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ROSH HASHANAH 5783
In honor of the late Queen Elizabeth, let me tell you a story told by the late Bette Ford. When Gerald Ford was president, they were hosting a state dinner for Queen Elizabeth. The upstairs living quarters of the White House were in an uproar as everyone was getting dressed in anticipation of the arrival of the queen.
Jack Ford, their son, could not find the cufflinks for his tuxedo. He was running around without his shirt or pants on when the announcement came that the queen was being ushered upstairs to be greeted in the family quarters.
Out she came from the elevator and out from another door came Jack Ford in just his underwear. Bette Ford, terribly embarrassed, began to apologize, when the queen cut her off and said, “Please don’t bother…I’ve got one like that too!”
My friends, Gd is our Supreme Parent. Do you think He might also say to the angels about each of us: “I’ve got one like that too?” After all, we’ve been in shul on Rosh Hashanah every year. How much has it changed us?
Growing up, Rosh Hashanah sometimes struck me as a Jewish version of Santa Claus coming to town, with Gd replacing the big man in red of Whom we can say:
He’s making a list,
He’s checking it twice,
He’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice
It’s Rosh Hashanah and Gd’s coming to town
He sees you when you’re sleeping
And he knows when you’re awake
He knows if you’ve been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!
But that attitude changed once I began to learn the deeper meanings of Rosh Hashanah—one of which is that Rosh Hashanah is not for confessing our sins and asking for forgiveness—that’s what Yom Kippur is all about. It turns out Gd is not now looking to find out who’s been naughty or nice.
What is Rosh Hashanah then? It’s the time to get a new vision for your future. Without that, you will probably gravitate back to previous bad behavior. Rosh Hashanah is for us to envision who we could be, and what we could accomplish in the coming year. And on Rosh Hashanah, when we get ahold of what our better self could be like, it opens the path for Gd to forgive us on Yom Kippur because Gd sees that we are envisioning a better path.
Rosh Hashanah is also, however, Yom Hadin (Judgment Day). So, on what does Gd render judgment today, if not our sins? Today Gd judges our vision—our expectations and aspirations for the New Year, what we are committing ourselves to accomplish. Are we determined, at least, to try to be our best self?
Today on Rosh Hashanah let’s notice how enormous the chasm between us and Gd has become…how huge is the gap between who we are and who we could and should be—as Jews, as spouses, as parents, as children, as human beings.
How do we bridge that gap? Recently, I’ve been studying with Rabbi Efrem Goldberg Mesilat Yesharim (Path of the Upright), a masterful work by the great 18th century Kabbalistic master, the Ramchal—Moshe Chaim Luzzatto. He begins with the counter intuitive notion that life is not about how much pleasure we can take from it—how many toys we can accumulate. Life is about what we can contribute. Life is about the difference we can make.
He continues with, what for me, is one of the most stellar teachings in all of Judaism: “Behold, what our Sages, of blessed memory, have taught us is that a human being was created solely l’hitaneg al Hashem, to delight in Gd [or as I prefer to put it, to get high on Gd] ul’hanot miziv Shechinato, and to derive pleasure [not from a custard donut, or a pineapple pizza, but] from the radiance of the Shechina (Divine presence).
Isn’t that amazing? The purpose of life is to get high on Gd! It sounds almost like Timothy Leary and LSD. But no, it’s getting high on Gd—not on marijuana or pills or alcohol—getting high on Gd. This is not the pleasure of a great meal, a great physical intimacy, great music, a great latke, a great Rosh Hashanah brisket. There’s nothing wrong with those things. However, enjoying these things are not why we were created. The oneg, the pleasure that we were created for…is the feeling of closeness, the approval, the love of the Almighty. It’s much more potent than LSD!
The Ramchal adds, ul’hanot miziv Shechinato (and to delight in the pleasure and splendor of Hashem). When you have one latke, you want another. Have some yummy Chinese food and an hour later you want more. Have a Krispy Kreme donut, and you want another and still more. When you have a good meal, it may leave you changed—but mainly in the size of your waist.
But the pleasures of the soul, to get high on Gd, to experience a spiritual moment, to see something worthy of awe, to make a difference in this world, to experience that when something significant happens to you it isn’t just a coincidence, but by design and it’s Gd’s way of having your back…this leaves you changed.
