Yom Kippur: Restoring the Crown Jewel | Rabbi Mordechai Stern

Shortly, each and every one of us will be standing on Yom Hakippurim in an ocean of white Rachamim and Ahava and סליחה, מחילה וכפרה. We’ll be dressed as Malachim in a kittel and Tallis, standing in front of the Ribono shel Olam. And sometimes, from under the Tallis, a wayward thought comes into our minds and we think: Who are we fooling? We’re dressing and presenting ourselves as Malachei Hashares, those who are completely standing to serve the Ribono shel Olam. We know we're not Malachim. We're well aware of our limitations and our struggles. Who are we fooling? There was another time that such an accusation was made. When Moshe Rabeinu ascended to Shomayim to receive the Torah, he was accosted by the Malachei Hashares and they said, What's a mere mortal doing here? And the Aibishter told Moshe Rabeinu, Hold on to the Kisei Hakavod itself, a place that the Malachim can't even reach, and answer them. And the Yismach Yisroel, the heilig Alexander Rebbe says, The Aibishter told Moshe Rabeinu, החזיר להם תשובה. Answer the Malachim Teshuva. Do you know why a Yid can hold on to the Kisei Hakavod and a Malach can't? It's true, Malachim have capabilities and capacities and purity that human beings cannot even begin to fathom, but a Yid has something a Malach doesn't have. A Yid has the Koach of Teshuva, and Teshuva is מגעת עד כסא הכבוד. A Malach doesn't know what it means to yearn to break out of the things that are holding him back. Only a Yid knows what it feels like to be so far away, to want to break out of it, to want to come closer to the Ribono shel Olam when he feels so far, and to realize that even though I feel far, really I'm so close, and the Ribono shel Olam wants me and I want the Ribono shel Olam. That feeling is something a Malach can’t have. And that Koach of Teshuva makes us get closer and higher than even a Malach could get. The Dubno Maggid tells a story about a king that the prize of his crown jewels, the greatest jewel on his crown, fell down and got an ugly scratch. And he couldn't figure out to remove the scratch would be damaging the stone, and he hired different artisans, who would be able to remove the scratch without diminishing the weight of the diamond, without ruining its tremendous value? And finally, one craftsman came and said: Your Majesty, I'll be able to restore your diamond and make it even a more beautiful crown jewel than it was before, and I'll do it without getting rid of the scratch. He took the stone and he worked a beautiful design, a new cut, an intricate, magnificent design into the stone that made it that much more beautiful and it was even a greater crown jewel than it ever was before. And the beautiful design started from the scratch. Says the Dubno Maggid, Our imperfections are opportunities to work through those struggles and become so much higher than we ever were before, so much closer. That Koach of Teshuva can make us even better than ever. When we're dressed as Malachim and we hear the little niggling voice that says, מה לילוד אשה בינינו? The answer is: החזיר להם תשובה. Our attempts to rise above, to rise above sometimes when it's hard and we feel and it's hard to say Vayimaen and we work and every single one of us is trying. We're watching the videos, we're working to become closer, to become higher. That is something Malachim don't have. That's something precious. That's something that makes us worthy of the Hiskarvus and the Bracha and the Rachamim that we will be zoche to, Im Yirtzeh Hashem, on this Yom Hakippurim.