And it shall be a statute for ever for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month…For on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your transgressions shall you be clean before Hashem. It shall be the Sabbath of Sabbaths….it is a statute forever (Leviticus 16:29-31).
Of course, these verses from this week’s parasha describe the day known as Yom Kippur. In his own exegetical commentary, Philo of Alexandria taught that Yom Kippur is the ‘Sabbath of Sabbaths’ because it brings Jews together like not other holiday in tefillah, communion with Gd and the quest for atonement. Philo specifically says that it is not only the observant and righteous that sanctify the day, but also those Jews who do not observe Jewish practice the other days of the year. Whereas Philo’s teaching is certainly appropriate for our own day, he wrote these words 2,000 years ago!
