Weekly Torah Portion

I am writing this on Tuesday, aware that in just a few days, it will be Yom Kippur. But I am also in the midst of preparing for Milton, currently barreling down on Florida and expected to hit within 24 hours. Nobody truly knows what will happen, but we are all davening that all goes well, and everyone will make it through with relative ease.

Two preparations, both happening at the same time. Yom Kippur and Milton. Both are potentially life-altering, seismic 24 hours. But I’ve got to be honest – they feel different. Hurricane Milton approaching has an energy to it. People are rushing around, trying to make sure all prep is done in time, spending time going through their whole checklist.

Waiting in line for gas, cleaning up the yard, checking the forecast every few hours (or minutes) – there is a buzz in the air around Orlando as the storm approaches. A buzz that I personally didn’t really feel when trying to prep and get into the right mindset for Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur will determine my year, so why is it so much harder to get into “the zone” for it than for Milton?

Maybe the difference is more evident than I anticipated. Maybe it’s as simple as the fact whether I can put my finger on it. Getting ready for Milton is all in the physical, has tangible actions I can take to help set the tone. But Yom Kippur is a day of the heart, atonement, introspection, thoughts, repentance. There isn’t really a physical component.

So here is what I suggest: Let’s take a page from the Hurricane Milton playbook. Let’s do something physical when prepping for Yom Kippur. Write down your challenges from over the last year and how you want to improve. Grab the Yom Kippur prayerbook, the Machzor, and look it over in advance. Make some calls to people you have wronged and ask for forgiveness. Go on your computer and give a donation to charity. The physical action will help inspire the spiritual side.

In fact, the Sefer Hachinuch, a magnum opus written around a thousand years ago that lists the positive, practical benefit for every mitzvah, highlights this point. The reason we have so many mitzvos with physical actions is because actions take things

MiKoach El HaPoel, or “from Potential to Reality.” We have many things we are capable of, and we can use actions to help bring those capabilities to life.

Hurricane Milton has given us the recipe: perform an action while prepping, have a more meaningful and impactful Yom Kippur. May we all be written and sealed in the Book of Life for a year of health, success and spiritual growth.