Rabbi's Weekly Teaching
Yom Kippur
Friday, October 7th, 2011
There is a story of a rabbi whose son would wander off every day to spend time in the forest. Concerned and curious, the rabbi asked his son why he did this.
"I go to the forest to find God," said the boy.
"That's wonderful," replied the father, "but you need not go to the forest to find God. Don't you know that God is the same everywhere?"
"God is," replied the boy, "but I am not."
On Yom Kippur, together as a community, we come together to find God. There is incredible power in this gathering. The ancient liturgy and melodies stir our souls, and the communal confessional provides us with the needed support to realize that we are not alone in our daily struggles.
Yom Kippur may be one of the most powerful days on our Jewish communal calendar, and for many, it is a day we put aside for reflection, for atonement, for recognizing that we are far from perfect, and that perhaps our life direction is not the one we had hoped to follow. But as easy as it may be to return to the world of material things and the regular business of living, Yom Kippur instills within us, whether we choose to realize it or not, a sense of sacred struggle. And when we learn to listen for God, we learn how to confront that struggle day by day.
Each of us needs to secure sacred space and time every day in order to find God. Whether it is in the car, on the train, in the office, or choosing to take the time, in the year to come, to engage in study and worship with our community, we should realize that this search for God changes - and changes us - depending on the different places we find ourselves each day.
In shul, we can sometimes more easily access God's presence. The soft lights, the vibrant colors of the stained glass, the poignant, haunting melodies and the majesty of the Ark before us can help us to delineate and define holy time and holy space. But what about when we find ourselves in the Temple parking lot on a crazed Sunday morning after religious school? Are we patient and understanding, or do we forget who and where we are? Is it that easy to forget that all time is holy, and that all of God's creation - even the parking lot -- is holy space?
God may be more easily found in shul, or walking in the forest, or sitting by the beach, enjoying time with loved ones, or taking a bike ride, etc. But maybe God is more needed in the busier, more crazy and hectic and frustrating times and spaces of our lives. When we discover the ability to make God's light shine more brightly in our places of greatest stress and pressure, we discover how to make our own Divine nature manifest in the world.
We will gather as a community on Friday night and Saturday as a community to atone for our sins, and pray for the God's light and wisdom to make us who we most need to become, in spite of the sacred struggle with what and who we presently are. Each of us will walk in a forest of our own making, considering our faults and our frailties, hoping that our prayers will be heard. But as we pray for God's mercy and compassion, we must also remember to have mercy and compassion on ourselves and on those who challenge us to be better people, and to recognize that we can choose to rise above hurt, stress and anxiety every day. This, perhaps, in the year to come, is the prayer we most need to have answered.
Gemar Chatimah Tovah; A Good Closing Seal in the Book of Life for a Happy, Healthy & Peaceful New Year!!
-Rabbi Mitch
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