Yom Kippur - October 12, 2024

If you keep your ears open, you can learn Torah from everywhere.

On the yahrtzeit of October 7, Vice President Kamala Harris commemorated the tragedy by planting a pomegranate tree on the grounds of the naval observatory, the official residence of the Vice President. She shared a beautiful davar Torah about the meaning of the Kaddish that I am sure was news to many Jews. This is what she said:

Today, that is October 7, I know many Jews will be reciting and reflecting on the Jewish prayer for mourning, the Kaddish. The words of the prayer are not about death; it is a prayer about our enduring belief in God, even in our darkest moments. So, as we reflect on the horrors of October 7, let us please be reminded that we cannot lose faith.”

How many Jews know that the Kaddish prayer does not make one mention of death, even though it is the prayer we recite in memory of our deceased loved ones? I knew it. But it was a beautiful and inspiring message at a time when so many of us were agonized by memories of that day and subsequent year.

Her words continued with a quotation from the preeminent theologian, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel: “Religion begins with a consciousness that something is asked of us.” So, at this moment, on the one-year commemoration of October 7, what is asked of us?”

What is asked of us? That is not just a question for Oct. 7 but every day?

Given that today is Yom Kippur, it might be appropriate to respond: observe mitzvot, do teshuvah, draw closer to God. These fall under the category of spiritual demands. But I am going to suggest that a prayer we recite every day, and will be reciting in a few moments in the Musaf service, gives us a different type of answer. The Aleynu is not so much a prayer as a statement. It calls on the worshipper to acknowledge God as Creator of the universe, who has distinguished the Jewish people from every other people. Dr. Reuven Kimelman, one of the foremost scholars of Jewish liturgy, argues, the Aleynu prayer is unique from other Jewish prayers in that it offers a very different eschatological vision. Eschatology is that part of theological doctrine that concerns the end times such as afterlife, Final Judgment, and the Messianic era. Usually, the eschatology in Jewish prayer envisions the restoration of the Davidic dynasty, our return to the Land of Israel, the coming of the Messiah, and Divine salvation. These concepts are all laid out in the Amidah’s final petitions:’return in mercy to Jerusalem’ and ‘dwell therein as You have spoken’; ‘rebuild it soon’, ‘may You speedily establish the throne of David; ‘Speedily raise up the descendent of David’, that is, the Messiah, ‘it is Your deliverance, God, that we hope for”.

But none of that imagery is found in the Aleynu.

The first paragraph of the Aleynu is written in the style of Biblical parallelism, a literary device in which two or more lines of a poem closely correspond to make a point. So, line one of the Aleynu says, “It is incumbent upon us to praise the Master of all; to ascribe greatness to the Creator of the world’s beginning”. The first half and the second are synonymous. “Praise” parallels “ascribe greatness”; “Master of all” corresponds to “Creator of the World’s beginning”. The second line is “God has not made us like the nations of the land, and has not put us like the families of the earth”. Again, the first half of the verse – “God has not made us like the other nations”, parallels “not put us like the families of the earth”. The next line describes God’s creative efforts – “God spread out the heavens, and established the earth”. This is a common merism – a device that uses a pair of contrasting words to describe a totality. But this line is followed n by “the seat of God’s glory is in heaven above, and the mighty Shechinah is in the loftiest heights.” Whoa! Where is the parallelism? It should have said “the seat of God’s glory is in heaven above, and the mighty Shechinah is on earth”! Why does the prayer subvert the parallel element? Because currently God’s Presence is in Exile in the heavens. It is not on earth. According to the Aleynu that is our job -to bring the Divine Presence down to earth in order that בַּמְלכוּת ַשַׁדּי ְוָכל ְבֵּני ָבָשׂר ִיְקְראוּ ִבְ֒שֶֽׁמ:ְ לְַתֵקּן עוָֹלם “to repair the world under your mighty sovereignty so that all humankind will invoke Your name.”

Unlike Messianic visions that call for a Messiah personality to bring forward the end of time, restore Jews to the Land of Israel, and lions will lie down with lambs, this Messianic vision imposes the responsibility on us to make the changes necessary in the world so that all humans will invoke God’s name.

We might call this a spiritual Anthropocene, in which human activity improves the health of the Earth. But in what way? How does this vision answer the question, What is asked of us?

