Kol Nidre Service - September 15, 2021

foreign i get your take i could have so i i mentioned the words at the end of it it is a bit emotional what i'm going to be saying and it's not super long but like i would do tell them piano first and then do and then do the intro like i feel like the challenge also like put people like in the i imagine it being like a powerful okay i don't know what do you think i kind of feel like the music so if you're saying something that's hello hello would you like me to tell you a 10 second version of what i'm talking about i think they're all kind of in the same it's like weird because i think that's that's for me what seems a little weird about it is just like that there are so many things at the hmm would you find joel that all of these pages thank you okay much so um whatever he says for sure i'm also curious is well i mean i'm not too worried about it but at the same time when you're in the job church um um um good evening is not yet yantif if you are watching from home close the other tabs that are open right now how beautiful that you could be anywhere in the world as as david taught us over the weekend you could be anywhere else in the world today and you're with us and how blessed we are to have you with us tonight on this really beautiful and interesting night of cold nidre as we prepare ourselves we prepare our souls and our bodies for yom kippur for a day of looking into ourselves and trying to find the best parts of ourselves to bring forth trying to find the not as good parts of ourselves to hide away trying to remind ourselves how strong we are and how kind we are and how giving we are and how holy we are this is a night it's one of the only nights of the year the only night of the year where we put on a talit a talis so if you have one put it on if you didn't bring one we have a number of them out in the hallway and if you'd like to put one on you can put one on we have something different this year as well we've invited our friend joel shemata to to play in just a few minutes to play a piece from coleman ray for us to help get us set in the mood to help feel make us help us feel the weight of the evening something we've never done before but until it's there's been questions about instruments on shabbat instruments and holidays we'll have a big discussion this year going into that but either way it is still light outside it is not yet yuntif it is not yet a time where we would normally have to put instruments away although we're lucky to have eileen on the piano as well i've just learned that for the past 40 years susan and judy have been lighting candles for us on kondindre for arab yom kippur for 40 years they started because susan's husband ira of blessed memory was the president and it was the president's wife who helped light candles on heir of yom kippur and um and and susan said i'll come up if i can bring my bat mitzvah class with me and so for years it was five of them and now it's the two of them for uh this is their i guess 40 40 40 first year you've skipped a couple years in there it's been around 40 years of of lighting candles so i'd like to invite the two of you up now to light the candles for us other practice so always i'm always afraid to do this at home because hello thank you so much susan and judy and if you're interested in joining them in future years to be part of this legacy um let us know i'd like to invite up our rabbinic intern rachel simmons to share some words as an introduction to cole nidre when my parents tell me the story of my birth they tell me two different versions in the first version told by my six foot four career military father he was holding my mother's hand when i was born squeezing telling her calmly as i emerged gray with the umbilical cord wrapped around my neck and my head that everything would be okay in the second version told by my mother the psychotherapist my father was at the foot of the bed when i emerged grey with the umbilical cord wrapped around my neck and in my mother's version was frantic and shrieking my baby my baby i was also present at the moment i'm thankful i can't remember it and i cannot actually tell them which of them is more accurate i would however note that i have a bald spot on the side of my head that i've had my entire year from that umbilical cord it's a very interesting birthmark that sparked a lot of interesting conversations with elementary school friends to be honest though as a kid i just believed my mother but the older i've gotten the more i've come to realize that both stories were probably true my father's version is one of hope he probably did do a whole lot of reassuring of my mother he was scared and so was she but he was desperately hoping that everything would turn out fine and it did on the other hand my mother's version is one of intimacy and vulnerability my mother probably really did see the fear that my dad was trying to hide from everyone else in the room she knew him better than anyone else on the planet and she knew that he was scared that my beginning would also be my end so what i'm saying is that in a way they both told me the truth even though their two versions don't match perfectly this is a lesson about a lesson about the importance of nuanced and multi-layered truth and it helps me each year as i prepare for yom kippur and colney dre this is because yom kippur raises a similar paradox is god an all-knowing all-merciful source of beauty and love as we see throughout our texts or is god a judge and a king holding us responsible for our failings who will one day determine that it is time for us to die for reasons