KOL NIDRE
WHO KNOWS SEVEN? I KNOW SEVEN
SEPT. 22, 2007/5768


SINCE THIS IS A TIME OF CONFESSION, I FEEL THAT I MUST CONFESS SOMETHING TO YOU. I ALWAYS THOUGHT (AND WAS TAUGHT) THAT JUDAISM IS A SERIES OF MITZVOT, RELIGIOUS COMMANDMENTS THAT JEWS ARE TO PERFORM IN ORDER TO MAKE A BETTER WORLD AND A BETTER SELF. OVER THE YEARS, AS A RABBI, I HAVE PREACHED THAT, TAUGHT THAT, AND EVEN TRIED TO PRACTICE, IF NOT LIVE IT, IN MY OWN WAY.

TONIGHT I MUST TELL YOU THAT MUCH OF WHAT I HAVE BEEN EMPHASIZING HAS BEEN THE WRONG THING. JUDAISM IS NOT JUST A SERIES OF MITZVOT; IN FACT, TO RELEGATE IT TO JUST A SERIES OF ‘MUST DO’, ‘CAN DO’ AND ‘SHOULD DO’ MITZVOT, REDUCES IT TO SOMETHING SMALL, UNIMPORTANT AND IRRELEVANT. JUDAISM IS FAR GREATER THAN THAT, FAR GREATER THAN WE, ITS FOLLOWERS, CAN EVEN IMAGINE.

AND YET, AS GREAT AS IT IS, AND BELIEVE ME, IT IS, IT STILL REQUIRES, LIKE ANY STRONG FORCE, TO BE CHANNELED, DIRECTED AND DEVELOPED IN A CONTROLLED MANNER IN ORDER TO GAIN THE MOST FROM ITS LESSONS AND PRINCIPLES. THE MITZVOT WERE DEVELOPED TO HELP IN THAT CHANNELING AND DIRECTING, THE INSTITUTION GIVEN THE HONOR OF FACILITATING THESE LESSONS WAS THE SYNAGOGUE, AND FOR THE PAST 2,000 YEARS, THE PERSON WHO HAD THE HONOR OF TEACHING AND DISSEMINATING ITS PRINICIPLES WAS THE RABBI. TOGETHER, THE MEMBERS OF THE SYNAGOGUE, THE DISCIPLES OF THE RABBI, AND THE RABBI, FORM A CORE OF INDIVIDUALS WHO VOLUNTARILY BAND TOGETHER, AND FOR WANT OF A BETTER PHRASE: “DO JEWISH” IN AN ORGANIZED WAY, OR AT LEAST AS ORGANIZED AS JEWS CAN POSSIBLY BE.

THROUGHOUT MY YEARS AS A RABBI, I HAVE STUDIED TEXT, LISTENED TO LECTURES, TAKEN CLASSES, TAUGHT CLASSES AND GIVEN THOUGHT TO MANY ASPECTS OF THE JEWISH EXPERIENCE. THROUGHOUT IT ALL, I FIND MYSELF COMING BACK TO THE SAME BASIC ISSUES AND PRINCIPLES THAT SEEM TO CONSISTENTLY RUN THROUGH IT ALL: AND IT’S NOT MORE MITZVOT. BEST SUMMARIZED IN THE WORDS OF RABBI IRWIN KULA, A CONSERVATIVE RABBI, IN HIS BOOK: YEARNINGS: EMBRACING THE SACRED MESSINESS OF LIFE: “RATHER THAN TEACH ABSOLUTE TRUTHS, JEWISH TEACHINGS INVITE US TO DANCE WITH DUALITIES AND CONTRADICTIONS: LIFE AND DEATH; HATE AND LOVE; RIGHT AND WRONG; SORROW AND JOY.”

BEARING THE CONCEPT OF ‘SACRED MESSINESS’ IN MIND, THIS KOL NIDRE, I WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK ON 7 OF THE MOST POWERFUL TEACHINGS OF JUDAISM THAT I HAVE FOUND, THUS FAR, IN MY STUDIES. THEY ARE NOT MITZVOT, ‘RELIGIOUS DOS OR DON’TS’ BUT RATHER, OBSERVATIONS ON LIFE THAT HELP ME, NOT ONLY LIVE MY LIFE, BUT ALSO PROVIDE DIRECTION AND STRUCTURE FOR ME IN AN OFTEN, CHAOTIC AND HIGHLY UNFAIR WORLD.

