A Yom Kippur Meditation

Whether you are at home or in synagogue on Yom Kippur, here is a parable and a meditation for you:

Parable: Once, a woman walked through the marketplace when she heard the most beautiful melody playing somewhere in the distance. The sound that she heard brought her great comfort; it stirred something deep inside of her. Try as she may, she could not find the source of where the melody came from. The memory of the song became the rhythm for her daily comings and goings. Its tune so gratifying that she continued to hear bits and pieces of its melody in the back of her mind. She also actively searched to hear it in full again. She attended concerts and searched sheet music, all in hopes of finding the sound once more. Try as she might, wafts of the notes would come back to her, but she never again heard the complete melody in all of its stunning complexity.

The woman in this parable is our soul. Our soul hears the heavenly sound of the Divine before it enters into our bodies. Down here, it spends its days searching for that song. Often we search for the divine tune in the wrong places. In purely physical pleasures. Alas, we are indulging in more earthy delights to fill the vacuum of the comforting sound.

Yet, we do not have to experience that loss of song! Because the soul hears the full melody each time you light Shabbat candles, bake challah, give charity, say a prayer, learn Torah’s wisdom--- each time you express your soul, through Jewish actions, the music is played. Our soul continuously searches for the divine tune for our entire lives-- the more your body expresses the soul parts of you, the louder and more complete the melody is heard. Your soul feels comforted.

Meditation: [Deep cleansing breath between each line, is my intention]

I am a body with a soul.

I often don’t meet the needs of my soul.

When I do express my soul, it is but a small piece of its true divine potential.

I feel compassion for my soul that is trapped inside of me.

I will try harder to play the music of my soul.

I will allow my soul to be expressed through soulful thoughts, speech, and actions.

I feel empathy for myself, for my soul that is not expressed.

I arouse Hashem’s empathy for me.

This is teshuva

My ego is the alternative self that I create when I do not recognize my real value.

I will strip away the externality, the parts of me that are people’s expectations.

I will let go of my ego.

I return to my authentic dignified self-worthiness.

I return to my core that is a part of the infinite.

I am in the flow of infinity.

I feel Hashem’s presence in my life.

I melt into God’s embrace.

I am open to His blessings.

I am a vessel of light love and healing.

I will share my gifts with those around me.

I will work hard at recapturing this feeling whenever I feel it slipping away.

God, I will do all of the work, I lean into you, to have my back.