Erev Yom Kippur 9/27/2020

[Music] [Laughter] oh [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] the day [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Laughter] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh know [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] the [Music] [Music] yes [Music] if you're lost you feel afraid and you don't know what to say then listen listen to our god is [Music] and with all your minds [Music] every your morning [Music] and listen yourself there's nothing to say stop all the chatter that gets in the way and listen listen [Music] disappear there's still a voice that you hear [Music] is [Music] please rise [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] listen listen to [Music] ourselves [Music] they [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] [Music] my [Music] my our service continues on page 46 the words of our tafila i invite us to rise as we are able [Music] god [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] water [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh my god [Music] our service continues [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] here here i am [Music] [Applause] strengthened by the power of yourself [Music] [Music] yes [Music] is [Music] hear our prayers [Music] me [Music] let's say [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Music] [Music] let's see [Music] [Laughter] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] [Laughter] [Music] is [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] sure [Music] of my heart [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] my [Music] my [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] i [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] i [Music] new [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] i [Music] oh [Music] knew [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] and welcome to temple or i'm rabbi mark goldfarb i'm joined by our cantorial soloist arielle goldfarb our accompanist dr ray irwin and our dynamic tech duo team david youngman and philip carey thank you david and youngman for your dedication and work at streaming our services thank you kenter arielle for the beautiful music you are about to bring to our yom kippur service the beautiful music you brought to our rosh hashanah and shabbat services and dr ray as well thank you very much for the musical musical abilities that you bring and how that work on the clavinova just so enriches our shabbat services thank you thank you so very much some of tonight is the same some of tonight is very different this is yom kippur our sabbath of the soul and whereas we used to gather here in our sanctuary during our pandemic days we are gathering in our safety of our home and of our family circles some things remain the same we gather together as a community tonight some things are different you can set your thermostat to however warm or cold you want your home to be some things remain the same we're going to share together in our yom kippur liturgy and in our worship service some things will be a little bit different colony dre has been moved from the opening of our service to the conclusion of our service so for those of you who are expecting to have conley dre chanted for us at the very beginning it is going to be in a different location tonight for a purpose for a reason as we gather on this night of nights for us it is appropriate for us to challenge our comfort zones to do things a little bit differently not only because it's yom kippur but especially because of these pandemic days and so some things will remain the same and some things will be different some things will remain the same we are just over halfway on our high holiday appeal goal of 36 000 we need your help our membership dues and donations do not cover all of our costs or expenses and every year we have relied on the generosity of you our temple members and you our viewers to help support this institution and the quality of our programming that we bring to you and the quality of our worship services that we bring to you these items do not come cheaply especially during these days when we're having to stream everything and so we appreciate all of your support we have a special message from members of our board that i invite to in share with us about their support of our congregation and why they support temple beth or here are our board of directors [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] hi i'm dina joshua president of temple methor you may be wondering why you should support tbo everyone has their own feelings of what our temple means to them the board of directors of our congregation share what tbo means to them and why they are willing to volunteer their time in support of our mission to provide a jewish home and continued educational opportunities and social events here in la mirada and surrounding communities i wish you shanatova hello this is peggy horowitz and i'm involved in temple life because it culminates in an important education for members of all ages bracket tower november fox drop 114 alpha uniform taxi to holding area requesting permission for departure runway 26 right outside temperature one zero niner may have difficulty getting lift please advise over bracket tower roger standing by hi there before i leave on my trip i just wanted to share with you that i get a lot of lift out of knowing that i'm keeping a great synagogue physically alive and fully functional to serve my family and others join me in supporting temple beth orr gotta go now bracket tower 114 alpha uniform roger squawk 2000 out hello my name is sherry held and i am the chair of the house committee we give to ensure