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KI TAVO 5784
Facing the New Year After October 7
I know it is hard to believe, but Rosh Hashana is only 10 days away! I’m not ready yet, and I suspect that some of you are not either. The summer flew by so fast! I’m not finished sinning yet and already it’s time to start repenting? How do we get ready for the holidays?
Tere are some obvious ways. We can get our outfits together; perhaps buy a new suit or dress. We should invite family and friends and plan our menus. As we get more serious, we can pay our financial obligations to the shul. Maybe we can think about how much we can stretch ourselves to help our shul for our Yom Kippur appeal.
There are even more serious ways to start getting ready for Rosh Hashanah. I suspect that, unlike many other shuls, most of you find time to pray every day. If in your prayers you say the traditional Amidah, it will have the prayer Slach lanu Avinu ki chatanu (Forgive us Our Father for we have sinned). If you don’t have this kind of prayer as part of your prayer routine, now before Rosh Hashanah you should add it. When you say this, pause for a moment to think about one or 2 ways you have sinned this year and promise to do better in the New Year.
We should come to the Selichot service next Saturday night at 9:15pm. I know it’s late and not easy to make, but that’s the point! Chant with us the haunting and majestic melodies of the High Holy Days. Recite the Ashamnu confessional as you pray to be in the Book of Life for another year.
Another thing our tradition suggests we do to get ready for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is to recite Psalm 27 twice each day. It’s so moving: L’David, Hashem ori v’yishi; mimi ira (A Psalm of King David, Hashem is my light and my help; whom need I fear)? Hashem maoz chayai; mimi efchad (Hashem is the strength of my life; why should I be afraid)? Bikrov alai m’reyim … lo yira libi (When evil doers surround me ... my heart will not fear). 3 times in the 1st 4 verses, author David tells us he’s not afraid. You don’t have to be a psychiatrist to know that when someone keeps telling you, “I’m not afraid; really, I am not afraid,” he’s really saying that he is very much afraid—but working hard at coping with it.
It's like when your child tells you, “I’m not afraid of dogs anymore,” what she really means is that she’s still afraid of dogs, but learning to control her fears. What David really means is that while there are things that scare him, he’s grateful that he’s able to cope with them.
Sometimes even the littlest things scare us. As someone once said to his friend who was afraid of spiders: “Don’t worry; the spider is smaller than you.”
He replied, “Yea, but so is a hand grenade!”
To that this week we can add, “But so is a pager!”
What scares David? He’s afraid of the dark—not just the nighttime; he’s afraid of the dark side of human nature—our capacity for hatred, for hurting others. He finds it in others and he finds it in himself, and he wonders what will happen to the world. This is certainly a fear we all share.
A fear for both children and adults—especially in this media age—is being picked on. David speaks of, “evildoers pressing near to destroy me,” or, “armies arrayed against me,” of false witnesses telling malicious lies about me. And he doesn’t know whether he’s strong enough to stand up to them. Sort of like the raging antisemitism in our world.
2nd, he’s afraid of being left alone: Ki avi v’imi azavuni (If my father and mother should leave me). He’s afraid of being abandoned by the people around him, of discovering that the people he cares about have passed on or don’t care much about him. Although he’s scared, he declares again and again that he’s not afraid. Why? Because he believes in Gd. Gd represents the light that comes to dispel the darkness.
Remember how you felt as a child in a dark room? The darkness seemed so strong, overtaking everything, but even a little bit of light from a crack in the door or a flashlight, made it disappear. And then the darkness wasn’t so frightening.
I think there’s an answer for those who ask—especially after Oct 7: “If there is a Gd, why is there so much suffering and cruelty in the world?” It’s a complicated answer, involving our freedom to choose, and Gd withdrawing Himself from the world enough to guarantee that freedom.
But I ask anyone who tries to live without Gd if he has an answer to the question, “If there is no Gd, if there’s no force making for goodness and decency in the world, why is there as much goodness in the world as there is? Where does it come from? Where do people get the inspiration, the ability, the impulse to help, to heal, to protest injustice?” When the world’s darkness seems to be closing in, one deed of kindness—one instance of a person going out of his way to help another—creates enough light to pierce the darkness and that may be enough to restore our faith and courage.
My friends, as we approach Rosh Hashanah, let’s pledge to ourselves NOW to do acts of tzedaka to brighten the world a little for someone for whom it has grown dark—to do something which will make someone believe that Gd’s light is in this world and that he/she needn’t be afraid.
When David writes of his fear of being alone when his parents pass Gd responds: “No, you will NOT be alone. I will see to it. You will be surrounded with people during the Shiva. You will join with others at the minyan saying Kaddish. You will not be alone.” People will stand by you, to console and strengthen you. And that will be Gd at work in them—moving them to compassion.
And especially, Gd says: “I will be with you in your darkness so that you will not feel alone.” Gd doesn’t necessarily send the illness or the accident. These are facts of life—stuff happens. Our errors cause accidents and deaths. We pollute our environment with all sorts of harmful carcinogens. But Gd does send us the strength to survive it and the compassion to help others survive it. And so, David says: “Yes, I may be alone, but not really, for Gd is with me to strengthen me. And I shall yet see Gd’s goodness among the living.”
This past r after October 7, some of us have felt abandoned or even betrayed by Gd. It is beyond my pay grade to understand or answer, “How could Gd let Oct 7—or the Holocaust—happen?” These were evil acts of free-will. While there are many stories of great miracles for some individuals—some of which I have shared with you—in the end, Gd allowed it to happen. I accept this with the understanding that Gd has His reasons.
However, what I—like David—still crave the most is Gd’s Presence, Gd’s comfort, Gd’s closeness. And that feeling of closeness and comfort is something I can surround myself with and ground myself in no matter what war is raging—no matter what life brings my way.
There’s only one thing David asks for: Shivti b’vait Hashem kol y’mey chayai (That I may dwell in the House of Hashem all the days of my life), lachazot b’noam Hashem (to behold the delight of being in Gd’s presence). He wants only to be sure of the goodness of Gd and to sense His Presence. He is not asking Gd to change the world for him—just asking to reassure him that He’s there, that He’s real. Then he will know that he’s not alone and his world is filled with Gd’s light and strength.
David ends Psalm 27: Kavey el Hashem (Put your hope in Gd), chazak v’yaameytz libecha (place your confidence in Him; strengthen yourself and He will give you courage), v’kavey el Hashem (put your hope is in Gd) How? By being Gd’s hands in this world, by bringing light into the lives of others. I promise you if you do this, you will feel Gd’s Presence in your life. And when we feel G’s Presence, we’ll be able to face whatever this New Year brings our way. Amen!
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