Aryeh Kaplan taught that Gd designed the human psyche so that the more joy we give to a person in authority over us, the greater the satisfaction, the fulfillment, the happiness we feel. Study after study shows that at work, people would prefer a kind word of approval over a small financial bonus.
If you give nachas (joy) to your parents by making them proud of you, it feels really good. If you give nachas to your boss, it’s really satisfying. What about giving nachas to Gd? And so the Ramchal teaches that when we get high on Gd, we give nachas ruach (pleasure and joy, if we can speak in human terms) to Hashem. But Gd is also our father—our Father in heaven. When we make Him proud, when we give Him nachas by being kind and compassionate to each other and by living a Jewish life of Torah and mitzvot, there’s no more satisfying feeling—nothing more elevating and enriching.
The name Yisrael (Israel) was given to Father Jacob. We are the Children of Israel, and every Jew is also called a Yisrael. Within the spelling of Yisrael we find the letters alef and shin which spell eysh (fire), because to be a Jew is to be on fire. To give Gd nachas, to make Gd proud…you need to be enthusiastic, passionate and on fire about being Jewish. However you do “being Jewish,” don’t do it with apathy and indifference. Whatever you do in life professionally, personally, and especially in your service to Gd, have a fire burning in your belly. Be alive. Be on fire!
What happens if we take out the alef and shin—the fire—from the word Yisrael? We’re left with the remaining letters yud, resh and lamed with a numerical equivalent of 240 which is the same as the name Amalek! Who was Amalek? The people of Amalek attacked us as we left Egypt. The Torah (Deut. 25:18) puts it this way: Asher karcha baderech. Karcha comes from the word kar (cold), rendering the verse, “Remember, Amalek…they tried to pour cold water on us, to put out our fire.” We had just come from the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea where we experienced 1st-hand the presence of Gd. We were on fire. My friends, don’t ever let anyone put out your fire!
How do we keep that pintele Yid, the Jewish spark burning inside us? How do we stay high on Gd? The main symbol of Rosh Hashanah is the Shofar. Why? You all know the story. Abraham is about to kill Isaac. An angel stops him. It’s over. They hug, and Abraham says, “I’m sorry.” Isaac responds, “It’s okay.” Abraham sees a ram and offers it as a sacrifice in Isaac’s place. It’s from the ram where we get the Shofar.
Now, if you were to pick a symbol representing this story, would you pick the ram or the Shofar? The Shofar is not even in the story. When the ram shows up, Isaac is already safe. There’s no drama in the ram or the Ram’s horn. The drama is in what took place beforehand. Isaac almost died.
If you were to pick a symbol to remind Gd and us about what Abraham did in being willing to sacrifice his son to Gd, what would you pick? How about the rope that binds Isaac to the altar…or better yet, how about the knife? Imagine, in shul this morning, I’d call for a volunteer, put him on the Bima, tie him up and pull out a machete. Everyone would say, “Rabbi, what are you doing? No Rabbi, no.”
And I’d say, “Aha! See, this is the lesson of the Akeda story! We value human life and don’t permit human sacrifice.” Wouldn’t a machete be a good symbol representing the drama of the story. Why the Shofar?
There are 2 basic principles for Rosh Hashanah: Din (judgment, law, and order) and Chesed (kindness). Gd has rules and commandments we’re supposed to follow. Rosh Hashanah is a day of judgment—a day of law. The truth is we don’t always follow the rules—even the obvious rules like, treating our family well, giving to charity, being nice to people. When we stand before Gd on the day of judgment, very few of us can look up to Gd and say, “I’m good with the rules.”
So on Rosh Hashanah, the day of judgment, there’s a great trick to avoid dealing with din (law) and sins today. There’s another concept called Chesed. Chesed is above and beyond the law. Chesed is love, kindness, compassion, giving. Things you don’t have to do. It’s beyond you. Yes, the Torah prescribes we must give a percentage of our income to charity, but when you give more when you don’t have to, when you go beyond for someone or a cause…when you are kind and compassionate…when you sacrifice yourself for something…when you go beyond what’s expected of you, you get into the realm of Chesed.
Gd commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son. It didn’t make sense, but Gd commanded, and so he obeyed. At the end when Gd said, “Don’t do it,” Abraham could have said, “It’s over, I Aced Gd’s test. I’m out of here.”
