Each in His Own Way
This week we observe Yom Kippur- a day of fasting and prayer, a day of fresh beginnings. I share with you a story that gives an insight into the potential that each of us harbors. On Yom Kippur we can harness that potential or ignore it for another year.
The rabbi noticed a man in the back of the synagogue who was crying. While the rest of the congregation stood dutifully intoning the holiday prayers, this man stood silent except for the faint sound of his weeping. Hoping to console him the rabbi made his way back to him to inquire why he wept. The man told his story: “Everyone else has come to pray to the Almighty. They recite the holy words of our ancestors and God hears their prayer. I cry because I am a simple farmer. I never learned to read. All I know is to recite the Aleph-Bet. Surely God will not answer my prayer.”The rabbi responded: “Your sincere tears are prayer enough for God to hear. You may worship God by reciting the Aleph-Bet. That is your special way to petition your Creator.”
This is an important lesson to learn for Yom Kippur. We can fall into the trap of thinking that everything we do has to be judged in comparison to others. We may be a part of a congregation reciting communal prayers but only we know what is in our hearts. The man in the story mistakenly thought that only formal prayer was worthy of God’s attention. His simple recitation was as precious as the prayer of the most gifted Cantor. God allows each of us to be a unique individual. Doesn’t make sense that each of us might have a special, individual way to worship Him? No matter how you are able to address God the simple fact of wanting to address Him is the essence.
Although Yom Kippur is a “community” holiday, it is perhaps the most personal and intimate of the holidays. We all ask for forgiveness but only you know why you are asking. We all ask for long life but only I know what I hope to do with the years I am given. We all say we will do better but that phrase means something different to each of us.
In Hebrew we call worship “avodah,” a word that means service or, in modern Hebrew, work. If we truly want to worship God we do so through service. Very often we best serve God by serving our fellow human beings. Like all aspects of worship, that service may be something different for each of us. In the year ahead you may be presented with many opportunities to live up to the words you recite on Yom Kippur. Whether you are fluent in Hebrew or can only recite the Aleph-Bet God hears and heeds the petitions you place before Him. What he asks in return is that you find your unique way to serve Him in return. That is the real potential for the year ahead- to find that unique talent or gift that God has given each of us and put it to use in creating a world that is a little bit more like Yom Kippur- all of us working toward the same goal.

Why Do You Go To Synagogue?

 Last week I asked you to consider the abiding message and meaning of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur: to remember that many aspects of our lives change from year to year but our values and beliefs abide as the cornerstones of our Jewish identity. This week I ask you to consider something else, something much more personal, something only you can answer: why do you go to the synagogue? You may think I am kidding but I mean it- why do you attend services on Rosh Hashanah and/or Yom Kippur? For those who attend shul regularly it might not be so important but if you are one of those “three-day-a-year Jews” I ask you to think about that question very seriously.

Don’t make excuses- don’t say someone makes you go; don’t say you will feel guilty if you don’t. Oh, and don’t say it’s the perfect way to spend a day away from work. Joking aside, admit that there is something in your heart and soul that makes you feel that you should be there. Don’t fight that feeling- be proud of it! That feeling is your Jewish “instinct” telling you that it is time to re-connect to Judaism. It is your “inner-Jew” telling you that no matter how crazy the world may be there is a way to put it all in focus. That “magic connection” is the connection that you make sitting in synagogue, the connection you make when you pause to realize that the concept of “modernity” is an ever changing one- what is new today will be old tomorrow. In the face of a world that changes more quickly than we can even notice we need to re-connect with those things that are eternal.

I know many Jews feel uncomfortable in synagogue. The service is too long. They can’t read Hebrew. They feel like hypocrites because they don’t keep all the laws. Yes, there are many excuses to explain why shul can be a real “pain”- not to mention all that sitting in one place. Try this for a change- make up some excuses about why it is so great to be in the synagogue of your choice! Think of the possibilities! Have you ever noticed how easy it is to make excuses about doing something you want to do anyway? Maybe this year you can say (even if it is only to yourself): “I want to go to shul, I am not exactly sure why, but I want to be there.” For many of us that would be a strange confession, but consider it. Go to services this year with an open mind. Yes, there is some reason you want to be there. Yes, there is something that makes it a special day and a special place. Yes, you did go there looking for something.

I wish all of my readers the very best for the new year and hope that this Rosh Hashanah we all discover the reasons that bring us together in prayer and discovery of those things that have made us an eternal people.