Caroline Glick: The liberating responsibility of atonement
The Jewish people and the Jewish state face extraordinary challenges today. Luckily, we can handle all of them. But to do so, we need to be capable of judging ourselves fairly.
Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish year because it is the day that the Torah sets aside for us to reckon with ourselves. We are commanded to give an accounting – before our fellow men and before God – for our actions in the previous year. We must make amends to both for our misdeeds. And since none of us is perfect, every one of us has things to atone for.
Yom Kippur’s power stems from a basic assumption that forms its core. That assumption is that we are all moral agents. We all have to make an accounting.
This basic assumption is the most liberating notion ever created. Moral agency is what makes us free. It doesn’t matter how wretched or rich our external circumstances, the fact that the Torah enjoins all of us to take responsibility for our behavior means that as far as God is concerned, we are not slaves and never will be slaves.
The converse is also true.
We are only free for as long as we are capable of accounting for our actions. This means that preserving our ability to properly judge ourselves is the key to preserving our liberty.
This is true not only for the Jewish people as individuals. It is true as well for the Jewish state, Israel.
JPost Editorial: Decision time
On Sunday, just hours after an east Jerusalem Palestinian shot and killed two Israelis in the capital, politicians hit the airwaves.Security forces on high alert in Jerusalem as Jewish Israelis mark Yom Kippur
Some called to punish residents of Silwan, the east Jerusalem neighborhood where the terrorist came from. Others called to immediately authorize the construction of homes in Jewish settlements throughout the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
Agriculture Minister and Bayit Yehudi member Uri Ariel said: “Massive building and removing from the heart of our enemies the idea that we will ever move from a united Jerusalem... will minimize the potential for attacks in Jerusalem.”
Bayit Yehudi MK Mordechai Yogev said: “Every attack requires a Zionist response of authorizing new building plans in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.”
This has happened before.
After the brutal murder of 13-year-old Hallel Yaffa Ariel, Education Minister Naftali Bennett called on the government to build in the settlements. A few days later, the government approved the publication of a tender to build 42 additional homes in Kiryat Arba.
The IDF was set to place the West Bank and Gaza border crossings under a general closure on Tuesday evening at the start of Yom Kippur. The closure was scheduled to be lifted on Wednesday night.
Humanitarian, medical and other urgent journeys will be permitted, the army said.
One day after a deadly Jerusalem terrorist attack jarred the nation, police on Monday said extensive security measures for Yom Kippur, beginning Tuesday night, have been implemented throughout the capital, with “nothing being left to chance.”
In anticipation of thousands of visitors from around the world visiting the Western Wall beginning Monday evening, Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said nearly 4,000 officers will be on hand to closely monitor all activity.
“Overall general security assessments have been made across Israel, with an emphasis on all public areas such as synagogues, central bus and train stations and the Old City,” he said Monday afternoon. “At the same time, during the festivals themselves, we’re having more than 3,500 officers in Jerusalem to carry out security measures, with an emphasis on the Old City, where we’re expecting thousands of people to arrive to go to the Western Wall on Tuesday and Wednesday.”
According to Rosenfeld, a wide range of elite units will be based in Jerusalem, including Border Police, counterterrorism units, special patrol units and undercover units.
“If necessary, they will give an immediate response to any type of incident,” he said, “and these security measures are standard measures taking place despite the terrorist attack that took place over the last 24 hours.”
“The level of security across the country and in Jerusalem is relatively high, and this will continue for as long as necessary throughout the festival period, including Succot, which will last for over two weeks from today,” Rosenfeld said.
























