Yom Kippur 5787
September 21, 2026
Coming today, you have made a commitment to our faith, our traditions, our people, our community, and to God. But what exactly does that mean?
What is Judaism in the 21st century? What does it even mean to have faith today? For two centuries, Masorti/Conservative Jews have been wrestling with these questions, continuing our faith’s tradition of arguing about everything, always and ensuring that the next generations of our people have something to argue about! For me, faith is showing up for our Jewish community. It is demonstrating and recognizing the holiness of every moment. As Jews, our faith is not a singular philosophy we all share, but the actions that we demonstrate. It is lived and loved and shared in a million different moments and interactions.
There's an old joke about a young man speaking with his soon to be father in law. We can call the yeshiva bachur Shmuel and his father-in-law Joseph.
Yosef asks his son-in-law how he will care for his daughter, saying that his daughter, Rivka, has lived a life of comfort and will expect a similar standard. Shmuel says to Yosef, "Hashem will provide." Again and again, Yosef asks questions about the future, and the answer to every single one from Shmuel is "Hashem will provide." Yosef gives Shmuel permission, and a celebration ensues.
Later that night, Joseph and Rachel, his wife, are talking, and Rachel says to him, "I don't understand, Joseph. I thought that you would want someone for our daughter who will have a stable job and a strong future. That will provide for our daughter. This one just wants to learn Torah.” Josef said, 'Maybe, but he thinks I'm God.'"
The joke shares two powerful views of faith. Yosef and Shmuel both have faith, but they demonstrate it in two very different ways. Yosef has worked very hard to build a successful business, to raise children with a love of Torah, of Hashem, and of the Jewish people. His faith may not be spoken, but it is demonstrated through his hope and possibility. He builds a world for his family, having faith that his endeavors and their devotion will grow over the generations. Shmuel shares a different perspective. He relies on Hashem quite literally, not always recognizing the human part of the equation.
There is a Hasidic story of Rabbi Moshe Leib who argued that even the complete denial of God could be turned into a blessing!
“There is no quality and there is no power of man that was created for no purpose. And even base and corrupt qualities can be uplifted to serve God. When, for example, haughty self-assurance is uplifted it changes into a high assurance in the ways of God. But to what end can the denial of God have been created? This too can be uplifted through deeds of charity. For if someone comes to you and asks your help, you shall not turn him off with pious words, saying: ‘Have faith and take your troubles to God!’ You shall act as if there were no God, as if there were only one person in all the world who could help this man—only yourself.”
This year, I have studied Hasidic texts with a dear friend each and every week. A recurring theme in Rebbe Nachman of Braslav is to find the potential for holiness even or especially when we’ve fallen short, when things seemed darkest. Nothing, no one is irredeemable. Every one of us has the potential to do right and do good in this world.
In this sacred time, one of the greatest acts of faith is to show up, to say Hineni. The last 10 days from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur have been days of great possibility and great blessing. Each day (besides Shabbat), we have said Avinu Malkeinu, suggesting that our deeds are insufficient, and asking for mercy and grace, and then we return to our work of trying to do better!
This time of year is contradictory and challenging and beautiful.
This week, in our CBI community we were privileged to celebrate the Brit Milah of a boy named Shalev Lior, a light of peace. May he grow into his name, bringing such peace and light into the world. We also accompanied two members of our community to their graves. Marian was a minyan regular, bringing such joy and humor every time she participated. Rose lived to see 103, born in NY, with parents from Syria, a Jewish community that existed for thousands of years before our brethren were kicked out of their homes in the 1950s. The Hebrew word for funeral is levayah, accompanying, and having had the privilege of saying Vidui, doing a confession with both of them before they passed, I felt so incredibly blessed to accompany one soul, one neshama, into this world and two out of it.
As a rabbi, I am privileged to be invited into these sacred moments every single day. While there have been fears of a rabbinic shortage, I am so happy that JTS’ entering class is one of the largest in years AND I cannot say enough of what a blessing it is to be a rabbi or cantor. We are invited to say Hineni, Here I am, to bring holiness again and again, day in and day out. It is not a privilege restricted to clergy, but we are often invited more often--so if you have interest in beginning or returning to Jewish studies and serving God, Torah and the people Israel--I am always happy to speak with you.
Judaism gives us the gift of all of these moments. From birth to death, and every moment in between, our faith offers us ways of making ordinary moments into extraordinary moments, into moments of great holiness.
On my day off this week, I went to the beach. This might not sound like a big deal because we do live in Florida, 10 minutes from the beach, but, like many of you, living so close, we forget what a gift it is. Every time I go to the beach, I am grateful. Getting there is the challenging part!
