Column on Repentance and Yom Kippur — Jerusalem Post
The Israeli publication The Jerusalem Post has published a column on the significance of repentance in the Jewish tradition and a person's personal choice. The author reflects on the biblical story of David, the wealthy landowner Nabal, and his wife Abigail.
The Story of Nabal and Abigail
The column says that David and his men had protected Nabal's flocks in the Judean Desert for months. When David asked for provisions for his hungry warriors, Nabal contemptuously refused. After that, David set out for his estate with 400 armed men.
According to the author's account, without her husband's knowledge, Abigail loaded bread, wine, sheep, grain, raisins, and figs onto donkeys, intercepted David, and persuaded him not to take revenge. David acknowledged that she had prevented him from shedding innocent blood. The next morning, Abigail told Nabal about the event, after which, as the biblical text recounts, his heart failed and he became like a stone.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Ten Days for a Decision
The author recalls that approximately ten days later, Nabal died. The Talmudic tradition cited in the column links this period to the Ten Days of Repentance between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and indicates that Nabal died on Yom Kippur.
In the author's view, this time was an opportunity for Nabal to acknowledge Abigail's rightness and abandon pride and anger. The column also refers to the Yom Kippur ritual in the Temple: lots determined the fate of two identical goats — one was sacrificed to God on the altar, while the other was cast from a cliff to Azazel in the wilderness.
The author interprets this ritual as an image of an inner choice. Repentance, as the author explains, does not mean denying one's mistakes, but involves a decision not to regard them as the most accurate expression of one's identity.
