A Brief Yom HaKipurim Message

On Yom HaKipurim, we are told: תענו את-נפשׁתיכם -- which could be translated as "you shall afflict your souls" (Lev.16:29). The root verb is ענה. What does this Hebrew word mean? In the Etymological Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew: Based on the Commentaries of Samson Raphael Hirsh, Rav Matityahu Clark gives a number of meanings, and afflict is among them. One meaning that spoke especially to me was a meaning that Johnny Powell had pointed out earlier in conversation with members of our Hebrew Torah Reading Team: answer. We need to answer our souls. We need to address the needs, the questions, the longings, and the troubles of our souls. In the Synagogue without Walls Yom HaKipurim message, Ross Nichols pointed out the meaning of humbling ourselves or making ourselves low, so that we can relate to the needy. I looked at other meanings, and they also provided insight. But I also wanted to interpret the word based on the meanings of the individual Hebrew letters, so I turned to Rav Michael L. Munk's The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet. There I found that the ע indicates the eyes, the נ indicates the soul, and the ה (with its opening at its top left) indicates the opportunity for repentance (teshuvah, return). The ה also points us to the Torah with its five books, for five is the numerical value of this letter, and the ה also directs us to HaShem. So here is the message that I got: "Look into your soul and repent. Look into your soul and return to the Torah. Look into your soul and return to your Father." As Rav Munk points out, the letter ה contains "a vital lesson to man that no matter how great his transgression, the way to teshuvah is always kept open" (p. 88). May our names be sealed in the Book of Life!