our children's education keep our traditions alive and nurture our jewish spirituality [Music] my name is david youngman and i am the immediate past president of temple baptor i want you to know that temple beth or allows me to express my judaism everybody hi i'm donna burglar s your temple beth or treasurer during these trying times it's important to remember why we're members of temple beth or we don't always get to choose our first family but we do get to choose our second family and i choose temple death or shanatova hi i'm susan carey publicity social media and vegan editor tbo has reconnected me to the traditions and language of my ancestors hello my name is chris jastrock i'm the co-chair of the icr committee here at temple and the reason i'm still with temple beth or after four decades is because it's like home it's warm welcoming and caring thank you hi i'm flo bornstein vice president of membership at temple beth orr come join us for our services you'll be inspired but you'll come back for our friendliness hi i'm dana porter i'm one of the vice presidents of the education committee tbo is my home away from home it provides me and my family with a place of peace and comfort i got involved when my kids were in religious school i was inspired to learn hebrew study and become an adult bat mitzvah leslie berger wizard means chair i'm jody green co-vice president of the education committee tbo is the place i can go to feel welcomed seen and safe amongst others like me [Music] i'm joe tatus the co-vice president for religion and to me temple beth orr represents my connection to the jewish faith and to our community hi my name is joanne kotkin and i'm temple beth orr's sisterhood president i support tbo because tbo provides a love of judaism in my children shabbat shalom my name is howard levoot and i'm the president of brotherhood i've been a member of temple beth thor for 50 years i've had my bar mitzvah confirmation and i was married there happy holidays good jantov my name is neil rosen i am the senior director of activities for temple beth orr the temple bethler has many activities for different age ranges my favorite is tea with the rabbi on tuesdays vidyantif hi my name is sharon kravitz i appreciate the intimacy of a small temple where we can make a difference hope you can also join us and help make a difference [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you temple beth or board of directors i hope that you will join with them myself my wife debra in financially supporting temple beth or and make your high holiday appeal you can do so on our webpage tbolm.org click on the high holidays yamim noraem days of our tab at the top and you will see high holiday appeal tab on that page in addition uh to our high holiday appeal we have special greetings from members of our congregation these messages have been pre-recorded and so let us hear special yomtov greetings from our congregants we wish you a safe healthy and very happy new year we wish you a very healthy and happy new new year talk some math everybody wishing our whole entire temple beth or family a very happy uh rosh hashanah and yom kippur with love from the kravitz family wishing you a good year of good health and happiness and next year hopefully we will all be together at the temple family to my temple family and friends from gail and ellis to my temple beth or family and may this new year be a much better year for all of us than last year hello it's jeffrey and susan winston we wish everybody at temple met thor a happy new year happy new year to our tbo family from donna alyssa art and daisy and sophie love you all i want to wish temple bezel a happy healthy new year and peace along with it and i'd like to be here next year and do the same thing with you people and i hope that you're all here you reach my age and are well and we can all meet if not before by 2021 in the temple i love you all thank you very much for those wonderful holiday greetings good yant of indeed to us all i want to acknowledge and note that our virtual flowers that you will see displayed on the lower corner of your screen have been sponsored by the temple beth or board of directors uh thank you very much for helping to beautify our yom kippur worship service in this virtual space the page numbers for those of you who have the yom kippur marches or would will appear on the beginning slide for the reading that we will be doing and with that we turn to page five in our mahdsorim on this journey our soul will awaken to itself we will venture from innocence to sin and back to innocence again this is a journey from denial to awareness from self-deception to judgment we will learn our divine name we will move from self-hatred to self-forgiveness from anger to healing from hard-heartedness to broken-heartedness this this is the journey the soul takes to transform itself and to evolve the journey from boredom and staleness from deadness to renewal it is the journey from little mind to big mind from confinement in the ego to a sense of ourselves as part of something larger it is the journey from isolation to a sense of our intimate connection to all being every soul needs to express itself every heart needs to crack itself open every one of us needs to move from anger to healing from denial to consciousness and from boredom to renewal these needs did not arise yesterday they are among the most ancient of human yearnings and they are fully expressed in the pageantry and the ritual of these yamim nora'im these days of awe in this great journey we make between rosh hashanah and yom kippur may we welcome this opportunity to take that very journey may we light the light of compassion within our hearts may we light