Amygdalia's Blog

Yom Kippur

The holiday of Yom Kippur is one of the most somber in the Jewish calendar.  It's the Day of Atonement, the day when we ask forgiveness for our sins, and ask to be written in the book of Life for a happy and healthy year.  One of the prayers that's repeated throughout the holiday is called Vidui, or confession.  It's chanted, repeated, and it's done in the plural . . . "we've cheated, we've lied, we've . . . etc etc"  It's almost as if we're trying to atone for the sins of all the world, in that moment.  There's a tenet in Judaism called Tikkun Olam, or Healing the World.  If you've seen Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, Norah gives a short but eloquent explanation of Tikkun Olam.  I can't do it justice, but the bottom line is that we're each responsible for repairing the broken shards of the world; we're each responsible for the health and peace of this planet.  So we do what we can . . . we support each other, we give to charities, we reach out in so many ways.  And on Yom Kippur, we ask together for forgiveness . . . from each other, and if it holds meaning for us, from G-d.

Those who know me well know, for me, religion is not as much about a G-d as it is about finding meaning.  This evening the Rabbi's d'var, or sermon, was an absolutely perfect example of that.  She talked about Moses, at the different stages of his life.  How vulnerable he was, as an infant, being left in the reeds; how vulnerable he was, a shepherd confronted with a burning bush; and how vulnerable he was, an old man, understanding that he was fated to die before stepping foot in the Promised Land.  But the piece that really spoke to me was this . . . there's midrash (Jewish writings) that suggest that Moses, during his 40 years as a shepherd, walked by that burning bush every single day.  The Hebrew word for the burning bush is somehow related to the word for anger, Rabbi explained.  And we can look at it in this way - when Moses was too consumed by his anger, he was unable to see the burning bush.  It wasn't until he was ready to confront it, to let it go, that he was able to see what was in front of him the whole time.  So why did that speak to me?  Because the burning bush is a metaphor.  The anger, or whatever negative emotions overcome us to the point where we are unable to see the way forward . . . that's real.  When we're able to let that go, move past it, then we can see our path forward.  When we're blocked from healing . . . what we need is there, if only we're able to see it. 

And of course I didn't explain that nearly as beautifully as Rabbi Linda did, this evening . . . nor even as eloquently as I wrote it in my head, on the drive home.  But hopefully you'll see a spark of meaning in it, as I did.

L'Shana Tova.  A Happy and Healthy Year to all.