In the book of Deuteronomy, Israel is commanded five times (Devarim 11:22) "to walk in God’s ways". One midrash (Sifra, Ekev 49) asks what are the ways of the Holy One? It responds with the 13 midot recited repeatedly over Yom Kippur: (Shemoth 34:6-7) "Adonai, Adonai, El rachum v’chanum, God of mercy and grace, slow to wrath and abundant in mercy and truth, keeping lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving transgression, offense, and sin, and cleansing …". In the Aleynu the line “all humankind will invoke Your name” :ֶֽמשִׁבְ֒ וִּיְקְרא רשָׂבָ ֵניבְּ ְוָכל is suggested by the midrash could be read “we look forward to the day when all humankind will be called (yikarai) by the Divine name” (Yoel 3:5 "All who will be called by the name of the Lord will escape") That begs the question, what does it mean to be called by God’s name? The answer is to be like God. Just as the Lord is called "merciful and gracious," you, too, be merciful and gracious. Just as the Holy One is called "righteous," so you be righteous! God is called compassionate so you be compassionate!

Rabbi Shai Held points out that the message to be called by God’s name is to embody the character traits that our tradition most powerfully ascribes to God. But are character traits enough? What shall we do? As Michelle Obama told us “Do Something!” Well, the Talmud (Sotah 14a) asks how to observe the words in Deuteronomy 13:5 “After the Lord your God shall you walk”? Is it actually possible for a person to walk after the Divine Presence? For the Torah asserts “The Lord your God is a devouring fire” (4:24),…Rabbi Hama Bar Hanina explained, Rather, the meaning is that one should walk after the actions of the Holy One. Each action is followed by a biblical example: As God clothes the naked, so you too must clothe the naked; the Holy One visits the sick, so too you must visit the sick. The Holy One comforts mourners, so too you must comfort mourners. And just as the Holy One buried the dead so you too must bury the dead.”

Taken together, the phrase walking in God’s ways calls for our emotional engagement and concrete actions. The late scholar Rabbi Byron Sherwin tells the story of a homeless man who would stand in front of an office building in downtown Chicago. His shabby and dirty suit was a designer brand. He carried a cardboard sign. Though many on that street asked for money, few downtown workers could pass him by without reaching into their pockets and handing him something—no matter how rushed they seemed to be. They smiled at him both with sadness and encouragement, and then they would go their way. His sign read: I was once like you, but one day you might become like me. So, help me, please.”

Tzedakah is a mitzvah, a command, a demand, whether you like giving it or not, one must give. But the recognition generated by this homeless person’s sign aligns with a different rabbinic lesson: The Holy One warned Moses to tell the Israelites: If you lend money to one of My people, do not embarrass him, for he is with Me. If you lend money to My people, to the poor with you, (Exod. 22:24). Consider yourself as though you were among the poor of your people. (Midrash Tanhuma Mishpatim 15:5). When you give assistance don’t give it out of pity, or seeing yourself as above or better than the recipient, give it as if that individual was among your very own.

Rabbi Warren Zev Harvey notes the four examples offered as core examples of gemilut hasadim cited by Rabbi Hama bar Hanina are arranged not merely in the chronological order of their Biblical prooftexts, but also in the order of the progressive helplessness of the person in need which is also the order of decreasing capacity of recovery: the naked, the sick, the mourner and the dead. Shai Held suggests that the reason may be to embolden the helper: “for many of us, the less reversible a situation is, the more frightening it is - a baby who does not understand what we are saying does not frighten us, whereas an Alzheimer's patient often does make us anxious; and when we are afraid we are attempted to flee. But Judaism's message is clear: resist the urge to flee. Run toward the very people and places you most want to run away from.”

The term word ‘gemilut’ in gemilut hasadim comes from the root l’gmol, to pay back or remunerate. Notre Dame’s very own Tzvi Novick has translated gemilut hasadim as ‘reciprocation of kindness’, which calls for an inner feeling of indebtedness. This gift of life is an act of grace, none of us asked for it, so What is asked of us? To act with love and kindness for others and to do so with love and kindness.

Another response to the question, “what is asked of us” comes from the prophet Micah: He has told you, what is good and what God expects of you ִ֣כּי ִאם־ֲﬠ֤וֹשׂת ִמְשָׁפּ֙ט ְוַ֣אֲהַבת ֶ֔חֶסד ְוַהְצֵ֥נַﬠ ֶ֖לֶכת ִﬠם־ֱאHֶֽהיך

To do justice, to love hesed, and to walk modestly with your God. Bible Scholar, Kathleen O’Connor translates hesed as kindness and writes that “Micah’s understanding of kindness requires a way of living that does not simply do kindness. For Micah, the people must love kindness, be devoted to kindness. To love kindness is to make it a priority, to live committed to it, to act from it fully.”

How is doing justice different? Scholars have compared tzedakah and gemilut hasadim, two types of mitzvot concerned with interpersonal relations, with Micah’s distinction between justice and kindness. Rabbi Jack Spiro notes that the great code of Jewish law called The Shulhan Arukh, contains a section on tzedakah, but does not have one on the general theme of gemilut hasadim. The implication is that tzedakah is a legal necessity to safeguard fundamental human rights, not all that different from prohibiting murder, because Judaism considers the right to live to be basic, and assisting the impoverished with financial assistance allows people to live.