the light of forgiveness in our words and in our deeds we turn now to the lighting of our yom tov candles if you have candles at home i invite you to prepare to light them as i invite members of our congregation to share in the lighting of our candles [Music] i [Music] [Music] [Music] i [Music] [Music] i [Music] [Music] i [Music] loudly [Music] r as we gather on this yom kippur we acknowledge that it has been a very strange year for us since last yom kippur and yet here we are we have arrived at this point in our lives and in our holiday schedule we have arrived at this day this sabbath of the soul we are grateful to be here together albeit even in this virtual gathering we are nevertheless grateful to be here grateful to god for giving us life for sustaining us and for enabling us to reach this day of atonement [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] we continue with the words of our borrow our call to worship on page 20. [Music] oh [Music] god [Music] [Applause] [Music] we continue on page 25. day and night our yours creative spirit of the universe the muted colors of twilight the radiance of dawn yours are these spreading wings of light the deepening shadows of darkness and ever-changing drama in the human heart too the struggle between darkness and light unfolds from sunlit heights of generosity the human heart sinks to the gloomy depths of selfishness although we fall you give us the strength to rise again you call on those who hurt through word or deed to break free from wrongdoing and to return to you all who hear your call to goodness are embraced all who reject emptiness and evil find acceptance from you we come into your presence this night of col nidre aware that our shortcomings and our weaknesses indeed are many yet we are encouraged by your promise of forgiveness we choose freely the path of repentance restoring wholeness to our lives and holiness to the world baruch him we pause in reverence before the gift of self the vessel shatters the divine spark shines through and our solitary self becomes a link in israel's golden chain for what are we we are by sharing and as we share we move toward the light we pause in reverence before the mystery of a presence the near and far reality of god not union but communion is our aim and we approach the mystery with deeds words lead us to the edge of action but it is deeds that bring us closer to the god of light we pause in terror before the human deed the cloud of annihilation the concentrations for death the cruelly casual way of each to each but in the stillness of this hour we find our way from darkness into light if you're lost you feel afraid and you don't know what to say then listen listen to our god is there a question on your mind is the answer hard to find then listen listen to our god listen with all your heart and soul [Music] every morning close your eyes and listen quiet yourself there's nothing to say stop all the chatter that gets in the way listen listen to our god when the wind and the thunder finally disappear there's still a voice that you will hear if you listen listen to our gods [Music] it can come from the edge of the universe it can come from within your soul close your eyes [Music] shall my is [Music] oh listen listen to our god listen listen to our gods we continue on page 39. our sages taught it is proper to mention the exodus from egypt in our morning prayers and also at night we celebrate the going out from egypt in the morning light full of confidence and vigor as we enter the new day but in the evening weary from the day's exertions cast down and fearful at the coming of the night what can the exodus teach us then our nighttime prayer brings hope and trust in the future as god did not abandon our people long ago through the long dark night of exile so the holy one will be with us in the time to come to stand by the one you love that is the true essence of faithfulness that is the meaning of the word emunah and so it is written in psalms to proclaim your kindness in the morning and your faithfulness in the nights sing with joy in the mornings of your life when light surrounds you and the world seems beautiful and good and in the evenings of your life when you dwell in sorrow and when the world seems dark indeed as it does now let us not despair [Music] [Music] [Music] i don't know [Music] [Music] foreign when fears multiply and when danger threatens when sickness comes when death confronts us it is god's blessing of shalom that sustains us and upholds us lightening our burden dispelling our worry restoring our strength renewing our hope reviving us we continue with the words of our tefillah [Music] that my mouth may declare your praise [Music] [Music] [Music] m [Applause] [Music] um [Applause] [Music] sorrows my god we continue on page 71 on this night of atonement grant us god a sense of your presence as we call upon your name speak your hopeful message to each yearning heart and answer the worthy petitions of each searching soul purify and strengthen our noble strivings and cleanse us of our all our unworthy desires join us together in fellowship and in love and grant us the joy which comes from enriching other lives help us to be loyal to the heritage we share draw us near to torah in wisdom and in faith strengthen our devotion to our people everywhere keep alive our faith in righteousness and in truth bless us with hopes to uplift our daily lives and keep steadfast our courage and our resolve at all times on this night of atonement on this night of at one minute help us oh god to be worthy of your presence as we call upon your name [Music] is [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] as we pray for this shalom this peace and this