are trapped in conflict zones, on the vulnerable and the marginal, is leading the entire planet to disaster. We need to hold our leaders to account. We need to hold our communities to account. We need to hold ourselves to account.
Teachings of justice demanding the practice of justice are at the heart of the Torah. The entire rationale for the liberation of the slaves was that the people formed in the covenant at Sinai would serve the Eternal, and create a society rooted in those teachings.[3]
According to the Talmudic sages, a sage, chacham, literally, a ’wise one’ is ‘greater than a prophet’ and ‘wisdom is greater than prophecy’ (Bava Batra 12a 14). And so, in their view the age of prophecy had been replaced by their new age of learning. Nevertheless, when Progressive Judaism emerged in Germany in the wake of emancipation two-hundred years ago, the founders looked to the prophets for inspiration, and it is evident in our own day that prophetic voices are now speaking loud and clear across the Jewish world. The prophetic voices of Rabbis for Human Rights in Israel[4] and Israel’s Human Rights Watch, B’tselem.[5] The prophetic voices of all those Israelis, who work together with Palestinians for a better future for both peoples in projects such as the Parents Circle Families Forum,[6] Combatants for Peace,[7] Women Wage Peace,[8] and Standing Together, the grassroots organisation of Jewish and Palestinian Israelis committed to ‘peace, equality and social justice’.[9]
Beyond the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we can also see prophetic Jewish voices being raised here in Britain concerning other major humanitarian and global concerns, most notably in the work of the human rights project, René Cassin,[10] the social justice project, HIAS-JCORE,[11] and Eco-Judaism.[12]
Prophetic Jewish voices are also increasingly evident within Progressive Judaism in Britain. Since October 7, 2023, Progressive Jews for Justice in Israel/Palestine, a homegrown initiative led by members of this congregation and Leicester Progressive, has attracted more and more support from those who are members of Liberal and Reform synagogues.[13] More recently, at Shavu’ot, a group of Progressive clergy launched Voices for Prophetic Judaism with an online Tikkun Leil Shavu’ot, study programme.[14] We have started gathering materials on our website, where anyone interested can access resources to support prophetic thinking and action, including prophetic biblical, talmudic, mediaeval, modern and contemporary teachings, sermons and articles,[15] as well as sign-posting for organisations that act as pathways to prophetic action.[16] Just before Rosh Ha-Shanah, we released the PDF of a booklet for the Aseret Y’mei T’shuvah, the ‘ten days of return’, with contributions from nine rabbis and one cantor.[17] Perhaps, you have already seen it, and found thoughts and teachings that echo your concerns. We want to encourage everyone to find their prophetic voice, and to engage in prophetic action, so we can all contribute to the work of pursuing justice, peace, and equality, establishing human rights, and ensuring a sustainable future for the planet.
Yoma, The Day has only just begun. Long hours lie ahead of us. May the liturgy and the scriptural texts that guide us through this unique moment beyond the routine of our daily lives, help us to reflect on our misdeeds of the past year, acknowledge our failures, and inspire us for the prophetic tasks that lie ahead.
Kein y’hi ratzon – May this be our will. And let us say: Amen.
Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah
Edinburgh Liberal Jewish Congregation
Erev Yom Kippur
1st October 2025 – 10th Tishri 5786
Mishnah Yoma 8:9. ↑
Exodus 19:3-6 ↑
https://voicesforpropheticjudaism.uk/ https://voicesforpropheticjudaism.uk/tikkun-leyl-2025/ ↑
https://voicesforpropheticjudaism.uk/hhd2025/ ↑