Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we repent

Tonight the vast majority of Jews, practising or otherwise, mark Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. For some it is an intense and deeply moving day of prayer, fast, introspection and seeking forgiveness. For others it is one or more of those things. For all of us it is a chance to step out from our ordinary lives for a day and ask ourselves just what sort of people we are. Whether we take that opportunity or not is up to us.

Today is erev Yom Kippur—the eve of the Day of Atonement. It a very different day and often an extremely one. Since the fast commences in the late afternoon. Many of us rush home from work far earlier than usual to wash and eat the large festive meal that sets us up for rather more than 25 hours without food or drink. Numerous customs are associated with the day, including the giving of charity.

Not everyone knows that, just as it is a mitzvah to fast on Yom Kippur itself, it is also a mitzvah to eat well on erev Yom Kippur and someone who does so is regarded as though he has fasted twice. Some people take the opportunity to do just that, keeping a bag of nuts or raisins, a packet of sweets or some other tasty items to nibble at random across the day. Unlike Pesach, when it is a mitzvah to eat the unleavened matzah, the Torah does not specify any particular food ahead of the fast, so the choice is left to the consumer. Anyone who wants to suffer on Yom Kippur can opt for salty foods that leave them with a raging thirst. This may not however be the most efficacious way to approach the long, hot day that faces them.

Ultimately, while we should stand in awe of God on the Day of Atonement and repent our sins, the day is not a day of sadness and mourning. It is—or should be—a day of happiness because we have the chance to relegate our bodily needs to second place and let our spirits soar. It is a day for setting the record straight, for drawing a line under our recent past and for starting again along the paths our lives are to take.

Does Pirkei Avot have a special message for Yom Kippur? Nothing is said explicitly about the day, and implicit in the teaching of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus (Avot 2:15) is the key to why this is so. If, as Rabbi Eliezer says, a person should repent one day before he dies, he will be in a state of regular if not constant repentance by the time the Day of Atonement comes round. This is the religious equivalent of training daily before running a marathon and getting into good shape. If you do this, the event itself will be less daunting.

Do not be despondent if you have not been strenuously training yourself right through the year for Yom Kippur. The chances are that you will at least be in training for eating well on erev Yom Kippur, so make the most of it!