Escorted Home: The High Priest After Yom Kippur by Dr. Terry Harman
- Dr. Terry Harman
- Dec 26, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 31, 2025
From the Holy Holies and Home Again
I’ve always wondered what it was like for the High Priest at the conclusion of Yom Kippur.
As a guest at synagogue, I’ve stood at the Ne’ilah service, the closing hour of the fast, when the final shofar blast pierces the quiet. A wave of relief washes over the congregation.
People smile through tears, embracing one another, and then quickly move to the fellowship hall to break the 25-hour fast. It’s a moment almost electric with both exhaustion and renewal.
But what did the Cohen Gadol, the High Priest, do in biblical times when his Yom Kippur concluded? And why does the Rambam, Maimonides, make such a careful note of what happened next? How did the Cohen Gadol leave the presence of the Almighty and return to his normal surroundings? How does one leave the spiritual mountain top experiences and return to our everyday lives?
The Rambam’s Note of Reverence
According to the Rambam in Hilchot Avodat Yom HaKippurim (The Laws of the Yom Kippur Service), once the High Priest completed his sacred duties, after offering sacrifices, entering the Holy of Holies, confessing on behalf of the nation, and securing atonement for all Israel, he was not left to himself.
“When the High Priest finished his service, the people escorted him home.”
It wasn’t a casual or formal walk home through the streets of Jerusalem; it was filled with appreciation, reverence, and joy. The Rambam explains that this escort symbolized the love, respect, and gratitude of the people of Israel toward the one who had literally stood as their mediator before the presence of the Holy One, before the Ark of the Covenant, on the holiest day of the year.
A Walk Filled with Awe and Care
This moment, subtle yet powerful, would be easy to overlook as we read Leviticus 16. The Rambam suggests that the escort home was not merely an act of honor but also of care.
The people feared for the physical and emotional toll of such service. All endured the long fast and spiritual introspection, but only one bore the spiritual weight of the nation upon his shoulders.
The High Priest had fasted and labored with complete focus and spiritual discipline from dawn to dusk. He had entered the innermost chamber of holiness where he alone was invited.
How could he transition from the burden and responsibility of the holiest day? To be alone after that would be unthinkable. So the nation walked with him, in essence saying:
"You are not alone. We share in what you have done for us."
What awe must have filled the streets of Jerusalem at that hour, the fast broken, the lamps flickering, families watching from rooftops, the sound of sandals on stone as the weary yet radiant High Priest walked home through the glow of a forgiven city.
The Rambam’s description reminds us that even those who serve at the holiest levels still need community. The holiest man in Israel did not ascend into isolation after his work; he descended among the people, surrounded by love and gratitude. His journey home was both a return to human company and a reentry into ordinary life made extraordinary by the grace he had just mediated.
Likewise, the clergy that serve us day in and day out, through all of our holy days and festivals, births, weddings, and funerals, need to know:
"You are not alone. We share in what you have done for us."
The Walk Home for Us All
And perhaps that’s the mystery for us today. After every "mountain top experience," after every “holy moment” in our own lives, there must come a return, a walk home, a return from the profound to the common.
The question is:
How do we walk back into the world after standing in the presence of God?
Do we let others escort us with encouragement and community, or do we drift off alone, weary and unguarded?
The Rambam’s insight invites us to embrace companionship after communion. To realize that holiness isn’t sustained in isolation but in shared gratitude.
It has been my experience that after the high of great spiritual moments, we are sometimes left vulnerable as we return to our everyday lives. Our most sacred act may be the quiet walk home with those who understand and care for us.
Works Consulted
“Leviticus.” Sefaria, www.sefaria.org/Leviticus. Accessed 26 Dec. 2025.
Maimonides (Rambam). Mishneh Torah: Hilchot Avodat Yom HaKippurim [The Laws of the Yom Kippur Service]. Translated by Eliyahu Touger, Moznaim Publishing, 1993.