that we do not comprehend just like with the story of my birth these are two distinct ways of thinking about the divine and while the psalms i believe are speaking a deep truth when they say kul han shamma to halal yah that every soul and every tree and every clap of thunder has a unique and beautiful way to celebrate creation i also believe the high holy days liturgy especially on yom kippur and anconi dre is speaking truth when it leads us right to the edge of our discomfort plops us down gives us a mirror and says look look at yourself this pain this imperfection is also an inescapable and important part of life look around you the synagogue we sit in the songs we sing and the scrolls we read from should feel familiar to us in a way they should feel like home on shabbat and other holidays we should feel safe here with each other with god safe and confident and comfortable but not on yom kippur we are not here tonight and tomorrow to feel comfortable we are here to be sacredly uncomfortable we are here to feel awe yes and to experience the beauty of colony ray the power of our tradition but on yom kippur we must face the painful reality that even in a year where the world has been ravaged by a pandemic we still hurt each other we the people in this room we including me everyone on the bema we have to own that we still lied we still gossiped we were still unkind we were still human and we have to own that so both views are truth god is there in the beauty of the world and the warm hug of a friend and god is also there in that sick feeling in the pic of a pit of our stomachs when we know we have hurt someone and done something wrong colney dre tells us literally that every single vowel every single word every single promise every single thing we have done matters and perhaps now in the face of the past year year and a half and so much shared pain our actions and their consequences matter more than they ever have before gamartov as we reflect on those words we listen now to joel shimada and eileen wiser play cole nidre uh um yes ah hey bye um yes hey so thank you both very much thank you joel thank you eileen it's been a long time since i've gotten to find myself lost in um in live music it's been a very long time since i've just been able to close my eyes and feel it and uh and let it flow through me so thank you so much for awakening our souls and getting us ready for the words of konni dre by reminding us of the haunting melody um joel thank you looking forward to working with you again in the future i'd like at this point to invite up the railing new family to come and join us on the bema one page if you have a moxor on page 397 a meditation before cole nidre page 397 eternal god who calls us to repentance we are grateful for the opportunity to answer your call to forsake our sins and to turn to you with all our hearts yet we know that repentance is difficult we know that there have been times when we resolved to mend our ways and did not succeed even the admission that we have done wrong does not come easily our pride is all tall is as tall as the mountains our vanities as wide as the sea and excuses abound but before you there are no secrets to you all stands revealed our pettiness and our greed our selfishness and our weakness our running to do evil and are limping to do good all these are known to you on this night of atonement we yearn to become better than we have been for you o lord have given us the great gift of atonement enabling individuals and communities to return to you and to do your will open our hearts to the call of this sacred night so that the words of our prayers may remain with us to renew us and to refine us may our deeds make us worthy to hear your divine assurance salah i have forgiven if you're able please rise as michael and laurie open up the ark be shiva shall mala be shiva shall makta by the authority of the heavenly court and by the authority of the earthly court with divine consent and with the consent of this congregation we hereby declare it permissible to pray with those who have transgressed i'd like to call up now miles simpson wendy and peter margolis cindy and marshall shear and art pfefferman to hold six sifrey torah i'd like to invite benny to come up and help us pass them out i a little bit call me drake hey is a my oh foreign on no ah oh for the second recitation of the konidrae we invited tammy ratzenwink and david wenk buzz schenkermann erica miller spencer miller and jessica dennis okay um there should be three on each side is me yay m the is m she my the third recitation we invite up heidi birnbaum and mark birnbaum george mitchell and gene mitchell and don zimmern to hold the safri torah um thank you so much oh yay me is m i am the oh so as these are going back into the arc let's read the english of col nidre all vows oaths and promises which we made to god and were not able to fulfill from last yom kippur to this yom kippur may all such vows between ourselves and god be annulled may they be void and of no effect may we be absolved of them and released from them may these vows not be considered vows these oaths not be considered oaths and these promises not be considered promises on page 400. is foreign oh my um ah you may be seated it is my honor to call up the president of our synagogue sherry mark to share some words with us oh that was really emotional thank you kind of brought tears to my eyes seeing everyone here in person this year which i'll talk about more in a minute okay i need to figure out my angle here life life is full of lessons and this past year and a half has been full of them a personal