Yom Kippur 2012, Barbara Baum

Today many of us are fasting, maybe most of us.
Fasting by choice -
for tradition, because our parents and our grandparents did it,
for repentence,
to pray for a good year, for ourselves, our family, our friends, 
and others we hold dear.
It’s not easy fasting, 
and we’re glad when we hear the final sound of the shofar, 
and can break our fast and eat.

Others are also not eating today, but not by choice.
They have no food.
And when the sun sets, it won’t change their situation,
and they won’t have a big buffet to choose from
to ease their discomfort.

Today we are staying away from work, also by choice,
to spend the day in shul,
to be with our loved ones and fellow congregants,
to pray, to reflect,
to think how to atone for our missteps of the previous year,
and to try to find a better path for the year ahead.

Others are also not at work today, but not by choice.
Some want to have jobs but cannot find them,
and they have no salaries,
and lack ample food, clothing, shelter, and health care.

This morning we read a haftorah from Isaiah,
which says in part:

“Yet even now, saith the L-rd,
Turn ye unto Me with all your heart,
And with fasting and with weeping and with lamentations.

Rend your hearts, and not your garments,
And turn unto the L-rd, your G-d;
For He is gracious and compassionate.

… I set before you this day the blessing and the curse,
Life and death, good and evil; choose life.

… Is not this My chosen fast,
To loose the bands of tyranny
To relieve the burdens of the poor, and free the oppressed?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you hide not yourself from your own flesh?

When you see the naked to clothe him,
And never turn aside from any fellow-creature.”

Our synagogue is called Chevrei Tzedek,
which can be translated in a variety of ways,
but basically means a fellowship of righteousness.
This is not because we think
that we are more righteous than others,
but that we were founded with righteousness
as one of our guiding principles -
the concept of Tikkun Olam,
the obligation to work to help heal the world.

There are so many ways the world needs healing,
so many things we feel sad about or angry about,
and yet which we may feel just too tired, too pessimistic,
or too powerless to try to do anything about.

It’s true that we don’t have total control -
we can’t make everyone we love be healthy, or happy,
or even love us back;
we can’t singlehandedly resolve every conflict
or find the cure to diseases or hatred or damage to the planet.
But the fact that we do not have total control
does not mean that the opposite is true,
that we have NO control.
And so the challenge is to recognize, and to exert,
the control we DO have.
To see the huge task and break off some small manageable bit
that we can handle.

In Pirke Avot, Rabbi Tarfon says,
“It is not your duty to complete the work,
but neither are you free to desist from it.”

Find one small part of the task and make a start.
Just do one thing.

We have a tendency to choose some mammoth undertaking,
and then when we can’t do it, especially in one effort,
we think it is too hard and we give it up all together. 
Or perhaps it seems so huge
we never even make that first attempt at all.

If you fear there will never be peace on earth,
make a start
by making peace with a neighbor or colleague
you haven’t always gotten along with,
say hello to someone you’ve never spoken with,
get to know someone of a different religion or ethnic background,
and share with each other some of what you each value
about your heritage. 

If you worry about the health of the planet
but fear there is no saving it,
make a start
by putting just one bottle
into the recycling bin instead of the trash,
walking to an errand instead of driving,
turning the heat or the air conditioning
a few degrees less extreme in your house.

Do these small tidbits make any difference?
What else is there but small tidbits
that add together to make the meaningful whole?

There’s an old story of a man walking along the beach. 
He sees a young boy picking up a starfish
which had washed up on the shore. 
The boy tosses the starfish gently back into the water
and the man asks the boy what he’s doing.
The boy replies, “The sun is up and the tide is going out.
If I don’t throw them back into the water, they’ll die.”
The man shakes his head and says, “But dear boy,
don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach,
and there are starfish all along every mile? 
You can’t possibly make a difference.”
The boy bends down, picks up another starfish
and throws it back into the ocean.
“I made a difference for that one,” he said.

We may not be able to do the whole job,
but it is crucial that we don’t belittle the small efforts.

As we fast and pray today, let the ritual move us to action. 
Let the rite (r-i-t-e) inspire us to do right (r-i-g-h-t).

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel spoke of marching
with the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
“For many of us [he said]
the march from Selma to Montgomery
was about protest and prayer. 
Legs are not lips
and walking is not kneeling.
And yet,
our legs uttered songs.
Even without words, our march was worship.
I felt my legs were praying.”

And so we pray with our feet, our hands, our work at a shelter,
our work for any righteous cause.

I can’t speak for others.
What I value and want to work for
may not be what you value and want to work for,
but each of us should work
for whatever we believe in.

I’m old enough to have grown up in the hippie generation. 
We marched for civil rights,
fair wages for migrant workers,
freedom for Soviet Jews,
and against war. 
And it was amazing to see how many things changed.
There was a saying at the time,
“If you’re not part of the solution,
you’re part of the problem.”

