Teshuva

An eccentric but wealthy, elderly acquaintance tells you to meet him at 2:30 pm on Sunday afternoon at Starbucks for coffee. At 2:00 pm you are busy watching a great movie and decide not to show up to the 2:30 meeting. That evening you find out that this elderly gentleman made the 2:30 appointment with 10 people, you being one of the 10.Only five out of 10 arrived at the meeting. To each of the five who showed up, your eccentric acquaintance gave a bank check for $50,000 dollars. Now you know what regret is. The feeling of missed opportunity. When you find out that you missed out on 50 grand for a stupid movie, you feel regret, not guilt. When we go against the will of God, the feeling we are supposed to have is regret. What a lost opportunity! We lost a piece of eternity!

Seven days before the Day of Atonement, we sequester the High Priest from his house to the Palhedrin Chamber, and we prepare for him another priest in his place, [for] perhaps there will occur in him a disqualification. Rabbi Yehuda says: We even prepare another wife for him, [for] perhaps his wife will die; as it is said, "and he shall atone for himself and for his household" - his "household" is his wife. The Sages said: If so, there is no end to the matter.

All seven days, they would not prevent him from eating or drinking. The day before Yom Kippur, toward nightfall, they would not let him eat a lot, because food brings on sleep.

They provided for him elders from the elders of the [high] court who would read before him the order of the service [for Yom Kippur]. They would say to him: My master the High Priest, memorize the order of the service; perhaps you forgot or never learned. On the day before Yom Kippur in the morning they stood him in the eastern gate of the Temple and passed before him all the bulls, rams and lambs [that would be used the next day in the service] so that he would recognize and be familiar with the service [of offering each of them].