lesson careful what you wish for last year i gave this appeal to an empty sanctuary while being recorded it felt so strange not to be standing in front of this congregation live and now here we are another lesson i recently learned is about perspective which is also your frame of reference or viewpoint i hope you are enjoying the second annual tec swag bag that we distributed at shmoozapalooza this year what a lovely morning it was and a quick but heartfelt thank you to everyone who had anything and i mean anything to do with that project i had many moments of perspective as i walked and schmoozed my way around the parking lot i had the opportunity to talk to a new member who told me how much he and his significant other are enjoying being members at temple eskayam they have both been members in another synagogue and how the feeling they get here is different it's optimistic it's upbeat happy and warm they feel an excitement anytime they attend services or events and they feel grateful for the opportunity to attend and participate as new members they are very attuned to seeing and feeling the differences in varying communities in the moment it made me feel good to know that they were happy and then i thought about it and i thought about our conversation and i was really glad that they were happy but it made me think i love tec but i just thought i was a little biased i realized though it is the human condition to take things for granted and become complacent over time as we become more comfortable and i believe this is to be true with our own relationship with tec so let's take a moment to zoom out now that we've all become zoom pros and try to see with fresh eyes let's take inventory of what we have now and how and where it all began let's begin with our outstanding rabbi whose love of judaism combined with his remarkable intellect quick wit brings us life energy and connection into our community his energy is boundless and if you've taken the time to experience a class with rabbi aberbach one like he gave last sunday you will know what a wonderful teacher he is too he could bring a prayer to life new meaning to a holiday and inspire an even greater love of judaism he is now accompanied by our rabbanic rabbinic intern rabbi rachel who we heard a few minutes ago who joins him on most friday nights and some saturday mornings she sings with the most soulful voice carrying us through the service and boy as you know now she can tell a story too many of you may not know that rabbi rachel also teaches our children she attends board meetings visits our preschool and in a pretty short amount of time she's become a well-loved fixture here at tec of course we must also pay tribute to our formidable rabbi emeritus rabbi spiegel who you could still find here on campus on tuesday mornings teaching his classes as well as on the bema here as the need arises and it arose a few weeks ago on a friday night if you came to second day rosh hashanah or streamed it you can attest to the fact that a rabbi spiegel sermon never disappoints what's happening in our schools we are thriving though that almost sounds and feels inadequate in this moment t's pre tec's preschool has its largest enrollment ever and in no small part due to its incredible reputation through the kaneho valley while the ece remains steadfast in bringing jewish education to our little ones non-jews join waiting lists to get into what is rightfully known as one of the best infant care and preschool programs around there is so much joy on our ece campus every day thanks to the tangible and heartfelt love from debbie blumenthal and her incredible her incredibly warm caring and hard-working team our religious school has adapted over and over again throughout the pandemic to continue providing top-notch jewish education from kindergarten through 12th grade make no mistake one of the biggest reasons families continue to seek out temple sky is our religious school our quality jewish education combines with the caring and nurturing environment joyce bronstein and her dedicated team of teachers create for our children has a reputation that speaks for itself we continue to have a very active usy run by shannon tepfer who made sure all our u.s wires had a fun and meaningful year filled with growth learning and offered social outlets in new and creative ways shannon's energy is palpable and she keeps our chapter vibrant and the kids coming back finally our administrative offices run by our executive director gideon manzor and his right hand shane silverstein between them there is nothing we can ask for that can't be accomplished they are the glue maybe the gorilla glue that holds tec together behind the scenes and while they aren't the center of attention they are the supporting cast without which the show would not go on but perhaps the most quintessentially eskim characteristic is our incredible volunteer base our selfless dedicated congregants give so generously of their time and talents which in turn allows us to reach far beyond what our finance financial means would otherwise allow here at tec one simply has to put out a call or an sos and rest assured folks answer this room and the foyer that we walked in this evening was largely put together by volunteers who answered the call to help our bingo team most of whom have been coming together to run our largest and longest running fundraiser every thursday night for over 30 years our social action committee regularly feeds the hungry we're reclaiming the tec garden and the list goes on and on and we all of us are the lucky beneficiaries for anyone who has been around for a while