Yom ha'Kippurim Round-up: 5775 - 5783

Artwork: Mountain, by Andreas Rocha

Yom ha'Kippurim Round-up: 5775 - 5783

Last Updated: 10/2/22 at 10:18am

The following is a list of the various shiurim, articles, and podcast episodes I have produced which are relevant to Yom ha'Kippurim, either directly or indirectly.

Shiurim in Video and Audio Form

Yom ha'Kippurim 5783: Ne'ilah - It's Not What You Think It Is (link to the audio version): This is a shiur I gave this past Friday (9/30). I can PRETTY much guarantee that if I ask you, "What is Neilah?" the answer you give will be incorrect. There are some basic facts about Neilah of which most people are unaware. In today's shiur we examined Neilah in light of those facts, and in so doing, arrived at a new - and more accurate - understanding of Ne'ilah and its place within the halachic system.

Yom ha'Kippurim 5782: Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim and the Inner Bears of Our Nature (link to the audio version): This is a shiur I gave this past Friday (9/10) in which I presented my current approach to understanding the Vidui of Yom ha'Kippurim. It begins with the same questions as my 5778 article, but takes them in a different direction, based on an encounter I had with a bear in Southern Washington this past summer. 

Yom ha'Kippurim 5781: Ralbag on the [13] Middos [ha'Rachamim] (link to the audio version): This is the Sunday shiur I gave on Erev Yom ha'Kippurim last year (9/27) on the Ralbag's approach to understanding what we refer to as the Yud Gimmel Middos ha'Rachamim, which the Rav held was the essence of the Yom ha'Kippurim davening. This is the most important Torah shiur I gave last year. If you listen to it before Yom ha'Kippurim, be sure to print out the "cheat sheet" I made as a machzor insert.

Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim: This is the "shiur version" of the 5778 article which I gave at Lomdeha last year. I recommend the article over the video, but the essential content is the same.

Yom ha'Din vs. Yom Teruah (link to the audio version): Although this shiur is primarily about Rosh ha'Shanah, the focus on yom ha'din is relevant to Yom ha'Kippurim, insofar as that's when our din is sealed.

Articles About Yom ha'Kippurim (NOT currently in audio form)

Yom ha'Kippurim 5780: Kaparah as a Means to an End: If you've ever felt hopeless going into Yom ha'Kippurim, then perhaps the approach here (which is not FULLY worked out) will be a game-changer for you as it was for me.

Yom ha'Kippurim 5778: Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim: This is my approach to understanding the unique vidui of Yom ha'Kippurim which is the centerpiece of each of our tefilos. This one was also a game changer for me.

Yom ha'Kippurim 5777: On Being Human: Most of the content in this article was not written by me. It's largely an excerpt from Richard Mitchell's "The Gift of Fire," which I read every Erev Yom ha'Kippurim to get into the proper mindset. It pairs well with the 5780 article, and with my 5782 shiur.

Yom ha'Kippurim 5776: Fasting as "Literal" Self-sacrifice: To my knowledge this is the only thing I've written about fasting on Yom ha'Kippurim. It focuses on a perspective stated by the Abravanel, which is not exactly a "standard" interpretation, but insightful nonetheless.

Yom ha'Kippurim 5775: What is Kaparah?: This is my unfinished theory of what we mean by kaparah (which differs from the approach I wrote about in the 5780 article). I still think these ideas are valuable, even if I haven't fully succeeded in fleshing them out.

Yom ha'Din vs. Yom Teruah: I'm including this Rosh ha'Shanah article here for the reasons mentioned above.

The Stoic Jew Podcast Episodes

Vidui Yom ha'Kippurim and Memento Mori: In this episode I explain how, according to my understanding, Chazal intended the viduy of Yom ha'Kippurim to serve as a vehicle of memento mori (remembering death) in order to spur us to do teshuvah with a greater sense of urgency.

TSJ Interlude: Removing the Evil of the Decree: Here are some semi-scattered thoughts I had about the line in Unesaneh Tokef: "u'teshuvah u'tefilah u'tzedakah maavirin es roa ha'gezeirah." 

Rosh ha'Shanah 5782: Yom ha'Din in Light of Stoicism (Aurelius - Meditations 4:45): Technically speaking, this is about Rosh ha'Shanah, but since it's about the yom ha'din aspect of Rosh ha'Shanah, and that din is sealed on Yom ha'Kippurim, then I consider it to be "on theme" enough to include here. 

Seneca - Letter #18: On Festivals and Fasting (Part 2): In this episode I discuss the haftarah we read on Yom ha'Kippurim, in which Yeshayahu ha'Navi exhorts us about how we should and shouldn't relate to our fasting on the day.