Erev Yom Kippur and the Day Itself
On Yom Kippur the spiritual source of evil is completely subdued, and the evil inclination has no permission to accuse. This would seem to be a cause for great celebration—so why don’t we eat even more than usual on this most holy day? In truth, the holiness of Yom Kippur is so great that we rise to such a lofty level where eating and drinking have no place at all. On the contrary, if one eats or drinks on Yom Kippur, it gravely damages the sanctity of the day, to the point of being liable to kares, Heaven forbid. For this reason, there is a great obligation to eat more than usual on Erev Yom Kippur, preparing oneself for the holiness of the day so that he has the strength to fast. The preparatory eating is itself elevated to a very high level. Our sages taught that one who eats on Erev Yom Kippur and then fasts on Yom Kippur is considered as though he fasted on both days.
This is the deeper meaning of the sacred meal that Yaakov prepared for Yitzchak from the two young goats, which the sages explained correspond to the goats of Yom Kippur. At that time he received the blessings. (Presumably, Yitzchak partook of the goats before nightfall, and Yaakov received the blessings on Yom Kippur.) As the Megaleh Amukos teaches, Yom Kippur corresponds to Yaakov.
Therefore, a person must ask forgiveness from his fellow on Erev Yom Kippur, even if he offended him only with words. Every Jew has a share in drawing down the rectifications of this day, which are accomplished by declaring Hashem the King of glory—something possible only when the Jewish people honor one another and judge each other favorably. Eliyahu Rabba writes that the Yom Kippur prayers of one who harbors hatred in his heart toward any fellow Jew are not accepted on high. If someone damages the honor of his fellow and offends him, he has blemished and withholds the rectifications of Yom Kippur, since sins between people are not atoned for by Yom Kippur. We must remember that we are judged as we judge others. This is why the Baal Shem Tov wrote that on Erev Yom Kippur and on Yom Kippur itself, one should be especially careful to judge his fellows only favorably.
The Five Afflictions and Prayer of Yom Kippur
On Rosh Hashanah we begin the process of actualization through the sounding of the shofar. This generates the letters of speech, but they still lack their nekudos, the vowel points that give each letter its sound and actualize its meaning. Without nekudos, only the raw sound is revealed. This is why the shofar is described as “From the narrow place I called to Hashem” (Tehillim 118:5). The narrowness of the throat symbolizes speech not yet fully formed. Only when the letters receive their nekudos can speech emerge completely from those straits, and the coming year is truly actualized.
These nekudos are completed through longing and desire for closeness to Hashem, for what we yearn for determines where we are led. These are days of repentance and Divine favor, when the Jewish people cleave to Hashem with powerful yearning and deep longing—especially on Yom Kippur, when the highest nekudah, the kamatz, corresponding to Kesser, the Crown, is reached. At that point, the transition from potential to actualization is perfected.
For this reason Yom Kippur is marked by five prayers, corresponding to the five points of articulation of the mouth, because on that day speech itself is completed through the nekudos that articulate. These five points of consonant production are the tongue, lips, teeth, palate, and throat. Yom Kippur is also marked by five afflictions, for nekudos are created through desire and yearning. The loftier the nekudah, the greater the longing required.
On Yom Kippur we must reach the supreme nekudah—the very word kamatz means “to constrict,” as in kamtzan, a miser. In our context, kamatz represents complete self-nullification in order to attain the highest and most concealed level of longing, reaching the deepest desires for holiness and purity that form the ultimate expression of our being. To attain such a level requires extraordinary intensity of desire, coupled with total self-nullification and separation from all worldly cravings. That is why Yom Kippur requires abstinence through the five afflictions: by stripping away physical desire, we make ourselves capable of attaining the supreme longing embodied in the kamatz.
[Likutei Halachos, Rosh Hashanah 2:5]