The form of repentance required on Yom Kippur[1]
Yom Kippur is a day of repentance and atonement for all the Jewish people. The form of repentance that is required on this day is not just a regular repentance from sin but is a return of the G-dly soul to its root and source above in heaven from where it was hewed. Prior to that souls descent below into physical body it was on a much higher level of spirituality and was included and incorporated within the infinite light of G-d. The investment of the soul into the physical body requires it to go through a chainlike descent and demotion of spiritual level until it could be invested below into a body. This chainlike descent and change which occurs to the soul is referred to in Scripture as “G-d blowing the soul of man into his nostrils.” The act of blowing requires an investment of deep energy from one’s soul, and corresponds to the depth from which the G-dly soul derives. Likewise, the active blowing represents revealing and extending this depth to outside of oneself, which corresponds to the descent of the soul below. The job of every Jew on Yom Kippur is to return his soul from its state of descent back to its root and source within the infinite light of G-d.
[1] Likkutei Torah Ahcrei Mos