this volunteerism is not new and not surprising it goes back to the synagogue's founders and earliest families who did all of this since tec's inception in the 1960s they literally built this campus brick by brick tree by tree and member by member into what this is today if you look closely well it's behind in the ark behind the doors the torah covers they are hand embroidered by the original tec sisterhood from the 1960s and throughout this building there's hand-carved wooden mesus out made by a talented and generous member at the time and down the hall by the office is a whole hallway of plaques dedicated to volunteer service awards dating back more than 50 years temple eskim was born of culture and contribution and service and retains its unique culture through big-hearted people who continue to believe in and sustain our founding principles as a result of all our early leaders did we can all be here today to reap the many benefits to have the privilege of raising and educating our children to celebrate life cycle events and to mourn with community it is with gratitude to all the past leaders and founding members who made our ability to davin grow our personal personal relationships with god and find true and lasting friendships we thank you i stand here tonight continuing the tradition of giving this appeal like all presidents have done before me so we can ensure that the next generation will have the same opportunities that we have so been givenly generously given and it is with the spirit they cultivated that i stand here tonight asking you to sustain this precious inheritance your membership dues makes the air conditioning that we are enjoying in here tonight run it keeps the lights on the facility is clean the phone's answered by dedicated staff but so much of what makes atskayam the home we've come to know and love is our ability to help those who cannot afford membership or tuition programs that bring us together the music that enhances our services and of course those blue high holiday bags we've come to cherish these past two holiday seasons it all requires financial resources beyond what our membership dues allow it takes a village it takes a village of willing individuals to lead our community our kahila into the next generation the village is made up of individuals each with their own special unique talent skills smile and energy so that our village can thrive and thriving we are in spite of an ongoing pandemic not every member of the village has the same set of skills but when every member gives something of themselves the sky's the limit so in your swag bag was a bright blue donation card as a reminder bright blue consider what you have given in the past can you move up a level can you fold over a second level or maybe even a third your generosity allows us to maintain the high standards of maintenance and professionalism that we have come to accept and expect as our norm just as not everyone in our village has the same skill set we aren't all going to give at the same level but imagine for just one moment if every single one of us folded back at least one tab how amazing would that be my goal and fervent hope is that together we can look to the future out of the same lens and perspective and keep tec vibrant and thriving la dorvidor from generation to the next generation keeping tec alive vibrant and thriving that is my goal and i cannot do it without everyone's help as helen keller once said alone we could do so little together we can do so much shana tova and i wish everyone an easy and meaningful fast thank you sherry and thank you miles for going around and collecting now i'm sure some people are going to need to think about it and talk about it as a family those of you at home miles will be coming to your house tonight just after services you should be here by 10 let's see if you start and see me i do appreciate it thank you and thank you for those very kind words that was i did not know that was coming so thank you um we'll turn back in our mocs or now we're on page 401 um and invite up evie macaulay who's okay there she is to lead us in the reading on this night of atonement o god of forgiveness on this night of atonement we come before you haunted by memories of duties unperformed of promptings disobeyed of beckonings ignored we confess that there were opportunities for kindness and service which we are allowed to pass by in the year just ended we are ashamed of us of sins committed with evil intent as well as of follies committed unwittingly or even with good intentions make us honest enough to recognize our transgressions big enough to admit them strong enough to forsake them humble us by showing us what we are exalt us with a vision of what we may yet grow to be keep us ever mindful of our dependence upon you and help us to understand your need of us united with you in a holy partnership may we dedicate our lives to your law of love help us to create homes filled with joy and harmony and to labor for peace among communities and nations on this sacred night grant us atonement and help us find serenity within ourselves kindle within us the fires of faith and so our courage to live the words we pray thank you very much evie we invite up now rabbi spiegel and linda spiegel to open up the ark for us if you're able please rise we'll turn forward now to page 408 for the beginning of the mahariv service the evening service with the words of barachu who foreign you may close the once they close the ark may be seated thank you linda thank you rabbi we'll read responsively on page 409 ma'ariva ravim by two lines praised are you lord our god ruler