Yom Kippur and the Four Letter Name of God
As part of the religious decorations in many synagogues around the world there is found the following verse from Psalms ( 16:8 ): “I put God before me at all times.” In Kabbalah this verse is interpreted to mean that the essential four letter name of God appears in the form and process of every aspect of reality and is used as a model through which we understand the Divine, as it manifests itself in all areas of life.
For example, the four letters of God’s name - yod, heh, and vav, heh - form the words we use in Hebrew for the passage of time: past (heh, yod, heh,) present (heh, vav, heh) and future (yod, heh, yod, heh.) The aspect of time when added to the three coordinates of space make up the four dimensions of perceptible reality as taught by Einstein. Many other aspects of time, space and material reality are based on the number four as well, such as the four seasons (autumn, winter, spring and summer,) the four cardinal directions (north, south, east and west), the four basic elements (fire, earth, water and air), the four basic forces of the universe (gravity, electromagnetic, the strong nuclear force and the weak nuclear force,) the four states of matter (solid, liquid, gas and active combustion) the four aspects of creation (inanimate, vegetable, animal and human) etc…
In addition to the physical universe, the four letters of God’s name manifest throughout the spiritual worlds as well. In Kabbalah we are taught that there are four worlds encompassing all levels of created reality, from the spiritual to the physical: Atzilut - the world of emanation; Briah - the world of creation; Yetzirah - the world of formation and Assiyah - the world of action.
A beautiful allusion to the four letters of God’s name is found in four major components of the holiday of Yom Kippur. The yod, the first letter of God’s name, numerically equals ten, corresponding to the date of Yom Kippur, the tenth of Tishrei, and the culmination of the ten days of repentance. An additional correspondence relates to Moses bringing down from Mt. Sinai the second tablets of the law with the ten commandments on Yom Kippur.
The first heh of God’s name numerically equals five, corresponding to the five prayer services of Yom Kippur. We pray three prayer services daily and four times on Shabbat and holidays. The only time of the year we pray five prayer services is on Yom Kippur. This further relates to the five levels of soul (nefesh, ruach, neshama, chaya and yechida,) of which the fifth one, yechida, the super-conscious level of soul, is more accessible on Yom Kippur than any other time of the year.
The third letter of God’s name, the vav, numerically equals six, corresponding to the six divisions of the Torah reading of the day. This is also an unique aspect of Yom Kippur, as it is the only time of the year there is such a division. The number six in Kabbalah relates to the six cardinal emotional characteristics within a person. On Yom Kippur we attempt to rectify and seek forgiveness, especially for the mistakes and shortcomings we have in these areas of our lives. The letter vav in Kabbalah also symbolizes sexual energy. This is reflected by the fact that the Torah reading of the afternoon service of Yom Kippur deals exclusively with this topic.
The final letter in God’s four letter name, the final heh, numerically equals five, corresponding to the five prohibitions of the day: eating, drinking, anointing with oil, wearing leather shoes and marital relations.
The above example is but one of an almost infinite number of ways we can see the four letter name of God reflected in creation. The more we learn of these correspondences, the more we come to appreciate the deeper meaning of “I place God before me at all times.”
Going to the Mikveh Before Yom Kippur
Although immersion in a mikveh, a ritual bath before Yom Kippur is not mentioned specifically in the Torah, it is an ancient custom instituted by the prophets and continued universally to this day. It is mentioned in the Shulchan Orech, the basic code of law for all Jews. It is customary for not only men and women to immerse, but even boys and girls under the age of Bar and Bat Mitzvah.
In general, immersion in a mikveh represents purity, rebirth and returning to a more pristine state, all of whose themes are included in Yom Kippur. Going to the mikveh, dressing in white, not eating, and praying virtually the entire day raises us to a much higher level of purity and spirituality. Immersing in the mikveh, is a very tangible return to the womb experience. This idea connects us to the deeper meaning of the Hebrew word for repentance (teshuvah), which also means to return, in this case to our pure Divine essence and to a deeper relationship with God.
The root of the word mikveh means “hope.” Although Yom Kippur is certainly a serious and awesome day, the Mishnah says it was one of the most joyous days of the year. After ten days of intense prayer, meditation and introspection, each person is full of hope in anticipating the joy of God’s forgiveness and atonement. One of the worst feeling in the world is to feel you blew it and there is no way to fix things up. Yom Kippur, similar to a mikveh, should feel like pure, healing waters flowing over us, washing us completely clean. In fact, the prayers of Yom Kippur mention repeatedly the image of pure waters. Going to the mikveh prior to Yom Kippur helps prepare us physically and psychologically for the experience to follow.
The Neilah Prayer on Yom Kippur
Neilah is the fifth and final prayer of Yom Kippur. On an ordinary day we pray three times - evening, morning and afternoon. On Shabbat, holidays, and Rosh Chodesh we have an additional fourth prayer, musaf. Only on Yom Kippur is there a fifth prayer.
Neilah means “locking” and therefore indicates the close of the ten days of judgement. Having the gate locked in front of us is a jarring image, one that is meant to motivate us to intensify our petitions before it is too late. One of the Chassidic Rebbes taught a gentler image of the closing of the gates. It is as if God says to each individual: During these awesome ten days we became so close, therefore I want to grant you a private audience. So please come in and close the gate behind you. In other words we are inside the gate, not outside! There is a subtle, paradoxical allusion to this due to the fact that the ark is actually kept open the entire prayer, another unique aspect of Neilah.
The image of being on the “inside” actually symbolizes the very nature of Neilah. We are taught that there are five levels of soul: nefesh, the “animal” soul; ruach, the emotional aspect of man; neshamah, the intellectual component; chaya, the bridge between the conscious and superconscious soul and yechidah, the place where the human soul unites with its Divine origin.
The yechidah, the fifth and highest level of soul, is manifest through pure faith, sincere and complete devotion and the will to sacrifice all for God. Neilah activates this most elevated aspect of man. It is the culminating and defining moment when we gather all our inner forces one last time to express the deepest longings of our being before our Creator.
Yom Kippur, which literally means the Day of Atonement, is mentioned explicitly for the first time in Leviticus. Throughout its description in the Torah the idea of atonement is repeated continually, ending with the words: “And it shall be an everlasting statute to you, to make atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year.”
Along with a detailed description of the service of the High Priest in the Temple on this holy day, the Torah commands us to “afflict” our souls. The oral tradition explains that to “afflict” the soul means not eating or drinking, not anointing the skin with oil, not wearing leather shoes and not engaging in marital relations. Abstaining from these five physical actions separates us from the needs of the body and instead we concentrate solely on the soul and spiritual matters.
Though the actual day is not mentioned in the written Torah, it is explained in the oral tradition that Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the second tablets containing the ten commandments on Yom Kippur. This symbolized God forgiving the Jewish people after the terrible sin of the golden calf, which caused Moses to break the first tablets. Therefore, the first Yom Kippur in the desert, which preceded the laws given in Leviticus, was a day of great joy, forgiveness and atonement. This energy is impressed upon all subsequent Yom Kippurs.
Worshipping the golden calf represents the ultimate perversion of physicality while “afflicting” the soul rectifies this misuse of the material world. Although today we “afflict” our souls, it is ultimately a day of great joy for what feels better than to receive forgiveness, atonement and the chance to begin anew.
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