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Reflections on Yom Kippur 2025
A Torah scroll. Photo: RabbiSacks.org.
Every year on Yom Kippur, we list our mistakes and deficiencies and determine to be better. But we know that however hard we pray, and even if we intend to do better, we are unlikely to change very much at all.
The religious bigot is going to stay a bigot. The Chasid will not turn into a Litvak. The hardliner will not become soft, nor will the man who always says “no” change his tune. The crook will not willingly hand back his ill-gotten gains. The political in-fighting and hatred will not cease. The day after Yom Kippur, almost all of the instruments will continue to play the same tune.
Sometimes I wonder if the answer might lie in the old antisemitic joke, “What is the difference between a Christian and a Jew approaching the Pearly Gates of Heaven when they die? The Christian expects to be found guilty and sentenced to suffer for an eternity in the hell fires of perdition. The Jew, on the other hand, expects to be let off, with costs.”
It’s the “with costs,” of course, that is antisemitic. But the attitude with which the pious Jew (and the not so pious) approaches his or her Maker is indeed one of confidence. We do, rather confidently, expect God to forgive us. That’s our excuse and, in my view, it is a much healthier response than guilt and depression.
And that is why we can remain confident and hopeful. People can and do turn over another leaf, even if most do not. Despite my cynicism, many of us do change, some more and some less. But what gets us to change is usually some crisis, like the present one where it seems we are back in the times of the Blood Libel. Or the loss of someone we love, surviving an accident, or any other major upheaval in our life.
All the time there are forces beyond our control influencing our lives. We never know what might happen tomorrow. This is why so many are superstitious. It is their only way of pretending they can protect themselves from the unknown.
If something has gone wrong, in our lives or the world, it is action that is required, not sentiment.
What, then, is the purpose of Yom Kippur? The God of the Bible asks us to follow the commands (which will, hopefully, keep us on the straight and narrow). We read last week about our obligation to return to God. The word we translate as repentance, Teshuva, literally means to come back. And then God comes back to us.
Familiarity dulls the impact, and routine loses excitement. Which is why having a special day, 25 hours, has its own impact. Atmosphere and awesomeness. We do like to imagine that we are being judged by a heavenly court. Our intentions are good but our determination flags.
Yom Kippur reminds us of value, trying to live a more meaningful life. Outward observance does not guarantee being a good person, but observance provides a handy template if one choose to try it. Much of our characters and natures are influenced by family, friends, education, and circumstance. Change is indeed difficult and that is why our tradition keeps on hammering away at it but stops short of pushing guilt, which is of no use to anyone. We have failed too often. So we must try to do better next year. Get back on track.
Yom Kippur is an opportunity to assess and reassess our lives. A day of different experiences. A realization of how vulnerable we are and fragile. That we might be gone at any minute. Having a whole day to think about it surely can’t do any harm, even it is all too fleeting.
May you all have a much better year!
The author is a writer and rabbi, currently based in New York.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.