FRIDAY NIGHT

The Kol Nidrei prayer's roots in medieval Spain, when Jews forced to swear apostasy gathered to cancel such vows, and its meaning as a release from all commitments to material and secular values. On Yom Kippur we are freed to express total love and dedication to G-d, with the rest of the year to sustain what the holy day has opened.

The Kol Nidrei service and its declaration that all Jews, including transgressors, are permitted to pray together, emphasising the oneness of the Jewish people. The Lubavitcher Rebbe's insight is that Yom Kippur's unity does not require the person to have changed, but the special quality of the day itself creates a sense of belonging for everyone.

On the special quality of the Shabbat before Yom Kippur as a time of preparation for the great day of spiritual purification, using the Torah's verse that heaven and earth are called as witnesses to the covenant between G-d and the Jewish people. The combination of Torah from heaven and Jewish acceptance on earth is the essence of this covenant.

The completion of the Torah scroll by Moses and the Ark's miraculous property of occupying no space, exploring how the Torah, though housed in a physical vessel, transcends all physical limits. This illustrates that holiness can be fully present in the physical world without being diminished by it.

The mass attendance at synagogues on Yom Kippur as an expression of the essence of the Jewish soul yearning to be close to G-d. The Sedra's warning about future straying from Torah is connected to the annual return on Yom Kippur.

Moses' journey from silent contemplative shepherd to the great teacher and leader who delivers his final teaching in song. The insight is that Moses' final song in Haazinu represents the highest synthesis of his inner spiritual life and his role as teacher, showing that contemplation and action must ultimately become one.

Two kinds of holiness represented by the Sanctuary and by the family home, noting that the High Priest who enters the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur must be married. The insight is that divine revelation is achieved through the joining of the holiness of home life with the sanctity of the Holy of Holies.