wholeness not only for us but we especially want to include those whose very sense of shalom whose sense of peace and well-being and indeed even their very health have faced challenges and have perhaps been even shattered by those very challenges i begin with a special misha barach prayer for all those who are working in the healing arts those who are tending to the ill and those of us who are indeed facing illnesses ourself misha bera avotino may the eternal one who blesses all life bless and strengthen all of us who struggle against illness may we whose lives are touched by illness be blessed with faith courage love and caring may we experience the support and the sustenance of family friends companions and community may we be granted restful nights and days of comfort we pray for a referee precious moments of healing and a sense of wholeness in body and in soul may those who care for the sick with their hands their voices their hearts be blessed with courage and stamina and may those who pursue healing through medical skills and knowledge be blessed with insight patience and compassion may all of us the sick and the well together find courage and hope and let us say amen i invite you to share a loud the name of a loved one a friend a family member one who was in need of our misha barak blessing that our kantor will soon lead for us we praise you o god who helps us bring hope and healing to those who are in need and again let us say amen [Music] is [Music] the is who blessed our mothers may the one who blessed our fathers hear our prayer hear our prayer hear our prayer hear our prayers bless us with the power of your healing bless us with the power of your hope may your hearts be filled with understanding and strengthened by the power of your [Music] love [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] blessed our fathers hear our prayer hear our prayer hear our prayer hear our prayer [Music] help us to reach out to those in pain may the warmth of friendship is our sorrow give us courage give us faith show us [Music] hear our prayers hear our prayer hear our prayer hear our prayer and bless us as well hear our prayer hear our prayer hear our prayer hear our prayer [Music] lost us we continue on page 83. when i was young and learned the alphabet life was open to me a was full of aspiration b was for beauty c for confidence and d for dreams and so on through the list no fewer than 26 opportunities 26 possibilities and yet i fear that with the passage of time i have squandered those possibilities creating instead a's of apathy bees of brusqueness and seas of coarseness help me then help me oh god to return to that innocence let the letters be letters once again and let them rise to the heavens and form into the words that you know i wish to say we wrong you when we wrong ourselves and for our failures of integrity o god we seek forgiveness from passing judgment without knowledge of the facts and for distorting facts to suit our own purposes for succumbing in silence to social pressure and for acquiescing and beliefs we find offensive for using others bad behavior to excuse our own and for blaming others for our own mistakes and our own poor decisions for pretending to emotions we do not feel and for appearing to be other than what we are for condemning for condemning in our children the faults that we tolerate in ourselves and for tolerating in ourselves the faults that we condemn in our parents we dishonor you o god when we dishonor our society for our failures of justice adonai we seek forgiveness for being indifferent to deprivation and hunger while accepting a culture of self-indulgence and greed for abuse of power in boardrooms in courtrooms and classrooms and for accepting the neglect of children and elders the ill and the weak for permitting social inequalities to prevail and for lacking the vision to transcend our own selfishness for glorifying violence and turning hastily to war and for allowing history to repeat itself for behaviors that risk the future of our planet and for wreaking havoc on our only true inheritance god's creation for failing for failing to see that every human being is created basalum elohim in the image of god regardless of their skin color their language their country of birth their faith whom they love for allowing hatred and violence against those in our own community our own cities our own states and in this country to have tolerated that violence oh god we seek forgiveness i'll hate we sin against you when we hurt one another for our failures of love adonai we seek forgiveness for exploiting another for our own pleasure and for the wounds we cause through betrayal and deception for withholding affection from those we claim to love and for using love to control our spouses our partners our children our parents for abandoning friends and siblings whose love has sustained us and for neglecting those who love us when they need us the most for harboring in our relationships mistrust boredom disloyalty and for rejecting our partners efforts at repair and at renewal for possessiveness jealousy avarice and for lashing out in anger at those who are closest to us i'll hate shachatanu leffaneka for all of these transgressions for all of our mistakes for all the lessons we have not learned yet oh god help us help us learn those lessons help us find forgiveness for ourselves and for others [Music] new [Music] [Music] i [Music] [Music] god [Music] yes yom kippur is a time for us to learn the lessons of our past year but this is also a time to also acknowledge that we have done well in many instances to focus only on our mistakes is to miss truly the lesson of these yamim noraem these days of awe we can do better we can