Yom Kippur is typically associated with solemnity, introspection bordering on sadness. The 25 hour fast and long hours in the synagogue only add to those feelings. However, in truth, Yom Kippur is a day of divine joy and serenity.
The Baal Shem Tov explains this novel perspective of the Day of Atonement with the following analogy.
A powerful king once sent his son, the Crown Prince, on a mission to educate the inhabitants of the furthest reaches of the kingdom the greatness of their monarch. At first the enthusiastic young prince fulfilled his mission with zest. But as time wore on, he started to identify much more with the peasants of these primitive towns than with the elegance and dignity of the royal court and eventually assimilated to their ways, abandoning his mission.
Years later, word reached the remote town that there will be a grand parade in the capital city in celebration of the king’s birthday. Upon hearing the mention of the king, the prince-turned-peasant was jolted into the reality that he was a crown prince that had been sent on a brief mission and that his true place was beside his dear father in the royal palace. He frantically traveled back home, but alas, he had adopted the dress, demeanor and language of the primitive outback and had no way of proving his royal pedigree. He had no way of gaining entry to his own home.
I utter shock and despair he stood on the parade route in hope of seeing the king. As the royal carriage paraded through the streets with much pomp and ceremony the prince-in-disguise caught a glimpse of his beloved father and remembered one word of his youth. “Father!” he cried desperately. The king immediately recognized the voice of his beloved son, dismounted, lovingly embraced his wayward and long lost son and, despite his dismal state, joyously welcomed him home.
It is an open secret that Yom Kippur is a day that Jews normally not seen in a synagogue make a point to attend. This is not a guilt trip. Quite the contrary, it is the time that the core Jewish soul is awakened and motivates us all to return home – G-d’s dwelling, the synagogue. And despite the dismal state of our Jewish involvement, G-d is overjoyed upon seeing all of His children united in prayer. Every additional mitzvah, every extra minute of Torah study and every word of prayer is precious to G-d like the homecoming of an only child.
As we prepare for the holiest day of the year I encourage you invite another Jew to participate in a service, to observe another mitzvah and to join you for a holiday meal. Let us all be catalysts for the joyous reunion between G-d and every one of His children.