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A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rabbi Warren Elf

Good morning.

Today is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Jews all over the world will be fasting, abstaining from all pleasures to show our sincerity in repenting, saying sorry for the things we have done wrong, times we have let ourselves and others and God, down.

Many of us will stay in synagogue all day, from the start of the morning service right through to the end of the concluding service at the end of the fast, roughly an hour after sunset.

I am often asked how I can do it all day, especially as I am leading many of the prayers and other sections of the services. In fact, I think I find it easier because I am involved all day. The moments of quiet, the times for thinking, the silences are very important but my involvement in the choreography of the day helps.

Inevitably there is going to be at least one period of the day when I lose focus and it is probably going to be somewhere in the middle of the afternoon. But I will keep going and hopefully refocus quite quickly.

We have five services during the day to keep us going. My favourite probably is the last one – Ne’ilah, the Concluding Service. Not because it means we are near the end but because there is a change in atmosphere, in tempo, even in the language of the prayers.

This last prayer service starts with a rousing song – El Nora Aleelah, God whose work is awesome. I love the song, especially the tune and it doesn’t matter how tired I am, I will belt it out with full gusto.

There is the idea of it being our last chance to gain forgiveness, atonement. We imagine the Gates of Mercy closing at the end of the service. It’s now or never – no, we don’t sing that as well!

So, God, whose work is awesome; God, whose work is awesome, help us to forgiveness as the Gates of Mercy close. And help all of your creation to find our path to fulfilment and a future where we can live together in a safe, healthy and peaceful world.

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