But he didn’t do that. He said, “You don’t get it Gd. I’m don’t care about your tests. If I couldn’t give You my son Isaac, at least let me offer You the ram. I want to give You something. You see, I want a relationship with You.”
Gd goes, “Give me something? How much more can you give me?”
The ram that Abraham offered after Isaac was saved, was his way of going beyond Gd’s command. He didn’t have to do it. He passed the test. But he wanted to do something for Gd. It was his entrance into Chesed. We use the Shofar as the symbol for Rosh Hashanah because it symbolizes the moment where Abraham went beyond what was expected.
On Rosh Hashanah, we blow the Shofar to remind ourselves to be like Abraham—to go beyond, to act in a way that is more than we think we’re even capable of—to do something that we don’t think we can do, but we should do—like make a call to repair a relationship with a relative or a friend, when the break wasn’t even our fault.
The best thing to do when we’re being judged…is to go above judgment—to show Gd that we don’t stop at what’s expected. My friends, we’ve been held back for 2 years with Covid. So, this year let’s go beyond, let’s be more. Let’s have a real relationship with Gd. Tell Gd in your prayers today that you’re going to push yourself out of your comfort zone for Him.
When we do that, we don’t just hear the shofar, we become the Shofar! We get on fire; we get high on Gd! Gd sees that and says, “You’re coming out for me, you’re doing more than I expect of you? I’ll be coming out for you, and I’ll move from my throne of judgment today to my throne of mercy to forgive you and bless you.”
Let me illustrate and conclude with a powerful story I shared a couple of months ago. So many of you commented about this story. Some even suggesting it was so meaningful, I should repeat it on Rosh Hashanah when we have a larger attendance. It’s by Zeev Breier, in his book, Even In The Darkest Moments. He tells the story of David Miller, an observant Jew, who was at Logan Airport getting ready to board United Flight #175. Let me read it:
Miller was going to LA on an important business trip and had to make this flight. A lot depended on it.
He boarded the plane and sat down as the doors closed. Suddenly he remembered that he had left his tefillin in the terminal boarding area. He politely asked the stewardess if he could go back and retrieve them just a few feet from the gate.
She told him that once the doors closed, no one was allowed off the plane. He asked to speak to the pilot to obtain special permission, but the pilot simply restated the policy.
David was not about to lose this precious mitzvah, or let the holy tefilin get lost, so, not knowing what else to do, he started screaming at the top of his lungs, “I am going to lose my tefillin!”
The crew asked him to be quiet, but he refused. He made such a tumult that the flight crew told him that they would let him off the plane, but even though it would only take 90 seconds, they were not going to wait for him.
No matter. David was not about to lose his tefillin, even if it caused him great inconvenience or cost his business a loss. He left the plane, never to re-board.
That was United flight #175, the 2nd plane to crash into the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001!
It’s obvious David Miller went above and beyond to serve Gd with this mitzvah of Tefillin—so much so that it saved his life. The loss of a few hundred dollars for a new pair of Tefillin would have been small change compared to the business loss he would now suffer.
But let me tell you the rest of the story. Originally, the terrorists wanted to strike both of the Twin Towers simultaneously to maximize the explosive carnage. Later it was learned that due to David’s intransigence, the takeoff was delayed, causing a space of 18 minutes between the striking of the 2 towers. This delay made it possible for thousands of people to escape alive from both buildings. All because one Jew went above and beyond in his relationship with Hashem!
My friends, today on Rosh Hashanah, your souls are on fire. Think past yourself. Like David Miller, resolve now to go above and beyond, to give of yourself to others and to Gd. Forgive those that have hurt you. Push past your limits. Allow your true selves to come out—your finer self, your smarter self, your talented self—the Yisrael within you on fire. Show Gd that you are like a Shofar—that you go beyond.
Make Gd proud by taking on one new mitzvah this year that you’re not now doing like putting on Tefillin and saying Shema every weekday morning…lighting Shabbos candles …or saying a bracha before eating anything—showing some appreciation to Gd for your food. Find something to draw closer to Gd in the New Year. Don’t allow the temptations of our world to pour cold water on your fire…Give that nachas to Hashem. Get high and stay high on Gd. Amen!
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