Yom Kippur is a day of atonement and forgiveness. In the prayer service of Ne’ilah the innermost point of Jewishness is revealed; each person says verses of self-sacrifice and unity, and resolves completely that from now on all his deeds will be for the sake of Heaven. Immediately afterwards, the rejoicing increases, with a powerful enthusiasm, and it is the joy of inner closeness where previously there has been distance.
This joy is called the “time of our rejoicing,” a plural expression, for G-d rejoices and is glad with every Jew as a king rejoices over the redemption of his only son from captivity. We also rejoice in Him, and in three things:
- Our departure from captivity and exile.
- That we have achieved an inner closeness to our Father and King.
- For the reversal of being full of mitzvot after being full of iniquity, that our merits have multiplied.
(Sefer Hama’amarim Kuntreisim, vol. 1, p. 139)
