Yom Kippur: Choose Life: Fast From Child Sacrifice

Yom Kippur, known as the Day of Atonement in Judaism, is a holy day commanded by God in the Torah when the high priest enters the holy of holies, the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle, to atone for the sins of the Jewish people.

The morning Torah readings, Vayikra (Leviticus) 16:1-34; 18:1-30, and Bamidbar (Numbers) 29:7-11, describe the priestly activities required for the process. The afternoon Torah reading, Vayikra (Leviticus) Chapter 18, focuses on a myriad of sexual sins, the most egregious sins against God because of the pagan nature of these behaviors. No getting around the clear message about child sacrifice. In plain language Leviticus 18:21 says: And you shall not give any of your offspring to pass through for Molech. And you shall not profane the Name of your God. I am the Lord.

The rabbis who long ago selected this Torah reading for the afternoon Yom Kippur service knew they needed to remind the people of these egregious sins against God and the need to atone for these sins.

Currently, Jews have no high priests, nor do we have a Holy Temple or Tabernacle in which to observe this atonement ritual. Jewish practice now consists of attending a customized religious service and admitting collective guilt for all manner of immoral and unholy behaviors as interpreted by the leadership of that congregation, and receiving forgiveness and a 'clean slate' with which to start the new year.

Today, sexual deviancy and child killing in the womb are viewed as normative rights in secularized Jewish communities. The Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism lists Reproductive Justice and abortion access as Jewish values, so no surprise that the website doesn't show the afternoon Torah reading for the Yom Kippur service.

Reproduction health and Rights

https://rac.org/issues/reproductive-health-and-rights

The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism trains their rabbis at the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) (New York, New York), the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University (Los Angeles, California), The Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano (Buenos Aires, Argentina), The Zacharias Frankel College (Berlin, Germany) and The Schechter Rabbinical Seminary (Jerusalem, Israel). Here is a lecture on reproductive justice on the JTS website. No surprise, their website doesn't show the afternoon Yom Kippur Torah reading, either.

Religious Misconceptions: American Jews and the Politics of Abortion

https://www.jtsa.edu/torah/american-jews-and-the-politics-of-abortion/

And of course our sisters at the National Council of Jewish women, many of whom attend Reform and Conservative worship services, are busy 'repairing the world' by making sure it's easy and legal to destroy precious human life in the womb.

Vote Your Values Phone Banking

https://www.ncjw.org/events/vote-your-values-phonebanking/

These organizations have built partnerships with many Jewish groups and institutions and now yield tremendous influence over many Jews, young and old. These are the new high priests who 'atone' for Jewish lapses in upside down, inside out, anti-Torah morality and ethics.

How can Jews whose understanding of Torah is profoundly distorted be spiritually rehabilitated and effectively atone? The answer can be found in our Yom Kippur Haftarah readings, Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 57:14 - 58:14, the Book of Yonah (Jonah) and Michah (Micha) 7:18-20.

Isaiah explains to the Jews how to atone."Loosen the fetters of wickedness, untie the bands of perverseness, set the oppressed free, and break every oppressive yoke. Offer your bread to the hungry, bring the wandering poor into your home. When you see someone naked, clothe him . . . Then you shall call and the L-rd shall answer, you shall cry and He shall say, 'Here I am.'"

Jonah demonstrates the power of repentance that can save a nation when the dire consequences of pagan practices become imminent. And the word reached the king of Nineveh, whereupon he rose from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat on the ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh: By the counsel of the king and his nobles, saying: "Neither man nor beast, neither cattle nor sheep shall taste anything; they shall not graze, neither shall they drink water. And they shall cover themselves with sackcloth, both man and beast, and they shall call mightily to God, and everyone shall repent of his evil way and of the dishonest gain which is in their hands. Whoever knows shall repent, and God will relent, and He will return from His burning wrath, and we will not perish." And God saw their deeds, that they had repented of their evil way, and the Lord relented concerning the evil that He had spoken to do to them, and He did not do it.

Micha reassures us of God's forgiving nature. "Who is a God like You, Who forgives iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not maintain His anger forever, for He desires loving-kindness. He shall return and grant us compassion; He shall hide our iniquities, and You shall cast into the depths of the sea all their sins.You shall give the truth of Jacob, the loving-kindness of Abraham, which You swore to our forefathers from days of yore."

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Cecily Routman

May there be abundant peace from Heaven, and good life upon us and upon all Israel. Amen.