In the Jewish tradition, even mentioned in the Shulchan Aruch, to go to the mikva, of immersing in living waters before Yom Kippur, to cleanse ourselves of our spiritual sins and start fresh.
This Monday morning, I left my phone in the car, locked the keys in the car, and took just a towel. I did not want any distraction or to take photographs. I just wanted to be in the moment, so I paid for 30 minutes of parking, swam out a little bit and immersed myself in the Gulf. Afterward I sat in the water and watched the clouds. Sitting there, my mind was racing, trying to determine the proper meaning of the moment, the perfect lesson to share. At the same time, I kept telling myself “I don't want to share the moment. I just want to be present in this space. I want to say "hineini" to myself. I want to say” hineini" to God, and it doesn't have to be a lesson.”
Of course, I am sharing it with you. My therapist reminded me that when we say "Hineni," when we show up, we do have to remember and acknowledge that it's not always easy. Even when we set everything up right, even when we leave the phone away, try to keep those distractions away, we can still have a hard time letting go. They thought my sharing the challenge of being present was worth sharing! Opening our hearts and souls to ourselves, our community and our God is not always easy--and now we have been trying to do it for an entire day!
Today is a complicated and challenging day. On the one hand, we are asking for forgiveness. We are wondering if the lives that we have lived have been good enough for the possibility of a new year. We have fear and trembling, and concern for our futures. For some the existential dread of the Jewish people is new, for others it is just your average Monday. For those who existential dread is a new feeling, welcome to Jewish peoplehood and epigenetic trauma!
On the other hand, we remember that Yom Kippur afternoon, especially in biblical times, was a period of great joy. It was not only the trembling, the concern, the fear, and the atonement, but it was also simcha and blessing and possibility. When that crimson thread turned white, the people knew that they were forgiven, that the year ahead would be one of blessing. They went into Sukkot excited, celebrating the rains that would come and the year of blessing that would follow.
And on the third hand,we're balancing all of these different feelings simultaneously. We see that it is not a time of one emotion or another, but the messy overlapping reality of everything happening simultaneously. It is a time of great joy, of seeing the people that we love and care about together, and the challenges of this particular moment and all the moments before.
As we prepare for the Yizkor service, I think about the generations that have come before us. How would they look at our present challenges? Looking at our lives today, many of them would tell us to stop kvetching, stop geschrying and look at the blessings around us! Other relatives whom we remember would want us to be significantly more worried.
In these moments, I look to our holy tradition. Miriam, the prophetess demonstrates one more type of faith.
After the sea is split, we hear that Miriam is a prophetess, that she takes the timbrel in her hand, and she brings the women into song and dance. It is a moment of ecstatic prayer, of gratitude, of blessing, and she is also the one who brings water to our people. The Mechilta of Rabbi Yishmael teaches that Miriam is a prophet because she brought the timbrels in the first place. As a tzaddiket, she knew with certainty that the Holy Blessed One would perform miracles, and therefore she had everything she needed to celebrate them. She did not prophecy through frustration or disappointment, but through great joy. She brought the needs of the people - the water and the timbrels, bring life and the joy of life through her actions.
In Talmud Shabbat, we see that the Shechina does not rest upon a person out of sadness or laziness or frivolity, but out of the joy of mitzva-- simcha shel mitzva. There are times where Elisha called for a minstrel, a musician, before prophesying, and a reminder that we need joy in order to learn lessons at times. If we want to inspire children, we need to engage them, not out of fear or punishment, but out of genuine blessing of possibility, of inspiration, of finding the simple joy in their lives.
As we share our Jewish lives with the next generation, what are we teaching them? Are we teaching them, shver zu zayn a yid, that it's hard to be a Jew, that we are a people that is hated, or are we teaching that we are people that strive to connect to a Creator, that serve God through mitzvot, through commandments? We are the people that have the gift of the Brit, the covenant, rest, the gift of family, the gift of Torah, the gift of learning about ourselves, about our people, about our world in ways that others often do not look for.
As we get ready for the Yizkor service, let our faith be one of joy and possibility. May it be a faith of action. May it be a faith of song. Most of all, let it be a faith of presence. Hinenu, we are here. We are here with the blessing of all those who came before us. We are here with their frustrations and challenges, and with those of our own generation. We are also here with the voice of the prophet, who says that we shall overcome. We are here in this generation and we will be in the next. We will share that presence with our children, our grandchildren, and all the generations. We will share that Judaism, that which sees the possibility in this world. We, as Jews, have blessings to share today and every day. Amen. Amen. Selah.
 |
| Neighborhood rainbow |
Comments
Post a Comment