Rabbi's
Sermons
Yom Kippur Day
Sinai Synagogue, Shabbat AM, September 22, 2007
The pop musician Prince made a movie years ago called Purple Rain. There was one scene that I remember most clearly: Prince brings his girlfriend home to his house. He lives in his parents’ basement and has a little recording studio set up there. His parents have a very abusive relationship and he escapes in his music. His girl friend turns on a tape machine and this weird laughing sound comes out of the recording. She asks him who is laughing. And he says, its not laughing, I recorded the sound of my mother crying after my father beat her and played it backwards.
The inability to distinguish between a laugh and a cry is the cause of much miscommunication in this world. But on occasion the two are intertwined. I think about the blasts of the Shofar, the two tekiah blasts that encircle the shvarim and teruah blasts. The shvarim and teruah are variations of a crying, bleating sound, but the tekiah is a blast that is blown to announce celebration (Num. 10:8). When we listen to the Shofar sounds we hear the two extremes of emotion – celebration and anguish wrapped together.
We see this entwining of extremes through a word play in the Golden Calf incident in Exodus. Moses and the people have experienced the Great Revelation at Sinai. Moses then goes away for forty days. While there the people make a Golden Calf and begin to pray and sing to it. God informs Moshe of what is happening. Moshe comes down the mountain where he meets his disciple Joshua, who knows nothing of what is going on. The Torah tells us, “When Joshua heard the sound of the people in its boisterousness “et kol haAm bra’oh”, (the same root as teruah that wailing sound of the shofar) he said to Moses, “There is a cry of war in the camp.”
But Moses answered, “Ayn kol anot g’vurah v’ain kol anot halushah kol anot anochi shomea” “It is not the sound of the tune of triumph, Or the sound of the tune of defeat; It is the sound of song that I hear!”
The word that reoccurs in this passage three times is anot. They hear these sounds emanating from the camp and Joshua who does not know anything about the Golden Calf cannot figure out what the sounds are. Is it laughing anot g’vurah, victory song, is it crying, anot halushah, a song of frailty? And Moses responds in that it is just anot, in a sense, it is both, a laugh/cry. Rabbi Shlomo Riskin compares it to the ululating sounds that Jews from Arab lands make on special occasions. They make these sounds on simhas such as weddings and bar mitzvahs and also at funerals. He suggests that this sound is confused because the people were mixed up. On the one hand they knew what they were doing was wrong so they could not truly enjoy the bacchanalian feast but on the other hand they were so scared and lost without Moshe they could not be faithful to God and the Covenant. So they were mixed up and the sounds that emanated from them were mixed up laughs and cries.
When we are confused about which paths to take in life, when we have gone astray from the path we know is proper, laugh/cries are often the response. The pathetic and endlessly detailed lives of young Hollywood and music celebrities like Britney Spears and Lindsey Lohan reveal lives that are in constant laugh/cries. And to a lesser extent I think all of us have known moments in our lives in which we suffered from such emotional confusion.
What is the underlying significance of this word anot today, on Yom Kippur? Today is the day we are commanded “te’anu et nafshoteichem” “afflict your souls” , from the same root as the word anot, and we observe five special restrictions to our behavior called inuyim , that is -- no food or drink, no washing, no anointing with oils or perfumes, no sex and no leather shoes. inuyim also come from the same root as anot .
Today is the day upon which we are commanded numerous times in the Torah “te’anu et nafshoteichem”. And the question for us this day is what does that truly mean? The standard translation is afflict, and with it a connotation of sadness and anguish. But we have also seen it carries the nuance of laughter or song. And those of you who know some modern Hebrew know that it is also the root of the word to answer. Thus to truly understand the meaning of this day we must uncover what it means “te’anu et nafshoteichem”.
