What Does a Soul Weigh?


As a rabbi and a Jew, the last thing I want to think about a week after Passover has ended–when I still haven’t finished putting away all the stuff–is Yom Kippur, but here we are, reading all about the ceremony that Aaron, the High Priest, would perform in order to cleanse the people of their sins. Parashat Achare Mot, which is being read this Shabbat in traditional synagogues outside of the land of Israel, outlines the pageantry and awe of the Avodah Service, which is reenacted on Yom Kippur.

But it’s not all about what the high priest would do on the people’s behalf, all of the people were required to participate through initem et nafshoteichem, afflicting your souls. This was understood by our Sages of Blessed memory to mean fasting, and then abstaining from certain other activities was included. How does refraining from eating and drinking considered to be “afflicting one’s soul”? Well, the word for “soul,” nefesh, can also be translated as “neck,” and the idea that was nothing went “below/through one’s neck” for the 25 hours of the Day of Atonement.

In his d’var Torah this week for the Academy for Jewish Religion, my friend and colleague Rabbi David Markus spoke about how the words, “afflict your souls” drove him from Judaism as a teen, and how many years later, they took on new meaning with a new understanding.

The root of the word initem is ayin-nun-heh, which can also spell “answer.” Rabbi Markus isn’t suggesting that we not fast on Yom Kippur, but that we consider how we “answer our souls.” How do we respond to our soul’s desires or troubles? What is my soul yearning for? On Yom Kippur we engage in the process of teshuva, of turning back, or repenting for past sins. We commit to learning from the past to do better in the future. We prepare for Yom Kippur with heshbon ha nefesh, “an accounting of the soul,” to prepare ourselves emotionally for the day.

We prepare for Passover by ridding our homes (cars, offices) of chametz, leavened foods. While not designed to be “spring cleaning,” removing the chametz reminds us that there are times when we can use this both literally and metaphorically for removing the heavy, fermented, leavened things in our lives that weigh us down.

As we return the Passover dishes to their places and bring back the year-round items, I pray that we can be mindful of what we’re bringing back into our lives, and what can be let go. May we answer our soul’s calling. Shabbat Shalom.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Sermons

Yom Kippur: Hope, Despair And A Shining Sun
Yom Kippur: Hope, Despair And A Shining Sun

Yom Kippur 5783 Like many of the quotes and poems that make their way into use, a poem attributed to an anonymous person in a concentration camp, or in hiding, became somewhat of an urban legend, and has often been taken out of context, as well as not accurately...

Kindness

Kol Nidre, 5783 On Rosh Hashanah, we began our prayers in the hopes of moving God, the Holy Blessed One, from kisei din, the throne or seat of judgment, to kisei rachamim, the throne or seat of compassion. Ten days later, here we are at the eve of Yom Kippur,...

Shema: Listening, Hearing and the Shofar

Rosh Hashanah 5783, Day 2 The word, “Shema.” What do you think of when you hear it? Usually, we think of “The Shema” as the verses we chant or sing from the book of Devarim, Deuteronomy, and in that context, it’s a bold theological statement. It is an idea which goes...

Latest Midrash HaZak

Kedoshim: Coming of Age in Holiness
Kedoshim: Coming of Age in Holiness

Photo and art by Rabbi Susan Elkodsi Kedoshim: Coming of Age in Holiness Rabbi Dr. Jill Hackell As I move through my 70s I find myself increasingly aware of my “senior” status in our society. Suddenly, by virtue of my age I am in a category that labels me vulnerable–I...

Parasha Vayakhel: A Mirror of the Holy Whole
Parasha Vayakhel: A Mirror of the Holy Whole

                                  Parasha Vayakhel: A Mirror of the Holy Whole Cherie Karo Schwartz  My Mom, Dotty Karo of blessed memory, was an ultimate crafter. She had a room stuffed with kaleidoscope-colored treasures she’d collected or had been gifted by...

Ki Tavo: Entering the Land and a New Age

Ki Tavo: Entering the Land and a New Age Charles Goldman This midrash speaks to me. Just as the people of Israel were about to embark on the next mega steps of their lives in the Holy Land, and Moses was intoning to them that they have “a heart to know, eyes to see,...

Latest Personal Blogs

Blessing My Bended Knees-A Poem
Blessing My Bended Knees-A Poem

This past week, I participated in a Ritualwell class with Alden Solovy on "Writing From One Word of Torah." I distilled 3 stream-of-consciousness prompts on the word "Baruch/Berekh," the root of which can mean "blessing' and "knee, into this poem. Blessing my bended...

The Eshet Hayil In Our Lives
The Eshet Hayil In Our Lives

Photo: publicdomainpictures.net The Eshet Hayil In Our Lives An email from My Jewish Learning about “A Woman of Valor” prompted me to pivot the next evening’s planned adult learning session to looking at these 22 verses from Mishlei, the Book of Proverbs. These verses...

Live Long and Prosper?
Live Long and Prosper?

By Oklahoma Heritage Association, Gaylord-Pickens Museum - Author, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25656727 Live Long and Prosper? January 5, 2022 began the third year of the seven and a half-year cycle of Daf Yomi, the practice of...

Pin It on Pinterest