THE FIRST OF THESE TEACHINGS IS THAT, CONTRARY TO SO MANY RELIGIONS AND FAITH COMMUNITIES. IN JUDAISM: DOUBT IS KOSHER AND QUESTIONING IS EXPECTED. AS RABBI KULA WRITES: “JEWISH WISDOM ENCOURAGES US TO BE SACRED SKEPTICS.” WE ARE ENCOURAGED BY GOD AND OUR TRADITION TO BECOME LIFE-LONG LEARNERS, QUESTIONERS AND YES, EVEN SKEPTICS.

AS THE CHASSIDIC RABBI MOSHE LEIB OF SASOV, OVER 200 YEARS AGO TAUGHT: ‘GOD CREATED SKEPTISM SO THAT WE MAY NOT LET THE POOR STARVE…BY TELLING THEM TO PUT THEIR TRUST IN GOD, INSTEAD OF US SUPPLYING THEM WITH FOOD. FOR IF THERE IS NO GOD, THEN WHO, IF NOT US, WILL HELP THEM?’ IN OTHER WORDS: IN TIMES OF NEED, DON’T SAY: ‘GOTT VILL HELFEN’- GOD WILL HELP. ACT FIRST, AND THEN GET THEOLOGICAL. THE FOLLOWING TEACHING IS BASED NOT ON A REFORM RABBI’S INTERPRETATION, BUT RATHER A TRADITIONAL INTERPRETATION OF HALACHA, THE JEWISH LEGAL PROCESS. THERE IS NO BLESSING TO BE RECITED BEFORE PERFORMING AN ACT OF TZEDAKAH. DO YOU KNOW WHY? BECAUSE IT TAKES TOO MUCH TIME TO SAY A B’RACHA, A BLESSING. BETTER TO GIVE THE MONEY INSTEAD OF WASTING TIME RECITING WORDS.

MANY OF YOU KNOW THAT I NEVER USE THE WORD: RELIGIOUS. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT MEANS, AND AS FAR AS I’M CONCERNED, ANYONE WHO SAYS THAT THEY ARE RELIGIOUS, AUTOMATICALLY ISN’T. I BASE MY PRACTICE FROM THE TORAH ITSELF. THE ONLY WORD USED IN THE TORAH TO EVER DESCRIBE MOSES, THE ULTIMATE LAW GIVER AND TEACHER, WHO EVEN SAW GOD FACE TO FACE, IS THE WORD: ANAV- HUMBLE. THE TORAH CALLS HIM: ‘THE HUMBLEST OF MEN’. SO IF MOSES, THE GREATEST OF ALL JEWS, IS CALLED “HUMBLE” AND NOT RELIGIOUS; (AND CERTAINLY THE TORAH COULD HAVE USED THE WORD ‘RELIGIOUS’ FOR MOSES), ANYONE WHO WOULD HAVE THE CHUTZPAH TO CALL HIMSELF RELIGIOUS, IS HOLDING HIMSELF GREATER THAN MOSES AND, IN REALITY, IS AS FAR FROM ANY TYPE OF RELIGIOSITY AS HE IS FROM MODESTY AS WELL.

THE HIGHEST COMPLIMENT ONE CAN GIVE THE GREATEST OF SCHOLARS IS NOT THAT THE PERSON IS: ‘RELIGIOUS’, BUT RATHER THAT HE IS A: ‘TALMID-CHACHAM’: A STUDENT OF THE WISE; FOR ONE NEVER FINISHES LEARNING- EVEN RABBIS HAVE TO KEEP STUDYING WHILE, ABOVE ALL, REMEMBERING THE QUALITY OF ‘ANAVAH’- HUMILITY.

