Faith
The Angel of Death on Yom Kippur
Question
Shalom rav, in one of Rabbi Zamir Cohen’s lectures, he spoke about the fact that there is no prosecution on Yom Kippur. He explained that the word Satan in gematria equals 364, while there are 365 days in the year, so on Yom Kippur he is on vacation and there is no one to prosecute. In another lecture, I heard a different rabbi also present the gematria, but he spoke about another role of the Satan - the evil inclination - and therefore said that on Yom Kippur there is no evil inclination, and whoever sins does so on his own and not because of the inclination. This leads me to my question - the Satan has another role, namely the angel of death. If so, how is there still death on that day?
Thank you and Shabbat shalom, Tal.
Answer
Shalom,
It can be explained that the rabbi shlita spoke about there being no prosecution on Yom Kippur, but not about there being no death, since there are people whose death is not necessarily connected to prosecution, such as, for example, a person who has filled his days and reached old age, when there is the decree of death that originates in the primordial sin of Adam HaRishon; or, for example, a person who has completed his tikkun in the world; or, for example, when a person has attained some great spiritual attainment or level and is taken, because perhaps he will not reach such an attainment or level again. Thus, indeed, we find concerning Enoch in the Tanach that Hashem took him because he had reached a high level, and from there there was only the possibility of descent. Therefore, Hashem took him so that he would not deteriorate from his level, and thus he entered Gan Eden directly. Of course, I have given several examples of death that do not require prosecution, but the idea is clear.
With blessings, Eran Ben Yishai