The standard explanation of “te’anu et nafshoteichem” is to afflict yourselves. The JPS translation has ‘self-denial’, Dr Richard Elliot Friedman’s translation translates it ‘degrade yourselves”. Friedman’s translation is closer to other uses of the term in the context of abuse. When bringing his first fruits to the Priests, the farmer would declare “Vayarey’u otanu hamitzrim v’ya’anunu” (Deut. 26:6) ‘The Egyptians dealt harshly with us and oppressed us’. When Shechem kidnaps Dina, the daughter of Jacob, the term used is v’ya’anunu, he defiled her or raped her. And of course there is the broken piece of matzah, the Lechem oni the bread of affliction or impoverishment that we eat at the Pesah seder.
How does affliction affect our observance this day? We live in an age where comfort seems our highest value. From technologies that allow us to have Home Entertainment Centers that are the same size and quality as the movie screens at Movies 14, to homes that grow larger and larger and allow every member of the family a room of their own, to inexpensive gas even at its current prices that allow us to live and work at greater distances or have easy access to summer homes, our goal in life is to be comfortable. Not to struggle too much. And yet all this comfort masks for us the truth that we are not comfortable, we have more anxiety, more fears, more insecurity. So much of our discomfort comes from issues that no Home Entertainment Center will ever correct – my neighbor has more than me, I work more and more hours and get so little satisfaction, I work more and more hours so I can get more and more things. I was not recognized for my merit, but the next guy was. Her children are more liked than mine. So our goal is comfort and complacency and yet the result is that we are often miserable, and the things that bother us are superficial.
In the words of Abraham Joshua Heschel, “the root of any religious faith is a sense of embarrassment, of inadequacy.” And the fasting and other restrictions we observe on this day force us to acknowledge this. They break us down. We confront the reality that we are not whole, we are not strong, we are weak and fragile. We are so desperate. We can’t go even two meals without an ache in our bellies. And we stink. We are embarrassed by our odors. And those of you who did shower today did so because just the thought of public body odor embarrassed you. That external odor reminds us that that there is something unclean within as well. The observances this day, the inuyim, that we follow, afflict us, degrade us, and force us to confront what failures we have been. This sense of discomfort that leads to the recognition of failure supplemented by the liturgy of confession brings us to a state of contrition.
They say don’t fix what ain’t broke. But until we are afflicted we don’t acknowledge what is broke. Until we recognize our brokenness, we will not fix it. That is why inuyim must mean affliction.
But you can’t stay in this place forever. The goal of the day is not to maintain this state but to lift us out of it. If all one were to do was to meditate on one’s failures, the aspect of purification that Yom Kippur brings would never be accomplished. In the words of one rabbi, “swish dirt this way or that, you may clean the spot where you are brushing but the dirt is still there.” Yom Kippur has to lead us upwards. And this is a secondary meaning of the root “ani” . It can mean “to answer”. As in
Gen. 41:16 “Vaya’an Yosef et Paroh lamor: biladai! Elokim ya’aneh et shlom Paraoh” “Yosef answered Pharaoh, saying: Not I! God will answer the questions regarding your dream for your well being.” And Lechem oni , which can mean bread of affliction, can also mean “Lechem she onim alav harbeh”. Bread over which many answers, responses are offered.
These five inuyim are five responses, to our condition. Fasting and refraining from bathing urge us to be sensitive to others for now that we understand better. Irving Cramer who was the executive director of Mazon tells the story of a teacher who asked his class about breakfast. Some had eaten, some had not. Those who had not either did like breakfast or had not time. But one boy never put his hand up. “And why didn’t you eat breakfast this morning?” The boy replied in all seriousness, “It was not my turn”. We give up one day of food and we are miserable, lethargic, fuzzy headed. We don’t shower and we feel gross. Now imagine how people who don’t have a choice have to get through life. You can’t fast and refrain from bathing on Yom Kippur and not feel that it is wrong that people should have to get used to this.
We refrain from wearing leather because we cannot ask God for life when we show no mercy ourselves. We are used to exploiting the world for our desires but not on Yom Kippur. The inuyim of Yom Kippur demand of us - You cannot remain indifferent, you must respond, you must act, you must change your ways by caring more about others, about God’s world. As Rabbi Israel Salanter once taught, each human is given two eyes, one to look within and see his or her faults, and one to look outward and be concerned for the needs of others.
