On Yom Kippur morning we read Leviticus 16, which begins with the statement, “The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron when they drew near before the Lord and died.” While the reason for reading chapter 16 is due to its instructions regarding Yom Kippur, I want to focus on this opening line.

              The High Holidays are the period of the year when we are meant to focus on our own mortality. We will all die, and Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur ask us, “Are you ready?” Again and again the liturgy, the Torah readings, and the haftarot remind us that death comes for us all. It is no coincidence that these holidays fall during the annual reading of Deuteronomy, which repeatedly adjures us to choose life, not death; righteousness, not sin. We are told to choose the life-giving Torah, not the selfishness and immorality that brings death.

              This connection between righteousness and life, sin and death is explicit and intentional. In what ways have we ignored or drowned out the voice of God within us so that we could gain some temporary pleasure or advantage? Are we ready to turn around, repent, to reject death and choose life? But if death is inevitable, how can we truly choose life? And we all know that faithful adherence to the Torah doesn’t automatically result in blessings and long life. Some of the best people suffer and die young, and some of the worst live long lives of pleasure and ease.

              It is important to remember, though, that in the Torah, in Judaism, God is life. God is the Life of the Universe, as our prayerbook states, drawing on the verse in Parshat Nitzavim that explicitly identifies God as our life. Many people believe that Judaism doesn’t believe in the afterlife. This is simply not true. Judaism, in fact, has many concepts of the afterlife: sheol, resurrection, reincarnation, union with God, the Garden of Eden, and even Gehinna (hell). Each of these ideas have been held by Jews in the past and are still believed today.

              In Jewish Science, we believe that each person is an emanation of the Divine. Each of us is inherently connected to God, and when we die our souls return to God. This idea seems to conflict with the message of the day. If we all return to God, why bother with repentance, atonement, and mitzvot?

              Because Judaism is a religion focused on this world. The Torah is meant to be a guide to make life better, more just, more prosperous. And these things cannot be achieved if people choose selfishness, greed, and sin over righteousness and love. The end result will be a return to God, but do we want to suffer and die needlessly? Does the Divine spark within us really allow us to rest easy when we harm others? Adherence to an ethical code, walking in God’s ways, observing the mitzvot, make life better for ourselves and everyone else.

              More importantly, God is goodness. When we return to God after death, we will be unified with the Divine goodness. The Torah is holding out the possibility of experiencing this union with the Divine here and now. We have the possibility of establishing God’s reign, heaven, on earth. And each year, we fail to live up to this possibility. Yom Kippur is the chance to begin again.

              The sages taught us that Yom HaKippurim should be read as Yom ki Purim: the Day Like Purim, rather than the Day of Atonement. Why is this? Because just like the Purim story, the harsh decree has been averted. We have been granted a reprieve, and for this we should celebrate. This is why on Yom Kippur we don’t eat or drink, why we wear white and refrain from fleshly pleasures. We pretend to be dead so that we can better appreciate all the blessings of life and understand the fate of death that we avoid. We focus all our energy on God and turn away from sin in the hopes of gaining a foretaste of that union with God: what we in Jewish Science call God-consciousness.

              On this Day Like Purim, a day of second chances and renewed life, let us rededicate ourselves to the task of realizing the Divine Presence on earth, of achieving a hint of what union with God is like. Through teshuvah, tzedakah, and tefillah (repentance, charity, and prayer) we can return to God, to life, and to goodness.