make change we can make a difference and so al-hatikun for these positive deeds that we have done during this past year may we draw strength to do them this coming year god our creator and our guide let us speak now of healing acts by which we bring you into our lives and into the world the acts of repair that make you a living presence in our lives for the act of healing we have done openly or anonymously and for the act of repair we have done without personal gain for the act of healing we have done by seeking forgiveness and for the act of repair we have done by preemptively forgiving others for the act of healing we have done through righteous giving and for the act of repair we have done by opening by opening our hearts for the act of healing we have done by comforting the mourners and by visiting the sick for the act of repair we have done by pursuing justice and human rights fairness and civility for the act of healing we have done by making peace between one person and another and for the act of repair we have done by protecting nature and all of its creatures for the act of healing we have done by teaching our children the ways of peace and for the act of repair we have done by teaching our children the ways of torah for the act of healing we have done by honoring our elders and by loving the stranger and for the act of repair we have done in response to your commandment choose choose life and blessing all these bring nearer the day when you shall be one and when your name shall be won we continue on page 99 will you will you hear my voice you who are far from me will you hear my voice wherever you are a voice calling aloud a voice silently weeping endlessly demanding a blessing this busy world is vast its ways our many paths meet for a moment and seem to part forever we go on searching but our feet stumble we cannot find that which we have lost perhaps perhaps my last day is already drawing near drawing clothes are the tears of parting i will wait for you to my days flick around like rachel waiting for her beloved [Music] shall [Music] oh [Music] who's there [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Music] i [Music] i [Music] my life avinu malcano hear our voice some of us have cancer some of us have lost strength of body some have lost memory and speech some of us are in pain some of us cannot find work some of us bear the marks of human cruelty inside where the scars don't show some of us live with depression some battle addiction many many feel alone some have known shattered marriages trust betrayed hopes destroyed some of us have lost the ones we love far too soon some have had a child to die all of us all of us have seen suffering in our midst these days more than any ever before all of us know the ravages of war for which there are no words avinu malcanu why avinu malkinu are you there do you care avinu malkenu hear our pain hear our anger hear our grief avinu malcanu here is our prayer give us the strength the strength to go on give us reasons to get up each day give us purpose and persistence help us to fend off fear and to hold on to hope help us help us aveenu malkenu to be kind don't make us bow or grovel for your favor give us dignity and give us courage avinu malkenu show us show us the way to a year of goodness renew our belief that the world can be better restore our faith in life restore our faith in you [Music] oh [Music] me [Music] [Music] oh see cantor i thank you so very much for the music you have brought to all of our high holiday services in the past and uh this year as well given these really bizarre circumstances as many of you know our cantor ariel will be leaving our community after our yom kippur services we've been grateful to share with you these six years of shabbat holidays and school and the name meets vote and all the activities and so it has been a a treat and a treasure for us thank you for your spirit for your beautiful voice for your creativity and for all that you have brought to our congregation dr ray as always thank you for the beautiful music as well that you have provided us we are grateful for your talents to uh philip kerry and to david youngman our tech dynamic duo thank you for all of your work in making sure that our streaming takes place and that everything can get out into the internet into the ether sphere especially at this time of year it is truly bizarre sitting in this empty sanctuary on yom kippur it is it is an uncomfortable feeling and i look forward to the time when we will be able to gather together in person and to celebrate our tradition as a community in one place but i am grateful that we live in a day and age where we are able to stream this out to you where we are able to be part of your lives in your homes i am grateful that we live in this time for if it happened 30 years ago i guess we would have done this via the mail or something with some sort of a flip comic book or something for you to use and to keep up with the service so i am truly grateful that we live in this time and you know what a geek i am so this is like you know this is like wow for me be more than what you were no this is not a commercial for the us armed forces or for college or for anything like that to be more than what you were this is the theme of these these days of awe and that's why rosh hashanah and yom kippur are unique days in our lives these days come and they say to us be more than what you were this is this is what god asked of abraham and sarah although they were known as avraham and sarai at they taught at that time when god says go forth leave all that is familiar to you and become more if they stayed put if they kept doing the things that they were doing they would not have