Yom Kippur

A shiur by Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed regarding the high holidays

May I carry the medication to shul in the morning to take after the fast, or is this hachanah mekodesh lechol?

Yom Kippur, the holiest of days, has two diametrically opposed halachot. There is a strict requirement to “afflict” ourselves. On the other hand, Chazal relate great importance to eating on the day before it. R. Yehoshua ben Chananya tried to learn from the pasuk, “You [Moshe] are going to lie with your fathers, and the nation will get up and act licentiously” (Devarim 31:16) that there is resurrection of the dead (it can be read, with difficulty, that Moshe will get up) and that Hashem knows what will happen in the future. He settles at the end that the pasuk proves only the latter, but why would one consider to read the pasuk referring to resurrection, which seems to “abuse” the pasuk? Yom Kippur, the holiest of days, has two diametrically opposed halachot. There is a strict requirement to “afflict” ourselves. On the other hand, Chazal relate great importance to eating on the day before it. R. Yehoshua ben Chananya tried to learn from the pasuk, “You [Moshe] are going to lie with your fathers, and the nation will get up and act licentiously” (Devarim 31:16) that there is resurrection of the dead (it can be read, with difficulty, that Moshe will get up) and that Hashem knows what will happen in the future. He settles at the end that the pasuk proves only the latter, but why would one consider to read the pasuk referring to resurrection, which seems to “abuse” the pasuk?

When and how should one accept Yom Kippur?

I understand that this year, with Yom Kippur falling out on Shabbat, we will not be saying Avinu Malkeinu, except at Ne’ila. What makes Avinu Malkeinu fitting, among all the tefillot of Yom Kippur, to be eliminated, and why is Ne’ila an exception?

On the first day of creation, Hashem created light. “Hashem called the light day …” (Bereishit 1:4). The midrash (Rabba 3:8) understands that this refers to the actions of the righteous. “… and He called the darkness night” – this refers to the actions of the wicked. “… day one” – this refers to the one special day that Hashem gave – namely, Yom Kippur.