Most of you know that the root of tzedakah, tzedek, is often translated as justice, or righteousness. Because as the Torah notes “There will never cease to be needy ones in your land, which is why I command you: open your hand to the poor and needy kin in your land.” Giving Tzedakah is about correcting a systemic imbalance in the world.

Rabbi Byron Sherwin explains the difference between Tzedakah and Gemilut Hasadim as “Tzedakah is justice in action. Gemilut Hasadim is mercy and love in action.” By practicing Tzedakah, one fulfills social obligations. By practicing Gemilut Hasadim… one articulates having been created in the image of the divine. Giving Tzedakah fulfills requirements; Gemilut Hasadim transcends legal demands…”

An example of this attitude was the comment by the Hasidic master Rabbi Moshe Leib of Sasov:

“I learned how we must truly love our neighbor from a conversation I overheard between two villagers. The first said: "Tell me, friend Ivan, do you love me?” The second: "I love you deeply.” The first inquired: "Do you know, my friend, what gives me pain?” The second answered: "How can I know what gives you pain?” The first reacted to him: "If you do not know what gives me pain, how can you say that you truly love me?” Understand, then, to love - truly to love - means to know what brings pain to your fellow human being.' Knowing what pains a fellow human being is not something one can regulate or measure, it must come from the heart, it comes from loving kindness, to live a life committed to it. Or as a sign that Rabbi Sharon Brous has on her desk states, “Be Kind, for every person is fighting a battle you know nothing about.”

This is why Rav Huna in the Talmud advises that even Torah study is meaningless if one is not committed to acts of hesed - “one who occupies himself only with the study of Torah and not with hesed] it is as if he had no God” [BT Avodah Zarah 17b].

Shai Held challenges us by asking “How can we believe in a God who cares when the world is overrun by so much pointless, gratuitous, unredeemed misery?” He responds, “To take Judaism to heart is to live with the enormous chasm between what we affirm - that there is a God and that God loves us - and what we experience each day - that perhaps there is no God and we do not really matter in any ultimate way. To take Judaism to heart is to live with that gap, to live in the vast chasm between our theology and our daily experience.”

Rabbi Moshe Leib of Sasov sums it up:

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 him - only yourself.

What is asked of us? It may be a Jewish version of a Buddhist Koan – we are to act as if there is no God and rely exclusively on ourselves to repair the world.

However, in doing so we draw down God’s Presence into this world, as the Aleynu prayer informs us God has directed us!

Or in the words of the great civil rights leader Ella Mae Baker: “My basic sense of it has always been to get people to understand that in the long run they themselves are the only protection they have against violence or injustice… people have to be made to understand that they cannot look for salvation anywhere but to themselves.”

And that goes for our Sinai community as well. As Sinai and Temple go through this nascent period of collaboration, all the members of this congregation have to be willing to stand up and volunteer to help get this project off the ground. First and foremost, we have to make sure that Sinai as it exists now is strong. It is said, to observe the mitzvah of V'ahavta L’rayecha Kamocha – Love your neighbor as yourself, first you have to have a self. So, in order to reach out and work harmoniously with our fellow Temple Bethel Jews, first we need to make sure we at Sinai are driving on all cylinders. If Shabbat lunches are important to you, you have to volunteer to help make them. There have been too many Shabbatot in which one person alone was left preparing the lunch for the community. Our minyanim, thanks to Mike and Alan and all our regulars have been complete. But we are often right on the edge of ten. We need new folks to make regular commitments to keep this valuable practice going into the future. Our FEAST program, Hebrew school and our newly updated TAMID program for post Bnai Mitzvah is once again creatively led by Colin and all our teachers. Still every year we get desperate for people willing to teach. And Dan New has been clear that there are lots of opportunities to help with the working on the new Temple and Sinai entity.

We also need support for our Sinai team in We Make Indiana. As I have stated before it is crucial that our St. Joseph county organization have active Jewish engagement. All of us benefit from a safer and healthier county and it is up to us to help make that a reality.

Come join our meetings when we call them and find out what we can do to work on issues of concern right here in South Bend.

The answer to what is asked of us is thus to lessen our self-concern and increase our transitive concern, to be less self-reflexive and expand our concern and care for community, and beyond that, to all of life - every person, animal, tree and flora. All the life-giving energy of the universe calls on us to reciprocate the gift of that energy by acting in ways that uphold and sustain life.

May this coming year be a year in which act in loving and kind ways, and become more loving and kind people.