So far we have learned that inuyim can mean affliction and response. Both of these add to our understanding of this sacred day. But they do not explain certain teachings about Yom Kippur from our tradition.
According to Rabban Shimon Ben Gamliel, there were no more joyous days for Israel than the 15th of Av and Yom Kippur” No days were more joyous? We have been talking about inuyim as anguish and affliction and here Rabban Gamliel says it is the most joyous day of the year. He explains that on these two days there was a Sadie Hawkins atmosphere and women would come out in the fields and attempt to find themselves husbands. Song of Songs states “Go forth, you daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon with the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding and on the day of his greatest joy (Song of Songs. 3:11). The day of his greatest joy – according to the sages refers to Yom Kippur. Rabbi Shlomo Riskin explains that Yom Kippur is the wedding day of God and Israel, the day the Temple was completed, the huppah of God and Israel.
But if we look at our word “ani” it also lends itself to this interpretation of Yom Kippur as a day of joy. “ani” can also mean song as in “Vata’an lahem Miriam: Shiru LaShem ke ga’oh ga’ah sus v’rochvo ramah vaYam” Ex. 15:21 “Miryam sang to them: Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed, yes, triumphed, the horse and its charioteer he flung into the sea!”
Where does singing fit into the day, how can these “inuyim” be considered a form of singing?
The Ohev Yisrael, the first Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heschel, taught that we fast on both Tisha B’Av and Yom Kippur but the fasts are very different. On Tisha B’Av as we mourn the tragedies that befell our people, who can eat? But on Yom Kippur when we are like angels, when we transcend our physical needs, who needs to eat? Rabbi Shlomo Riskin seconded this sentiment, “I refrain from eating and drinking on Yom Kippur because I don’t need the food, because …I am an angel.... And this gives one joy. When God forgave the Jews after the sin of the Golden Calf God defined God’s self as the God who forgives, the God of lovingkindness, the God of compassion, as the God who cleanses the people whom God loves.
He continues, “te’anu et nafshoteichem” Means you shall cause your souls to sing! I fast on Yom Kippur because I free myself from physical necessities in order to enable my soul to soar, my soul to sing. I revel in my freedom…. Therefore Yom Kippur is Shabbat Shabbaton. No sadness is permitted on this day. It is a day for the singing and soaring of our soul. It is the day that celebrates our freedom and therefore our joy.”
I don’t know if I can be as exuberant as Rabbi Riskin, who is one of the most energetic leaders of the Jewish people in the last 50 years, about fasting. But I do see a connection between“inuyim” that we abide on this day and joy. For in observing these particular restrictions we are choosing to limit ourselves on this day and by doing that we declare that we need not be what we were, that we have the power within us to change even our most basic patterns of behavior. Animals can’t do that. But God’s gift to us is that we can change. We like God can be compassionate and loving and forgiving of others. Even to those who have hurt us. It is this freedom that allows our souls to sing and explains the meaning of the comment from the mystical text the Zohar that Yom Kippur is the source of all joy. And this is why Yom Kippur can be called Shabbat Shabbaton, the Sabbath of all Sabbaths. Shabbat is a day of joy, if we think of the restrictions on this day only as affliction it makes no sense to call this day a day of Shabbat, of oneg, of Joy. But because we know that the fact that we have Yom Kippur means we are free, free to change, free to leave the bad choices we have made, it is a day of rejoicing.
Abraham Joshua Heschel would often quote a Hasidic teaching on mourning: There are three ascending levels of how one mourns: with tears – that is the lowest; with silence – that is higher; and with song – that is the highest.
Similarly on Yom Kippur there are three ascending levels of observance of our ענוים. First is anguish and affliction, we need this to appreciate that we are broken and not what we can and should be; the level beyond that is the level in our “inuyim” are a response to our brokenness, we become contrite and compassionate and finally the highest level is the level of “inuyim” song. When we reach this stage we recognize how wondrous and sublime it is to be human, to have the opportunity to change and to be loved by God even in our imperfections.