become more and abraham shows us just how difficult it is to become more abraham is asked to sacrifice his son isaac we read this on rosh hashanah and yet in in that day this was a normative thing to do but instead of challenging god instead of asking a question abraham went along with it and decided to do what everybody else was doing and so abraham and god never speak again for the rest of abraham's life this is the one who challenged god about sodom and gomorrah this is the man who brought monotheism to the world and yet at this point in his life he forgot be more than what you were it takes great effort and constant attention vigilance and tremendous courage to change we know this as individuals just take a look at all the self-help books that are out there the new diets that are out there to help us be more than what we were the apps that exist nowadays so that we can be more than what we were that's how difficult it is for us individuals to change we know that look what's happened to us since march we've had to change and with great difficulty we did most of us kind of sort of change a little bit our society is likewise facing very similar difficulties it is difficult for societies to change because it is difficult for individuals to change and we are what makes up society for decades for decades we have tolerated systemic isms racism the jim crow laws of the south segregation real estate redlining subjective quotas and hiring and job promotions college admissions we have let that go and we have yet to properly address those prejudices and the biases that exist throughout our society and so we should not be surprised that people take to the streets as they did in the 60s and the 70s because like abraham we as a society have failed we have failed consider this consider this in 1875 1875 the u.s congress passed the enforcement act what's the enforcement act well the enforcement act was in response to all of the civil rights violations that were taking place in 1875 during reconstruction against african americans and because their rights were being trampled on as former slaves the u.s congress passed the enforcement act in 1875 but it wasn't until 1964 89 years 89 years later that the congress passed the civil rights act guaranteeing those rights from 1875 89 years to wait for the right to be recognized as a human being in the united states that's disgusting 89 years but wait be more than what you were let's consider anti-feminism and yes it's a word anti-feminism consider the following the 19th amendment the 19th amendment was introduced in 1879 that's when the 19th amendment was admitted was introduced to give women the right to vote it wasn't ratified until 1920 can you imagine can you imagine waiting 41 years for the right to vote can you imagine in today's instantaneous world waiting 41 years for anything and that's what makes the death of justice ruth bader ginsburg so tragic her legacy was fighting the legal stagnation that denied too many equality be more than what you were this is what these days of awe are all about this is what american society is supposed to be about and yet look at the ways in which we as a society have failed that reality 89 years for civil rights that are still being violated to this day and the right to vote 41 years really this is incredible this is scandalous this this is shameful let's take another ism anti-semitism perhaps perhaps this is what has contributed to the persistence of anti-semitism because judaism says be more than what you were judaism acknowledges that human beings can and indeed must change we have changed we have continued to change like abraham and sarah we must be ready to we must be ready to leave our comfort zones leave what is familiar to us leave our habits challenge our beliefs and our deeds and be more than what we were there there is truly a very powerful and seductive magnetism to staying put there is great comfort to what i now know and what i know how to do now there's great comfort in the beliefs that i hold the way that i presently live my life there is also stagnation and there is a fine balance between those two and maybe that is why judaism has is such a difficult religion and has been despised because we look at humankind and we say we can do better and people don't want to hear that people don't like to hear that 89 years to outlaw discrimination 41 years to give women the right to vote why did it take so long because people there are those people who do not want to change and will work desperately hard as they can to turn back the hands of time to stop change from happening that's how terrified they are of change we know that because we have lived that our torah teaches us the exodus from egypt that generation that left egypt they could not handle change so structured were they in the slave mentality that the idea the idea of making a choice terrified them the idea of doing something new and different so unsettled them that they did not want to go forward they wanted to go back back where back to egypt back to that slavery that is how terrified they were and look what's going on in some of our political arenas today there are people who are so terrified of change they want to take us back to the way things used to be when things were better they weren't better the good old days were never better they are like that generation who left egypt who always wanted to return back to egypt because it was better there it wasn't better but so terrified were they of change that they couldn't bear it and i think the reason comes down to responsibility responsibility if i make this choice and it turns out bad i have no one to blame it's better when somebody else is making the decisions i