Yom Kippur 5775

By Dr. Ellen Frankel for Reconstructionist Jewish Communities

Unetanah Tokef - In the Wake of the Decree

On Rosh Hashanah it is written and on Yom Kippur it is sealed… Who shall live and who shall die… Who shall be at peace and who shall be tormented… but teshuvah, repentance; tefilah, prayer; and tzedakah, acts of righteous compassion, will annul et ro’ah ha-gezera, the severity of the decree.

What is the meaning of these few lines, some of the most familiar in the High Holy Day liturgy, specifically three questions that emerge from them:

What do we make of this notion of God's decree?

How is it possible for human actions-repentance, prayer, and tzedakah-to influence divine actions?

Precisely what do we imagine will change for us if we perform these actions?

In other words, I'd like to explore with you the ideas of fate and free will, and how they interact, especially in the imagery evoked in the prayer I cited above.

First, a traditional Chinese parable:

Long ago in a remote village in China, there lived a man whose only possession was his horse. One day the horse ran away. “Ah, terrible fortune!” lamented the poor man. But a few days later, his horse returned, with a beautiful wild mare by its side. “Ah,” said the man. “Good fortune!” But when the man's only son tried to break in the new horse, it threw him, and he broke his leg. “Ah,” said the man. “Terrible fortune!” Shortly after this, a military recruiter came through the village, drafting every able-bodied man into the emperor's army. Since the man's son had a broken leg, he was not considered fit to serve. “Ah,” said the man. “Great fortune!”

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Shabbat Shuva; Ha-azinu

Deuteronomy 32:1-52

by Rabbi Ellen Dannin for Jewish Reconstructionist Communities

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

The Torah constantly puts us between a rock and a hard place . . . literally.

Take Ha'azinu, for example. A few years ago I first noticed something interesting about rocks while reading Ha'azinu, Moses' farewell poem. It is a poignant piece of literature, because it is impossible to read it without knowing that it is given in the shadow of his death. Even worse than his death, Moses is to be left behind as the children of Israel - the same people who have plagued his life through forty years in the desert - get to enter the Promised Land. Ha'azinu's gracious song of praise to God is a remarkable act under the circumstances.

Those circumstances become even more ironic, for hidden within that song, Moses seems to be twitting God. Moses refers to God as the "Rock." The parsha begins with Moses extolling God, saying, "The Rock! - His deeds are perfect, Yea, all His ways are just." (Deuteronomy 32:4) Again, this seems bittersweet, but when in context it seems mostly bitter.

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Shabbat Slichot - Nitzavim-Vayelech

Deuteronomy 29:9-63:9

Rabbi Steven Pik-Nathan for Jewish Reconstructionist Communities

Choose Life

This week's parasha is the double portion Nitzavim/Vayeleh. At the beginning of the parasha Moses tells the Jewish People, "You stand this day, all of you, before the Eternal your God . . . to enter into the covenant of the Eternal your God, which the Eternal your God is concluding with you this day . . . that God may establish you this day as God's people and be your God."

Three times, Moses stresses the phrase, "this day," emphasizing the contemporaneity of God's outreach to the Jewish People. Rashi notices this repetition, and comments that the chorus of "this day" indicates that, "just as this day enlightens, so will God enlighten [the Jewish People] in the future." The text reminds us that each one of us stands before God "this day" because God is always present to us. This relationship that continues from generation to generation reminds us not only of our connection to God, but to our ancestors and our future descendants as well. We have stood, stand, and will stand in God's presence, surrounded and filled with the power of Divinity, if we only recognize this. God's presence will then continue to enlighten us for all time. The text applies this to the Jewish people, but we certainly understand this as applying to all who choose to connect with the Divine within their lives.
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Ki Tavo

Deuteronomy 26:1–29:8

Rabbi Lewis Eron for Jewish Reconstructionist Communities

Serving God in Gladness

It's hard to believe that in a few weeks we will be begin the fall holidays with the celebration of Rosh Ha-Shanah, the Jewish New Year. While we often think of this season as a time of solemn observance to be approached with awe and reverence, the High Holy Days are truly festive days, as well. On these holidays, we celebrate God's presence in our lives and the opportunity His presence offers us to be better people.

The High Holy Days are a time to look into our souls. We come before God and measure our lives. Trusting that our God is a merciful God who reads our hearts, we believe that our judgment rests not on our deeds but on our souls, not on our actions over the past twelve months but on our responses to the choices we have made, the words we have said, and the deeds we have done. We believe that forgiveness is available to us if we are receptive to it. We need to ask ourselves if we are willing to change for the better and to continue striving to tighten our bonds with our family, our community, our world and our God.

It is particularly important during this season, when most Jews seek out the opportunity to come to synagogue to worship, that we, as a people, take to heart the Psalmist's exhortation to come rejoicing before God (Psalm 100:2). How can we take advantage of the promise of forgiveness and rebirth if we do not accept this opportunity cheerfully and with a sense of optimism? If we enter the synagogue out of a sense of obligation, with a feeling of being burdened, and without any trust in the process, how can we hope for self-improvement?

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Ki Teitzei

Deuteronomy 21:10–25:19

Rabbi Lewis Eron for Jewish Reconstructionist Communities

It Just Isn't So!

There comes a point in the life of all faithful Jews when we face the fact that what the Torah says, just isn't so. This does not occur when we see the differences between the ancient understanding of the origins and structures of the physical world and contemporary scientific knowledge. The Torah is not a science text book, but uses the knowledge of its time to illustrate the various ways in which God, the Creator, interacts with creation. Nor does it happen when we first note the differences between the Torah's use of history and modern academic historical work and journalistic reporting. The Torah's concern is not objective reporting but rather is interested in using historical events to describe the evolving relationship between God and God's people, Israel.

The fundamental challenge takes place when we discover that the way in which the Torah orders its world does not correspond to the way in which we experience our world. In the world described by the Torah those loyal to the Covenant and strive to fulfill its holy directives are promised success, security and long years. But in our world, those promises are rarely, if ever kept. What we see in our live-a-day world is that all too often the saintly receive no rewards, people of faith fail to obtain material gifts, and the blessings of health, happiness, prosperity and longevity are not guaranteed to any human being no matter how righteous that soul may be. Theologians describe this challenge to faith as the question of theodicy, God's justice.

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