Kol Nidre 5786
October 1, 2025
Rabbi Philip Weintraub
Congregation B’nai Israel
Once a chassid stood contemplating the minyan (prayer quorum) his rebbe had assembled to pray on behalf of a sick man.
The chassid was upset. The quorum included ruffians, burglars and other people of ill repute. The chassidic master felt his disciple's discomfort, and explained to him:
"We need these people in our minyan. When you need to open the gates of Heaven, you had better get help from experts....!"
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/862495/jewish/The-Break-In.htm
On Erev Rosh Hashanah, I shared the story of the Rebbe going to a suburban congregation, finding no one to pray with, no one to speak with, no one to study with until he found one young girl. She saw the spirit of God in the melodies of the prayer they sang together and was eventually able to feel the presence of the Creator. Her journey was only complete in partnership with the rabbi and his was only complete in partnership with her. They needed one another to make change in their lives and in the lives of those around them.
A few years back, I went to Scotland for Pesach. Davening at an Orthodox synagogue, I was surprised that they didn’t duchen, that the Cohanim did not offer the priestly blessing in Musaf. I discovered that one hundred years ago, the only Cohen there was a criminal. Rather than specifically preventing him from offering the blessing, they decided to change their practice, so neither he nor anyone else would be embarrassed. It was one way of demonstrating our respect for others AND the way we live in community.
Over the last Ten Days I have contemplated and prayed. I have mourned and I have celebrated. I have found moments of peace and stressed about the details of our community and the turmoil of the world. I have worried about the wellbeing of loved ones, but I have never worried about being part of a sacred community. In a world that is filled with loneliness and alienation, our sanctuary, CBI, is a place where we can come together. It is a place where we can work on being the best versions of ourselves. Sometimes we fall short; sometimes folks are not made to feel as welcome as we’d like; sometimes we haven’t yet created the opportunity for connection that you need; but CBI is a place where we strive to come together.
Over the last month, I have created daily posts about teshuvah. Using the Rambam, I took the highlights of his work and shared how we might find some sense of return, of reconnection to God, Torah, others and ourselves. Our tradition teaches that this desire to return is virtually unlimited AND is not limited to the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. As many rabbinic commentators remind us, even more important than the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the days between Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. How we act ALL year long is even more important for our souls than the days when we may be most focused in between the two holidays. Yet these last few days are so powerful for us. The concentrated energy of considering our actions, of our heshbon hanefesh (accounting of the soul) creates a powerful furnace for transformation.
One of the central lessons of our tradition, especially at this time is the simple reminder that we CAN change. Think about the entire industry around New Year’s resolutions in this country. Fitness clubs and others make billions of dollars around the assumption that we CANNOT change. They assume people will commit briefly and then immediately drop off. While they are often correct, Judaism strongly dissents. Our tradition reminds us again and again and again that we have the capacity to make change in our lives and then gives us the tools to do so. Our sacred texts and commentaries help us understand the lesson that we can make a difference--for ourselves and those around us.
In the Torah, in Deuteronomy (30:19), we see the words
"I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live."
For the last few weeks we have been reading the book of Deuteronomy. In virtually every parsha, Moshe exhorts our ancestors, calls out to us that we have the power of choice. We have free will and we decide what our lives look like. For the poker players out there, we are all dealt different cards, but we choose how to play the hand.
The same spirit is found in the Prophets, in Ezekiel (18:21-22)
"If the wicked person turns back from all the sins he committed, and keeps all My statutes, and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions he committed shall be remembered against him."
Ezekiel teaches that we have the capacity to make change in our life. These words are echoed in our Machzor, reminding us that while God accounts for all of our behaviors, when we have truly worked to repent, then our sins are intentionally forgotten by God.
Talmud (Yoma 86b) continues this theme teaching:
"Great is teshuvah (repentance), for it brings healing to the world."
This text is truly inspiring. When we work on healing ourselves, we are helping to improve this world. This is not mere navel-gazing, but the recognition that our choices have an impact on those around us. One small change can set up a million larger ones. Looking at our lives, we see so many sequences of events that came together to create a perfect or imperfect moment. We cannot always see the impact a small, positive change can make, but the true change can be remarkable.
We see it also in Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 44:12)
"No matter how far a person is, the gates of repentance are always open."
When I meet with veterans at the VA, there are some who think their prior actions are irredeemable. They feel that their actions prevent them from any possibility of being a decent person. Our tradition strongly disagrees. It teaches that we can always do better.
Bereshit Rabbah 1:4 teaches that 6 things were created before the creation of the world and “Rabbi Ahavah said in the name of Rabbi Ze'ira: Even repentance was [created]”
Jumping forward a few hundred years we find Maimonides: "Yesterday this person was distanced from God… and today, after teshuvah, the same person is beloved and close." (Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Teshuvah 2:2)
Our relationship with God is not conditional on our actions, but it is greatly improved by them. When we choose to live a life of reflection and positive choice, we can bring ourselves closer.
More recently, Rabbi Alan Lew, (of blessed memory in) This is Real and You are Completely Unprepared:
Teshuvah is ultimately a tool, a technology. It offers us the reminder that WE ARE NOT OUR MISTAKES. Instead, we are filled with possibility. Some might imagine that this only applies for the young. That is false. It does not matter our age. We can change until the very last moments of our lives. Sitting here and standing here and sitting here and standing here, we confront texts that challenge us. They tell us that we have made mistakes AND that we are not static. We can make a difference and we can change best when we do it together.
In the Midrash God says, “When you all stand together as one, I will forgive you.” (Tanchuma, Nitzavim 1)We are a strong, stiffnecked, stubborn group of people. We can change individually, but we are far more successful together. When we come together as the entire Jewish people, well then the possibilities are truly limitless!
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov taught about the value of a chaver (friend) to whom you can confess and with whom you can share struggles in order to do real teshuvah. He reminds us that when we support one another; when we help one another, the world unfolds before us. On Rosh Hashanah, I spoke of how iron sharpens iron, that when two people study together, argue together, they can come closer to the ultimate truth. The same is true in our actions. When we have someone to discuss our actions with, we can chart a much better path. (Although if we choose the wrong person to help us on our journey, the detours can be even more elaborate!)
Teshuvah is ultimately done in a relationship. We confess together. We cry out together. We pray together. There are certainly individual elements, but we are far more likely to succeed when we make the effort in community. If you are trying to work out, getting a buddy is far more effective than any other subscription. If you are trying to change your diet, it is far more effective if your entire household participates. If you are trying to find your spirit, it is far more effective to come pray together than to pray only on your own. Even seemingly solitary pursuits like writing can be improved with accountability and writing buddies!
As we continue our Kol Nidre prayers, we offer our individual prayers, together. We lift one another up, together. We acknowledge that we can make change, together. In the year to come, I pray that, together we will continue to uplift CBI, continue to restore it to its best self, and continue to build a community that lifts one another to our highest spiritual heights, our best selves, and serves as a beacon of hope and peace in this city and beyond.
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| The clouds rise above the water in St Pete. Teshuvah always feels possible on a beautiful day! |
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