19 Sep YOM KIPPUR

Hashem’s Visit
Rebbe Bunim of
Pshischa zt’l told
the following
parable:
Someone’s home
was very dirty,
and although he
tried to clean it
many times, he
was never
successful. So he
thought of a plan.
He invited the
king to visit his
home, and the king accepted the
offer. The king can’t come to a home
that isn’t clean, so the king’s servants
arrived before the visit and cleaned
his home. The man gained doubly:
He hosted the king, plus his house
was cleaned.
This is what happens on Yom
Kippur. As we say in the zemiros of

Motzei Shabbos, for my sins, come
visit me. Thus, we earn doubly:
Hashem comes to us, and our sins
are removed.
This seems to be the intention of
the Mishnah (end of Yoma),
“Yisrael, you are fortunate! Before
Whom do you purify yourselves and
Who is purifying you? It’s your
Father in heaven!” On Yom Kippur
we stand before Hashem, and that is
the root of our atonement.
Neilah
The climax of Yom Kippur is
Neilah.
The Mishnah Berurah writes, “One
should be very zariz with Neilah
because the climax of the Aseres
Yemei Teshuvah is Yom Kippur and
the climax of Yom Kippur is Neilah,
for everything is dependent on the
closure.”
Neilah is when Hashem signs the

decrees for the coming year,
and therefore, we should daven
with immense kavanah.
At this time, there is a lot of
divine compassion, and even
the severe sin of chilul Hashem
can be atoned for by Ne’ilah.
Although, the Gemara (Yoma
86) says that chilul Hashem
isn’t atoned until the day one
dies, nevertheless, the Meshech
Chachmah explains that at Neilah
one can receive atonement for chilul
Hashem too.
The explanation is as follows:
The Yerushalmi explains that there
isn’t forgiveness for chilul Hashem,
because someone belittled and
disgraced Hashem’s honor, and who
will dare speak up in the person’s
credit? To do so is equivalent to
saying that it isn’t so terrible to
disgrace the King of the world.
Therefore, all malachim are silent,

and there is no forgiveness for chilul
Hashem.
However, at Neilah, the malachim
aren’t part of the judgment. Hashem
judges us alone, and when we plead
before Him, He will forgive us.
The Ramchal writes that at Neilah
one can attain the level of Adam
HaRishon before his sin. It is a time
when we can become completely
pure before Hashem.
We will begin on a clean slate, and
we will have a good year.