The Jews who had returned to the Land of Israel with Ezra and Nehemiah gathered on this day and repented their misdeeds, signing a document in which they committed to trust in G‑d and follow His ways. Among the mitzvot they specified were to refrain from intermarriage and from purchasing produce on Shabbat (Nehemiah 9:1–3; 10:1–32).
Link: The Return to Israel
R. Yaakov Yosef was one of the foremost disciples of the Baal Shem Tov. He was the first one to disseminate the teachings of Chassidut in print, publishing the work Toldot Yaakov Yosef in 1780.
Link: The Rabbi’s Secret Sins
On this day in 5756 (1995), the Ribnitzer Rebbe, Rabbi Chaim Zanvil Abramowitz, passed away. For decades, with great self-sacrifice, he lived a full Chassidic lifestyle under Soviet rule before emigrating to Israel and then the U.S.
The day following a festival is called Isru Chag ("tied to the festival"). Tachnun (confession of sins) and similar prayers are omitted throughout the remainder of the festive month of Tishrei.
Adam trudged past the gates of Eden, his head low, his heart heavy with the pain of remorse.
Suddenly he stopped. A thought had struck him.
He turned to the heavens and exclaimed, “You had this planned! You put that fruit there knowing I would choose to eat from it!”
“But tell me: Why?
The heavens were silent.
But we have found an answer.
Without failure, we can never truly reach into the depths of our souls. We cannot know that our choices matter, and that we hold our destiny in our hands. That we exist.
With that failure and that discovery, we can return to the garden, reaching higher and higher without end, to the One that exists without cause.
Beyond Eden.