Today is the Day of Atonement, which concludes the High Holy Days. The 1901-06 Jewish Encyclopedia (which might be comparable in tone and content to the 1914 Catholic Encyclopedia, but still fascinating if outdated in some respects) is online. Here is part of the entry on Yom Kippur:
In rabbinic Judaism the Day of Atonement completes the penitential period of ten days (
) that begins with New-Year’s Day, the season of repentance and prayer; for though prayerful humiliation be acceptable at all times, it is peculiarly potent at that time (R. H. 18a; Maimonides, “Yad,” Teshubah, ii. 6). It is customary to rise early (commencing a few days before New-Year); the morning service is preceded by litanies and petitions of forgiveness (
, “seliḥot”) which, on the Day of Atonement, are woven into the liturgy (Shulḥan ‘Aruk, Oraḥ Ḥayyim, 581; Zunz, “S. P.” 76 et seq.). New-Year’s and Atonement days are days of serious meditation (
, “awful days,” Zunz, “S. P.” 82, note). The former is the annual day of judgment (
), when all creatures pass in review before the searching eye of Omniscience (R. H. i. 2). According to the Targum, the day of the heavenly session in Job i. 6 et seq. was no other than the first of the year (
, resh shatta; see also Zohar Ex. 32b, ed. Wilna, 1882). Accordingly, the Divine Judge receives on that day the report of Satan, arch-fiend and accuser in heaven; the other angels, it is presumed, are friendly to the accused, and plead their cause before the august tribunal. The sounds of the “shofar” are intended to confuse Satan (R. H. 16b). There is, indeed, in heaven a book wherein the deeds of every human being are minutely entered (Abot ii. 1, iii. 16; a book of record, “book of remembrance,” is alluded to, Mal. iii. 16). Three books are opened on the first day of the year, says the Talmud (R. H. 16b); one for the thoroughly wicked, another for the thoroughly pious, and the third for the large intermediate class. The fate of the thoroughly wicked and the thoroughly pious is determined on the spot; the destiny of the intermediate class is suspended until the Day of Atonement, when the fate of every man is sealed (R. H. 16a).
Here is the Wikipedia entry.
“In the story of creation it says, ‘Indeed, it was very good.’ But
in the exhortation of Moses it says, ‘See, I have placed before you
this day life and good, death and evil.’ From where has evil come?
“Evil too is good, it is the lowest rung of perfect goodness. If one
does good, then evil too becomes good; but if one sins, then it
becomes really evil.
“The indwelling Glory embraces all worlds, all creatures, good and
evil. And it is the true unity. How can it bear in itself the
opposites of good and evil? But in truth there is no opposite, for
evil is the throne of the good.
“As the Glory embraces all worlds, good and evil, so were they
enclosed in Moses.
“When God called to Moses the first time, Moses did not answer, ‘Here
I am,’ because he was lost in astonishment: How then can the
unification take place? For when God revealed Himself in the thorn
bush, that is, in evil, as the lowest rung, all the fountains of fire
opened themselves, from the highest unto the depths – but the thorn
bush did not burn up, the evil was not consumed: how could that
happen? Then God called a second time: ‘Moses!’ – then the lowest
rung bound itself to the highest in Moses himself, and he said, ‘Here
am I.’”
~ Martin Buber, “Hasidism and Modern Man – The Baal Shem Tov’s Instructions” page 207-208
Evil comes from not choosing to Love Good, God. Just as darkness is the absence of light, evil is the absence of that which is good.
The following is a connection to a Catholic News Service page, where there is a connection to a series they on running on
the “World Synod of Bishops on the Bible”. It has a very interesting series on the Book of Genesi. Yesterday the subject was “A rainbow and a covenant for Noah” The first in the series was Genesis “Chapter 1 – Is creation good?” The second was “The ‘death penalty’ of Adam and Eve”. They were written by Michael Kolarcik, SJ. I find the series very interesting.
http://wordpress.com/tag/cns-bible-blog/