IN HIS BOOK: ‘OVERCOMING LIFE’S DISAPPOINTMENTS’, RABBI HAROLD KUSHNER TELLS THE STORY OF A RABBI WHO RAN INTO A MEMBER OF HIS CONGREGATION IN A BOOKSTORE AND MENTIONED TO HIM THAT HE HADN’T SEEN HIM IN A WHILE. THE MAN SAID THAT HE HAD BEEN GOING TO ANOTHER SYNGAGOUE FOR SERVICES. THE RABBI WAS A BIT SHOCKED AND SAID: I KNOW THAT RABBI AND HE’S A VERY NICE PERSON, BUT HE’S NOT THE SCHOLAR THAT I AM, HE’S NOT THE PREACHER THAT I AM, AND HE’S NOT THE COMMUNITY LEADER THAT I AM EITHER. WHY HAVE YOU LEFT MY SYNAGOGUE FOR HIS TEMPLE? ‘YOU’RE CORRECT’, SAID THE CONGREGANT. ‘BUT MY NEW RABBI HAS TAUGHT ME HOW TO READ MINDS. I’LL SHOW YOU. THINK OF SOMETHING AND I WILL TELL YOU WHAT YOU WERE THINKING.’ THE RABBI CONCENTRATED FOR A FEW MINUTES AND THE CONGREGANT SAID: ‘YOU’RE THINKING OF THE VERSE FROM PSALMS: ‘I HAVE SET THE LORD BEFORE ME AT ALL TIMES (PS. 16:8). THE RABBI EXCLAIMED: ‘HA, YOU’RE WRONG! I WASN’T THINKING OF THAT AT ALL.’ TO WHICH THE CONGREGANT RESPONDED: ‘I KNOW YOU WEREN’T, THAT’S WHY I DON’T WORSHIP WITH YOU ANYMORE.’”

WHICH LEADS ME TO THE SECOND TEACHING: BEING RITUALLY OBSERVANT IS NOT BEING RELIGIOUS. IT IS BEING RITUALLY OBSERVANT.’ AND ONE THING HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE OTHER. ROBERT HEINLEIN, THE GREAT SCIENCE FICTION WRITER I QUOTED ON ROSH HASHANAH, ONCE WROTE: “IN THE ABSENCE OF CLEARLY- DEFINED GOALS, WE BECOME STRANGELY LOYAL TO PERFORMING DAILY TRIVIA UNTIL ULTIMATELY, WE BECOME ENSLAVED BY IT.” WE OFTEN CONFUSE RITUAL WITH GOALS, AND HABIT WITH MEANING.

TRUE STORY: SOMEONE JOINING OUR TEMPLE TOLD ME THAT THEY HAD MET THE RABBI OF THE CHABAD SYNAGOGUE ON INDIAN TRACE AND FOR SOME REASON, THOUGHT THAT HE WAS THE RABBI AT DOR DORIM, BUT, AND I QUOTE: “AFTER REALIZING THAT HE WAS TOO RELIGIOUS, I KNEW IT COULDN’T BE YOU.”

I THINK I KNOW WHAT SHE MEANT…..BUT……

A THIRD TEACHING IS THAT’S: IT’S OK TO FAIL. EDISON TRIED THOUSANDS OF DIFFERENT LIGHT BULBS BEFORE THE FIRST ONE WORKED. AND EINSTEIN SAID: “I HAVE NOT FAILED. I’VE FOUND 10,000 WAYS THAT WOULD NOT WORK.”

JUDAISM EXPECTS US TO FAIL AS WE STRUGGLE TO GROW IN SPIRITUAL STRENGTH AND UNDERSTANDING. THE ONLY WAY TO GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL NEVER FALL OFF OF A 2 WHEEL BIKE IS TO NEVER TRY TO RIDE IT IN THE FIRST PLACE. THE ONLY WAY YOU WILL ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL NEVER FAIL AT ANYTHING IS TO NEVER TRY AT ALL. AND THE ONLY WAY TO GROW IS TO WORK AT IT, STEP BY STEP, MAKING MISTAKES, COMMITING SINS, AND LEARNING FROM THEM. BUT IF WE NEVER TRY, THEN WE STAY THE WAY WE ARE, LIKE THE BAR OR BAT MITZVAH CHILD WHO DROPS OUT OF RELIGIOUS SCHOOL FOLLOWING THE CEREMONY, GROWING INTO ADULTHOOD WITH THE FRACTURED KNOWLEDGE OF A 13 YEAR OLD.

