What an incredible Yom Kippur! Thank you to the hundreds of adults and children who came through our doors over the course of Yom Kippur. From the moving start of Kol Nidrei, to the packed morning and Yizkor services, to the full house for the inspiring Neilah Closing Prayer, you all helped make Yom Kippur such an inspiring and powerful community experience.
I find Yom Kippur so beautiful as no one is forced to come to observe and pray, not by G-d, not by the community and not even by social pressure, yet so many hundreds choose to express their inner core by coming together to reflect, pray and connect in such a meaningful and powerful way.
Personally, the closing minutes of the Neilah prayer are the highlight of Yom Kippur, as the culmination of 25 hours of Yom Kippur, five prayers, dozens of stirring melodies, being together with so many of you while all trying to better ourselves and connect with G-d and in our inner core, and then topped off by the communal declaration of the Shema, followed by the joyous Chabad melody that precedes the blast of the Shofar and marks a successful Yom Kippur, and finally culminating in a single strong blast of the Shofar and the hope in the future as expressed by Leshana Habaah Beyirushalayim.
Of course, the great break fast with so many of you at the end of services, helped wrap up an awesome day.
A special thank you to my brother Shmuel Freeman for leading so many of the prayers so beautifully. Thank you to my son Levi for reading the Torah in the afternoon. Thank you to Lizzie Kleynerman Nina Lokshin for helping run an amazing kids program and thank you to everyone else who helped with before, during and after Yom Kippur.
We prayed and now it is time to party! Please join us for any of the Sukkot programs we will be hosting at Chabad of Sudbury as we continue the fun in a joyful way!
Shabbat Shalom
Yisroel