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YOM KIPPUR SERMON – for SEPTEMBER 22, 2007
On Yom Kippur, we are asking God for mercy. Normally, if someone wants a kindness, that person would emphasize his merits and worthiness. He would say: “we are not perfect, but see how hard we try and see how much we have already done; therefore, please forgive our slipups, because overall we really are good”.
On Yom Kippur, we do the opposite. In the Oshamnu and Al Chait prayers, we declare our unworthiness. We have a complete listing of all the possible sins that one could do – so as to be SURE that our own mistakes are included.
Thus we make every effort to PROVE how sinful we have been. We beseech God to forgive our sins (those committed knowingly and those committed unknowingly). We emphasize how insignificant we are – IN FACT, since we are transitory, as the dust in the wind; withering grass, fading flower, passing shadow, vanishing cloud, (here today and gone tomorrow), why should we expect God to give us an audience, to hear our supplications?
The answer is: ZHUT AVOT, the merit of our forefathers, our ancestors. This is why we read the Akedah on Rosh Hashanah and have the martyrology service on Yom Kippur. We are not worthy, but are relying on the merit of our ancestors, whose Faith and DEVOTION and SACRIFICE provide us an ENTRÉE for an audience with God.
The question that we should now be asking ourselves is: Are we creating ZHUT (merit) for the generations that will follow us?
Perhaps the past generation of the Holocaust proved themselves worthy – BUT, what of us? Are we doing things that will bring MERIT to OUR children? THIS is what our service today is all about!
In the U-Netaneh Tokef prayer, we mention three actions that will mitigate the severe decree – Teshuvah, Tefillah and Tzedakah (Penitence, Prayer and Deeds of Mercy) ……..
Many Jews think that, by showing up at High Holiday services, they will have done their duty and fulfilled their annual Jewish obligations. But have they really done ENOUGH???
At the services, they have fasted, read the Tefillot and perhaps done Penitence (Teshuvah) – BUT what about Tzedakah?
Tzedakah takes us beyond the High Holy days and INTO the rest of the year. Tzedakah is not JUST charity giving but also includes proper personal actions throughout the year. The U-Netaneh Tokef, then, is a prayer NOT just for the High Holidays but tells us that, if what we do on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (the tefillot and teshuvot) have any importance, then they must be combined with Tzedakah that is done throughout the rest of the year.
In today’s Haftorah, ISAIAH spells it out very clearly. He says:
“IS this not the fast I have chosen, to loosen the fetters of wickedness? to undo the bonds of tyranny? to let the oppressed go free and to break every yoke? Is it not to share bread with the hungry, to bring the homeless and the unfortunate into your home, THAT when you see the naked you clothe him, and THAT you do not hide yourself from a fellow man”…
This fasting of ours is meaningless if, AT THE SAME TIME, there are people who go to bed hungry, if there are people whose basic human needs are going UNMET…as Isaiah further says,
“IF you give yourself to the poor and relieve the person in distress, THEN shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as bright as the noonday. The Lord will guide you constantly and satisfy you with abundance and give strength to your bones…….From among you shall arise those who will rebuild the ancient ruins, and you will be called the restorer of paths to dwell in”………..
Thus, this means for a good JEWISH life is laid out before us, the pathway for bringing merit to our children…it is a life of Tzedakah throughout the year, a life of doing good things for people because it is the JEWISH way of life. This is how we can serve GOD as JEWS…It is a matter of conscious actions on our part…
The leading a life of Tzedakah will provide for OUR posterity and ensure us, AS A PEOPLE, that we will be written in the BOOK OF LIFE….
Thus,
May our lives always be filled with Teshuvah, Tefillah and Tzedakah;
May our hearts always cherish pluralism and diversity and tolerance;
May our days always be a celebration of the infinite varieties of life, all created in the image of God and from which the face of God is never turned away:
Ve-olamchem tir-oo be-chayachem
“And may all of you see that world come into being”
G’MAR CHATIMA TOVA
Dr. Martin Grad, z”l
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