A FOURTH TEACHING IS THAT: THERE IS NO ULTIMATE TRUTH, NO FINAL ARRIVAL IN LIFE, BUT RATHER A SERIES OF ARRIVALS.

AS RABBI IRWIN KULA WRITES: “WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? THAT THE SEARCH (FOR ANSWERS) ITSELF IS THE ANSWER. THE DIRTY DISHES TO BE WASHED AGAIN AND AGAIN; LIFE’S INTENSITY UNFOLDING EVERYWHERE, ALL THE TIME. KNOWING THIS, THERE IS NOTHING TO FEAR. WE ARE FREE TO DIVE INTO THE MESS OF LIFE AND GET NICE AND DIRTY AND TO EXPERIENCE THE POWER OF SORTING IT OUT ALL OVER AGAIN….THE GOAL IS NOT TO PROVE SOME DIVINELY ORDAINED TRUTH BUT TO DISCOVER EXQUISITE AMBIGUITIES AND MYSTERIES ABOUT OURSELVES AND THE WORLD; TO FIND AS MANY HUMBLE ABSOLUTES AS POSSIBLE…WISDOM ISN’T ABOUT KNOWING: IT’S AN UNDERSTANDING THAT MEANING IS INEXHAUSTIBLE.”

MY FRIENDS, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT POWER- ABSOLUTE, LIBERATING AND EXHILARATING POWER. THE POWER WITHIN OURSELVES, TO TAKE THE NOBLE TEACHINGS OF OUR FAITH AND TO MAKE OF THEM HOLY GIFTS TO GOD AND TO SOCIETY BY THE LIVES WE LIVE. THOUGH OUR GIFTS WILL BE DIFFERENT (NOT EVEN GOD WANTS TO GET THE SAME GIFT OVER AND OVER AGAIN), IF THEY ARE GOOD, PURE, HOLY AND THE BEST WE CAN DO, THEN THE GIFTS ARE WHAT WE ARE: OUR EVER-CHANGING AND GROWING TRUE SELVES.

A FIFTH TRUTH IS THAT: NO MATTER HOW ENGROSSED WE BECOME IN WHATEVER OUR PASSION IS: WORK OR PLAY, ONE MUST NEVER BECOME OBLIVIOUS TO THE CRIES AROUND US.

RABBI DOV BER’S INFANT CHILD FELL OUT OF HIS CRIB IN THE OTHER ROOM AND STARTED CRYING. THE RABBI, WHO WAS KNOWN TO BE ABLE TO STUDY FOR HOURS ON END, WAS SO ENGROSSED IN HIS STUDY THAT HE DIDN’T HEAR THE BABY’S CRIES. THE GRANDFATHER HEARD THE CRYING, PICKED UP THE BABY AND SAID TO HIS SON, THE FAMOUS RABBI: “NO MATTER HOW DEEPLY ONE IS ENGROSSED IN STUDY, ONE MUST NEVER BE OBLIVIOUS TO THE CRY OF A CHILD.”

IF WE IGNORE THE WORLD AROUND US BECAUSE WE ARE SO ENGROSSED IN OUR OWN JEWISHLY COMMUNAL OR PRIVATE LIVES, OUR OWN WORK OR PLAY, AND DON’T HEAR THE CRY OF A CHILD, THEN WE ARE NOT ONLY CHEATING OTHERS OF OUR ATTENTION, BUT ALSO OURSELVES AS WELL.

A SIXTH TEACHING IS TO: ONE MUST KNOW WHEN TO SAY YES OR NO; KOSHER OR TREIF. THE STORY IS TOLD OF A POOR WOMAN WHO, ON EREV SHABBAT, BRINGS A CHICKEN FOR THE RABBI TO EXAMINE AS TO WHETHER OR NOT IT WAS KOSHER. WITHOUT LOOKING AT IT, THE RABBI SAYS IT IS KOSHER AND WISHES HER A GOOD SHABBES. AS SHE LEAVES, HIS SHAMMES SAYS TO HIM: “RABBI, THE CHICKEN WAS OBVIOUSLY TREIF AND YOU SAID IT WAS KOSHER.” THE RABBI SAYS TO HIM: “YOU LOOKED AT THE CHICKEN, I LOOKED AT THE WOMAN.”