As we pray today, asking for a good new year,
let us think how we can MAKE this a good new year,
so we can BE a part of the solution and not a part of the problem.

Think ahead to next Yom Kippur,
when please G-d, we will be here worshipping together again.
If it WERE now next Yom Kippur,
what would you like to look back on in the past year
to make you satisfied, and proud,
of how you had used your time?

Then come back to right now
and think how you can start building in those actions,
so you CAN feel that satisfaction next Yom Kippur.

Make the goals meaningful, and reasonable.

If I say “I’m going to write an inspirational novel
that will win the Pulitzer Prize,”
I may or may not be able to achieve that goal. 
There are many factors other than how good my novel is
which will affect the decision about which novel wins,
and precious few people ever reach that goal. 
Realizing that, I may just give up on the effort. 
But if I say “I want to become a better writer,
so I’m going to spend 2 hours every day writing,
and I’m going to ask people whose judgment I value
to read what I’ve written and offer their feedback,”
those things ARE under my control, 
and I am more likely to stick with these actions
because I know I can do them.
So this is a goal I am likely to reach.
And I’m certainly more likely
to have my writing be well-received, or even win a prize,
if I keep working at it rather than if I gave up on it early on.

If I say “I’m going to get candidate X elected,”
I may or may not be able to achieve that goal. 
There are many factors other than my support
which will affect the outcome of the election. 
But if I say “I want to work hard to help candidate X win,
so I’m going to donate financially to X’s campaign,
and I’m going to call people I know
and tell them why I think X is the best candidate,
and I’m going to offer to drive people to their polling places,”
those things ARE under my control,  
and I am more likely to stick with them
because I know I can do them,
and I can feel good that I worked for what I believed in.
And doing these small steps will make it more likely
that the big goal is reached as well - that X does get elected.

We can’t all win the Oscar, invent the iPhone,
find the cure for cancer, or negotiate a peace treaty,
but we each have gifts, we each have abilities,
and we each have the opportunity, and the responsibility,
to use those gifts to make the world a better place,
to make our fellow travelers have lives
with a little more love, more opportunity, more ease,
more kindness, more support.

As we pray for the coming year, we pray for G-d’s help and mercy.  We pray for G-d’s gifts.

A story recounts the experience of Chaim,
a nice little fellow in a nice little town.
who lives a good Jewish life and has tremendous faith in G-d.

A big storm approaches his town
and the weathermen on tv and radio
urge everyone to get away before the storm hits.
But Chaim says to himself,
“I’m not worried.  G-d will keep me safe.”

The rain starts to fall, and firetrucks come through town
with the loudspeakers blaring a warning to everyone to evacuate.
But Chaim says to the firemen,
“I’m not worried.  G-d will keep me safe.”

The water rises higher
and Chaim climbs to the second floor of his house to stay dry.
National Guardsmen come by in a boat
and urge him to get on board.
Again Chaim says,
“I’m not worried.  G-d will keep me safe.”

Still the rain continues
and Chaim climbs up on to the roof of his house.
A helicopter comes overhead
and the pilot shouts out for Chaim to climb up the rope
and into the copter.
Yet again, Chaim, in his infinite faith, replies,
“I’m not worried.  G-d will keep me safe.”

Alas, the rain continues to fall, the water rises even higher,
and Chaim drowns.

He gets to Heaven, and he says to G-d,
“I have been your faithful servant all my life.
Why didn’t you keep me safe from the storm?”

G-d looks at him and replies,
“I sent you a truck, and a boat, and a helicopter.
What more do you want from me?”

G-d gives us many blessings in our life,
but not everything. 
At times it’s only human that we’re sad, or angry,
about what we’re missing, or what goes wrong.
But perhaps G-d might get a little aggravated with us
if we just sit passively waiting
for Him to make it all better for us.
Maybe we need to try to be His emissaries
here below,
to work for the things we value,
for the goals we desire,
to be part of the solution.

This is not super complex or profound.
It’s just a simple belief
that we can each make our lives better,
our loved ones’ lives better,
our community and country and planet better,
one step at a time,
one kind word at a time,
one donation at a time,
one act of volunteerism at a time,
and in doing so we show our gratitude to G-d
for all He has given us,
and our willingness to work to help heal the world.
And all of those small steps add up,
and add to the steps of others,
and build into something quite powerful and meaningful.

We’re heading now into the Yizkor portion
of the Yom Kippur service.
We remember with love and respect
our families, our kinsmen, our ancestors,
and all they did to teach and inspire us,
and to help ease our path in this world.

In their memory and their honor,
may you each for yourself, for your loved ones,
for your community and country,
and the preservation of the planet in health and peace,
in whatever way you choose, in whatever way you are able,
for whatever values you hold most dear,
choose to take action,
choose life!