Our Gemara on amud beis discusses the interesting legal category of the tevul yom. A tevul yom refers to a person who has undergone a ritual immersion in a mikvah but must still wait until nightfall for full purification. During this interim period—between immersion and sunset—the individual or item retains a partial status of impurity and is subject to certain restrictions. Our Gemara provides a prooftext that a tevul yom who performed the Temple service is liable for death at the hand of Heaven:

“They shall be sacred to their God and they shall not desecrate the name of their God” (Vayikra 21:6).

Notably, the Rambam (Sefer Hamitzvos, Lo Taaseh 76) treats this as a separate prohibition from a priest who performs the service in a state of impurity. A tevul yom seems to occupy a special zone. What is the meaning of this liminal state?

The Sefer Egley Tal explains this idea beautifully. He notices an odd choice of words when the first Mishna in Shas (Berachos 1:1) says:

“From when, that is, from what time, does one recite Shema in the evening? From the time when the priests enter to partake of their teruma.”

The Mishna might have just said "from when the day ends," i.e., whenever we define nightfall. The Gemara notes this oddity and offers its own answer, but it is interesting that the Mishna draws a parallel between this twilight state and recitation of Shema, the acceptance of the yoke of Heaven. Egley Tal explains that even after one has immersed (in a mikvah), nevertheless, since he was impure that day, the impression of impurity remains with him the entire day. That is, somehow, if the day started with a certain impurity, we need a new day to complete the reset. Only then is the final residual impurity removed.

And just as this is true regarding impurity, so too it applies in the realm of holiness. When one accepts upon himself the yoke of Heaven in the morning, even if afterward his mind is not consciously engaged with it, nonetheless, the impression of accepting the yoke of Heaven remains with him throughout the day. However, with the end of the day, he must reset and is required to once again accept the yoke of Heaven anew.

Though he does not say this explicitly, I will add that the acceptance of the yoke of Heaven with some residual impurity is not the same as acceptance after he progresses past that impurity. The saying, “Tomorrow is a new day” is not just a saying; rather, we become a new person each day. In fact, Magen Avraham (4:1) says this is the reason for many of the morning blessings: because we are noting that we have been created anew.

It is important for us to allow ourselves to deeply feel that we can be a new person each day. And though we have learned patterns, impulses, and habits, we can also become something different each day.

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, LCSW-R, DHL is a psychotherapist who works with high conflict couples and families as well male sexual health. He can be reached via email at simchafeuerman@gmail.com