TRUE, SOMETIMES THE CHICKEN IS TREIF AND NOTHING CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT. AS AN ORTHODOX RABBI FRIEND OF MINE ONCE SAID TO ME: ”IT’S EASY TO SAY ‘NO’ BUT IT TAKES A SPECIAL PERSON TO BE ABLE TO SOMETIMES SAY ‘YES’.”

THE SEVENTH AND LAST TEACHING IS: NEVER FORGET THAT EACH OF US IS A CHILD OF GOD. RABBI SH’LOMO OF KARLIN ASKED HIS STUDENTS: “WHAT WAS THE MOST GRIEVOUS SIN A JEW COULD COMMIT?” THEY ANSWERED: IDOLATRY? MURDER? LEAVING JUDAISM FOR ANOTHER FAITH? EACH TIME THE RABBI SAID: NO, AND SO THEY KEPT GUESSING. FINALLY, THE RABBI QUOTED A VERSE IN THE FIFTH BOOK OF THE TORAH, DEVARIM/DEUTERONOMY: ‘BANIM ATEM LADONAY ELOHEYCHEM- YOU ARE CHILDREN OF ADONAY YOUR GOD.’”
FORGETTING THAT WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD, IS THE GREATEST OF SINS.

MY FRIENDS, EACH OF US IS A CHILD OF GOD, BUT WE OFTEN ACT AS IF WE ARE FERAL CHILDREN, RAISED BY WOLVES IN THE WILD. WE CONSISTENLY EXCUSE OUR FAILINGS AND SINS BY SAYING THAT WE ARE JUST FLESH AND BLOOD, JUST HUMAN, AS WELL AS CONSISTENTLY FORGET THAT WE ARE ALSO COMPOSED OF SPIRIT, HAVING COUNTLESS OPPORTUNITIES TO GROW SPIRITUALLY AND NOT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THEM.

WILL ROGERS, THE GREAT AMERICAN HUMORIST OF THE 1930’S, IN COMMENTING ON THE VERSE IN THE BOOK OF PSALMS: “’GOD MADE MAN LITTLE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS’, SAID: “AND HE HAS BEEN GETTING LOWER AND LOWER EVER SINCE.”

IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THAT WAY- NOT IF WE TRULY BELIEVE IN WHAT OUR FAITH TEACHES US AND IN THE POWER WITHIN OURSELVES FOR REAL CHANGE, REAL TESHUVA.

SHEVA MI YODEA? WHO KNOWS SEVEN? SHEVA ANI YODEAH- I KNOW SEVEN:

• DOUBT IS KOSHER
• BEING RITUALLY OBSERVANT IS NOT BEING RELIGIOUS, IT IS BEING RITUALLY OBSERVANT.
• IT’S OK TO FAIL.
• THERE IS NO ULTIMATE TRUTH, NO FINAL ARRIVAL, BUT RATHER, A SERIES OF ARRIVALS.
• NO MATTER HOW ENGROSSED WE BECOME IN WHATEVER OUR PASSION IS, WORK OR PLAY, ONE MUST NEVER BECOME OBLIVIOUS TO THE CRIES AROUND US.
• ONE MUST KNOW WHEN TO SAY YES OR NO, KOSHER OR TREIF.
• NEVER FORGET THAT EACH OF US IS A CHILD OF GOD.

THESE SEVEN ARE THE TEACHINGS THAT CAN HELP MAKE THIS NEW YEAR OF 5768, A TRULY GOOD YEAR, A BEAUTIFUL YEAR AND A YEAR OF BLESSING FOR THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, OUR WORLD AND OURSELVES.

L’SHANA TOVA TIKATEIVU V’TEICHATEIMU- MAY WE ALL BE WRITTEN AND SEALED IN THE BOOK OF LIFE AND BLESSING. AMEN V’AMEN