If Judaism were the sport of baseball, then Yom Kippur’s Neilah prayer would be the ninth inning of a World Series game. What is Neilah? It means closure. The Rabbis taught that this is the time right before the closing of the gates of heaven at the end of Yom Kippur, so it is our last opportunity to ask for what we need, to repent, to seal ourselves in the book of life.
Yet this insight is incomplete. Why is the prayer called Neilah, closure, when it is the final prayer before the closing of the gates of heaven?
In 1963, the Lubavitcher Rebbe shared a new insight into Neilah, During Neilah the gates of heaven are closed already, with you inside. During Neilah you are alone with Hashem.
Yom Kippur, the Sages say, is the wedding day between G-d and His bride. Thus, we dress in white, like a bride at her wedding. The traditional Jewish marriage ceremony culminates with the bride and groom entering a secluded room (“cheder yichud” in Hebrew) to spend time alone with each other. Yom Kippur too culminates with the Neilah, or closure prayer, so called because as the sun of Yom Kippur sets, the gates of heaven close—with us inside.
No matter who you are, where you are, where you come from, what you know or don’t know, what you do or don’t do—at this time of Yom Kippur, you are one with G-d. G-d invites you alone for an intimate moment with Him.
Every day we have three prayers — Maariv (the evening prayer), Shacharis (the morning prayer) and Mincha (the afternoon prayer). On Shabbat and every other Jewish holiday, we have a fourth — Mussaf (the additional prayer). But only on Yom Kippur is there a fifth service — Neilah. This is because Neilah corresponds to the fifth and highest dimension of the soul — the Holy of Holies of the soul — which we access on this one day at this time.
The soul has five dimensions: Nefesh, Ruach, Neshamah, Chayah, Yechidah (Spirit, Breath, Soul, Life, Oneness). They represent your functional biological life, your emotional life, your cognitive self, your transcendental aspirations, and your core undefined essence, a mirror of Divine infinity and harmony.
They correspond to the five prayers in Judaism: Maariv, Shacharit, Mincha, Mussaf, Neilah. All days of the year, we’re usually able to access the three dimensions of our soul; on Shabbat and Yom Tov we access the fourth, Chayah. On Yom Kippur can we access the fifth layer of identity, Yechidah — the oneness with infinite oneness. It is the most intimate, vulnerable, gentle part of the soul of the human being, unshielded by the defenses of the other levels. We reach it at the precise moment when Neilah is said, and when, at its conclusion, we declare Shema Israel: “Hear O Israel, God is our Lord, God is One.”
Rabbi YY Jacobson
