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Translation:May You Be Inscribed For a Good Year!: Yom Kippur

From Wikisource
May You Be Inscribed For a Good Year!: Yom Kippur (1942)
by Cemach Feldstein, translated from Yiddish by Wikisource

Published in Geto yedies ("Ghetto News", Vilna Ghetto), September 20, 1942; Tishrei 5703. Republished by David G. Roskies in YIVO-Bleter new serie, 3 (1997), 136 (available here). Translated by Reuven Levine.

Cemach Feldstein1492479May You Be Inscribed For a Good Year!: Yom Kippur1942Wikisource

It is the holiest Jewish holiday; the day of moral purity, the day of repentance and atonement, the beginning of life anew. It is our great human strength that we can sum up and emphasize that which has occurred in the past and, with a determined decision of will, open a new accounting for ourselves and others. Until this time, we have been foolish, evil, and unjust. Now, we desire to become otherwise; better, finer and more just. Therein lays the opportunity for our constant personal and social renewal for the sake of the uninterrupted perfection of our souls.

Our Yom Kippur possesses a special magic. No matter how far a Jew has been torn away from Judaism, around Yom Kippur there awakens in him the old historic call. It rekindles anew from the already extinguished Jewish spark and he goes to synagogue to hear Kol Nidre. He goes to hear again that ancient tear and blood soaked melody, and thereby reconnects himself with his people.

No holiday cements our people together more than Yom Kippur. Yet, Yom Kippur is something even more than this for us. It is the day of human renewal. It is the day when we pray to God for eternal peace between peoples.

May it come to pass that the New Year will bring the desired deliverance of peace for the whole world and for our Jewish People.

 This work is a translation and has a separate copyright status to the applicable copyright protections of the original content.

Original:

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was first published outside the United States (and not published in the U.S. within 30 days), and it was first published before 1989 without complying with U.S. copyright formalities (renewal and/or copyright notice) and it was in the public domain in its home country on the URAA date (January 1, 1996 for most countries).


The longest-living author of this work died in 1944, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 80 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

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Translation:

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