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1 Yom Kippur Sermon 5781/2020 Rabbi Carnie Shalom

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1 Yom Kippur Sermon 5781/2020 Rabbi Carnie Shalom Yom Kippur Sermon 5781/2020 Rabbi Carnie Shalom Rose Good Yontiff Friends and once again, Shanah Tovah! When I was a Rabbinical Student, nearly 30 years ago, I recall our homiletics teacher – Rabbi Rothstein of blessed memory - encouraging us to - every once in a long while - deliver sermons that were “intellectually rigorous”. Maybe – he contended - even slightly above the average Judaic educational level of those in the room. In this way, our professor posited, you will help Jews stretch, strive, aspire and grow…and you will stay sharp! And then he added, Rabbi, heal thyself!” So on this day of days, Yoma in Aramaic, this time of reflection and introspection, I am going to do just that…Here we go… As many of you know, we at B’nai Amoona have the longstanding custom of reciting the powerful and moving Selichot, what we call the penitential prayers, on the Motztaei Shabbat, the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah, and then again throughout the 5 discrete services that comprise the powerful liturgy for this, the Day of Atonement, Yom HaKippurim. To my mind, and clearly to those who arranged the High Holy Day Prayer Book, these Selichot, and in particular the section containing the Shelosh-Esrei Middot – the thirteen attributes of God’s mercy that lie at the heart of these payers of contrition - are central to our understanding of the deepest meaning of this sacred day, a day that is Ayom VeNorah, transcendent, awesome and in potential, awe filled. In fact, at least for me, the import of these time-honored words, in combination with the hallowed melodies of our sacred High Holy Day liturgy chanted so soulfully by our Chazan, are felt most resonantly in the waning moments of our long Yom Kippur Day, during the Neilah Service – about which I will be teaching at 3:15 pm this afternoon as part of our Yom Kippur University program (other teachers: Rabbi Abraham at 2:30 pm and Rabbi Neal and Carol at 4 pm). Neilah, as you know, is the time of the “closing of the gates” when we stand erect – despite our utter exhaustion – reverentially and humbly before our open, elegant, and historic Aron HaKodesh, Holy Ark, and pour out our final Yom Kippur petitions. It is at that moment when we can best comprehend that these petitions represent the essence of why we have gathered on this day of Yom Kippur. So my friends, as we make our way towards the last third of Yom Kippur, the 3rd act of this Day of Atonement as it were, I want to reflect with you upon these 13 attributes of God’s mercy, which we recite throughout this most sacred of days. 1 As you undoubtedly recall, the words are: Adonai, Adonai El Rachum VeChanun Erech Apaim Verav Chesed Veemet Notzer Chesed LaAlafim Noseh Avon VeFesha Vechchata VeNakeh. As I understand these words, they mean: God, our Master who is gracious and compassionate, patient and abounding in kindness and faithfulness, assuring love for a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, and granting pardon. And this is the God to whom we turn penitently on Yom Kippur. The basis for the recitation of these thirteen attributes of God’s mercy in our worship is found in the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Rosh Hashanah, 17b and commenting on the verse from Exodus 34:6 that states: "And God passed over Moses and called out...Salachti Kedvareacha – I have forgiven based on your request!" The Talmud records: Rabbi Yochanan said: Were this not an explicit verse, we could not have had the audacity to say such a thing. Because this teaches us that the Holy One, wrapped God’s-self (in a Tallit) like a prayer leader (a Chazzan) and showed Moshe the order of the of the 13 attributes of God’s mercy. God then said to Moses: Whenever Israel sins, let them recite this particular formula, this order of word, and I shall forgive them. Adonai, Adonai - I am God before the human sins; And I am God after the human sins and repents ... Rav Yehuda then said: A covenant is made with these thirteen attributes, that they are never ignored by God and never ineffectual, as is written, "Behold I am making a covenant" (34:10). And covenants – those established by and with God - are forever! There are a number of deeply perplexing elements in this Talmudic passage that bear examining because they surely can yield profound existential life lessons for us as we move through this Yom Kippur experience. So let’s review some of the issues this selection raises: Why did God have to demonstrate to Moshe how to recite the thirteen attributes? Why did God "dress up" like a Chazzan and pretend to be one who leads prayers? Why are the thirteen attributes guaranteed to succeed more than any other utterances? What is the meaning of the "Brit – the Covenant" - which is the basis of the efficacy of these words? And did you notice that the thirteen attributes we find in the Torah are merely names and descriptions of God, not prayers at all? Nothing is actually requested of God here. So what is the significance of simply reciting attributes of God? Surely a plea from the heart for forgiveness from our Maker would be more efficacious than simply intoning words!? Moreover, how do the Talmudic Sages know that the thirteen attributes, conveyed to Moshe in a mysterious and powerful revelation after the sin of the golden calf, are a means of securing forgiveness? 2 Let’s answer this last question first as it is easy because it is found in a later incident in the Torah. When the Jewish people, after hearing the report of the spies concerning the Land of Israel seek to return to Egypt, God tells Moshe that God is planning to destroy them. Moshe pleads and argues with God. And finally, Moses tosses out the zinger. "And now, the strength of God shall increase, as You have spoken, saying: Adonai, long- tempered and great in mercy, who bears sin and iniquity, and shall surely cleanse…Prove yourself now God and forgive the sins of this people by the greatness of your mercy, as You have borne this people from Egypt unto here. And God said: “Moses my servant, Moshe Avdi, Salachti Kedvarecha - I have forgiven by the force and power of your words.Here we find Moshe Rabbenu using the recitation of the 13 attributes as the clinching argument of his appeal - and God responds, "Salachti Kedvarechah - I have forgiven, BY THE POWER OF YOUR WORDS." What's more, Moshe ascribes this recital to a promise of God. The Sages understood, accordingly, that the revelation at Mount Sinai included an eternal method of achieving forgiveness - hence, the conclusion: "Whenever Israel sins, let them perform this specific order – the recitation of the 13 attributes - and I shall immediately forgive them." But this passage also contains an enigmatic hint of the inner meaning of this recitation. Moshe prefaces his words to God by saying, "And now, the strength of God shall increase, as You God have spoken." What does Moshe mean by asking God to increase God’s strength? In what sense can we speak of God's strength increasing in any way? Isn’t God all powerful, omnipotent? Why is this request the preface to the attributes of mercy? The secret which God revealed to Moshe, the principle here articulated, and the reason I am speaking about this today, is actually quite radical. And this is why the Talmud must say: "Were this not an explicit verse, we could not have said such a thing," is exactly what Moshe refers to when he says, "And now, the strength of God shall increase." The 13 attributes of God, in Judaism, are not theological propositions about the nature of God, they are actual revelations and manifestations of God's presence in the world. What we need to realize is that God does not foist or impose God’s presence on the world. God is to found only where people, created in the image of God, call on God’s name. Or as I said on Rosh Hashanah, GOD IS ONLY WHEREVER WE – human beings - LET GOD IN. Every day, at every prayer service, Jews declare in the Kaddish: "Yitgadel Veyitkadesh Shemei Rabba" – God’s great name shall be sanctified and increased! This is precisely the meaning of the COVENANT as "A covenant is made over the thirteen attributes, that they are never ineffectual." A covenant is not a one sided promise; it is a two-sided agreement. It creates a reality that exists only in partnership. Thus, the thirteen attributes exist in covenant, because God has agreed that God’s presence in the world will depend on the free- willed outcries of humans, who shall be for all time - the bearers of God’s name, God’s presence, and God’s glory. 3 I have come to understand that God is committed to being our God as long as we earnestly call upon God. And when we call God by God’s names of mercy, when we attribute mercy – Rachamim, Rachmanus - to God, then God’s presence will be felt. God is not only God in some abstract, theoretical way – God is our God, the God of Israel, and the God of all humanity. So when we call God "merciful and graceful, long-tempered and great in mercy," then and only then does God become OUR God, God becomes real. So this then explains the meaning of the Talmudic passage quoted above…God appeared to Moshe wrapped in a Tallit, as the leader of prayer, because the thirteen attributes are not a prayer TO God.
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