can blame them you made me do this you said i had to do it that way this is your fault and maybe that's what was so seductive about going back to egypt because there the egyptians told the israelites what to do every minute of every day of their entire lives and so therefore there's no responsibility i'm not to blame for this it's the egyptians maybe that's why people don't like judaism because we try to hold all of us to that higher standard be more than what you were this is not 1964. this is not 1875. this is not 2000 bce this is not 4000 bce this is now be more than what you were and yom kippur acknowledges that our change begins first with words that's why our liturgy is written the way it is we begin with words acknowledging yep yep screwed up there yep yep missed that one yep absolutely made that mistake oh god yes yep how silly of me i get it but that's only the beginning next come our deeds first we say it then we should do it this is in regard to teshuva first we say it we acknowledge it this is what all the self-help books are about this is what every therapist tells you first you got to name it what's the issue what's going on having said the words now will we take the next step will we take the next step to be more than what we were this is our challenge and this is why this night has been looked upon with dread by our ancestors because this is the question we have to wrestle with and so let us let us begin with our words and let us acknowledge the power of our words to make change don't believe me all you have to do is look to your child your partner your spouse your parent and say to them i love you and watch what happens words make change we need to hear these words so that we can make the changes that we need to make so that we can be more than what we were and cole nidre is what that is all about it acknowledges the power of those words to create worlds but also to destroy them we must use our words wisely we must recognize the power of the words that we speak and we must embrace these words during this yom kippur season because this this is the time for change if we're not going to do it now when will we this is what hillel says to us if not now when be more than what you were take the words to heart that we speak and let them guide us on our changes so that we can be more than what we were [Music] yes [Music] [Music] oh [Music] no [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Music] [Music] m [Applause] [Music] we move to the conclusion of our worship service with the words of our adoration which you can find in your mahzarim on page 117. our calling is to praise the living source our duty is to make known the greatness of the one creator who trust us to be guardians of the earth and messengers of torah who gives us a destiny shared with all human beings and who binds our lives to theirs and so we bend and bow and give thanks before the blessed one whose realm is unfathomable and whose sovereignty over all makes all life holy and precious [Music] um [Music] you don't oh oh god our service continues on page 120 as we prepare for the kaddish we stand as one on this night of remembrance united in grief united in loss united in the power of a promise god has made us and god will sustain us we give praise to this life and rise together to renew our strength with the words of our qaddish may all of us who mourn in all of us who are bereaved may we find through god's eternal presence a source of strength courage and hope above all a source of shalom of peace and let us all say amen a few announcements before we share our concluding song worship services tomorrow begin at 10 o'clock in the morning at 9 30 there will be the overture musical selections for those who would like a little more of the yom kippur morning service experience we have an afternoon discussion on zoom at 1 30 we're going to take a look at what judaism tells us and teaches us about being a judge what are the qualities what are the aspects what are the ways one should approach cases as a judge we'll take a look at that at 1 30. oh i forgot at 11 30 service for our young children and families 1 30 this discussion 3 30 begins our afternoon service and concluding services we'll have an afternoon service at 3 30 that will conclude and then at 4 30 we will pick up our yisker service which will go right into the ila service and then you all will have break the fast at home i hope so you might want to think about sometime sometime before we get into that afternoon you might want to set up some food in the refrigerator for you that way when we conclude the service you can just break out your break the fast and be good to go with that again my special gratitude to all of our dynamic duo our tech team our musical team and for all of you for joining us for our era of yom kippur called nidre services we conclude with a song that is also a statement about reality rabbi nachman of brazlav taught us that all the entire world is but a narrow bridge and the most important thing is not to be afraid not to be afraid let us cross this narrow bridge together let us be more than what we were koha'u'llah geshertzar mode [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] the most important thing is on the other side the most important thing is on the other side the most important thing is on the other side [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] good yanta to you all to an easy fast we will see you tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock good jantev good young tiff you

Channel: Temple Beth Ohr of La Mirada

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Length: 128min 5sec (7685 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 28 2020