of the universe whose word brings on the dusk of evening opens the gates of dawn your understanding regulates time and the stars above follow their appointed rounds in response to your divine will you remove the day and bring on the night you separate one from the other may you rule over us as you rule over nature praised are you oh lord who brings the evening dusk i 410 is time is foreign know me is page 412 we joined together for the words of shema and baruch shem and veyakta is oh who is like you o lord among the mighty who is like you glorious in holiness revered in praises doing wonders page 418 towards the middle of the page the leaden to me hamocha is never me um on page 420 we find hash key venue and if you've been here in the last few months you'll know this is one of my favorite prayers but i think it's amazing how the same words on a night like tonight can take on a slightly different meaning on wednesday night i lead minion on zoom and i remember a couple weeks ago before hoshiki venue we paused and i invited everyone in the room to imagine a cozy night or maybe it was chilly and you have some hot cocoa and you're cuddled up under under a blanket by the fire and i said that that could be maybe what hash key venue was like that sense of security but tonight i'd like to share with you a slightly different image i'd like you to think about a time when you couldn't sleep no matter what you did you couldn't get comfortable you were tossing you were turning maybe maybe you were thinking about something and you couldn't stop thinking about it maybe there were noises in the house and i know for me when i've had nights like that there comes a point where i start thinking ahead i'm not necessarily thinking about the moment how to get comfortable or i'm looking forward to that cup of coffee i'm looking forward to the sunlight i'm looking forward to the hope on the other side there's maybe not the same thing that gets each of us through a difficult night whether it's a physical night where we can't sleep or a night of the soul where we are wrestling with our imperfections but because tonight is a night where we look at those ways in which we have fallen short i'd like to invite you as we sing to not just focus on the cozy and protective and sheltering beauty of these words but also on the promise that even though we are tossing and turning in this messy and imperfect night of the soul that god's there for us and is going to bring the sun on the other side even if it's kind of a restless night so with that hash ki venu page 420 husky foreign a oh so is is the torah reading for tomorrow includes the words on the bottom of page 420 and 421 we can read them together for on this day atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you for all all your sins shall you be clean before the lord m page 422 hatsey kaddish yes oh is my foreign my over the course of the next 24 hours or so will be saying the amidah somewhere around six times we have tonight's ma'ari of service then tomorrow we have shakharit musaf minha mariv and naila six times over the next 24 24-ish hours we'll be saying the amidah more than any other time during the year we think of the different parts of ourself each time you read through these words each time you strike your chest so gently each time you recall who you are and who you've been and who you want to be try to find a different part of yourself that you're focusing on it's on your personal life is it on your professional life is it in your family life is it on your extracurricular life which part of yourself are you focusing on now so those who are able please rise for the first silent amidah of yom kippur on page 424 it goes through page 440 when you're finished with your personal prayers the words in hebrew or english are just the words that are breaking out of your heart and you may be seated but for now we rise and face the ark for amidah you um it um you okay my is i foreign you can close your books for a moment for a lot of moments thursdays thursdays are my day off i know a day to try to get all done all the things that most people do on the weekends sometimes i get to have lunch with my dad or i go shopping for groceries i do laundry which makes me wonder what i'm going to do tomorrow because yom kippur is on a thursday this year but one thing i like to do on thursdays is go for a hike often with my mom we don't go every week sometimes it's too hot or i have too much work to do or covid protocols get in the way but we often hike we've trekked through the hills of tarzana and malibu and thousand oaks and agora on one thursday we were hiking right behind my mom's friend kathy and david's house at the end of the hike my mom asked if we should surprise her if we should surprise her friend kathy and knock on her door it's my day off i said sure and my mom remembered that it was thursday and kathy works on thursdays so we decided to go to her store instead surprise her and her co-worker who we also love and then grab lunch as we're discussing the plan my phone rings it's kathy the woman we were just talking about surprising in some shock thinking that perhaps she sees us from her house or she saw our car i answer the phone in disbelief and i say what and she said is that how a rabbi answers the phone and i explained to her that we're on our way to surprise her at work when she tells me that she was calling to ask if i could come to her work they needed a rabbi who needs a rabbi who on a thursday shy of a god forbid moment needs a rabbi in a store i explained that i just hiked near her house and while we were going to surprise her i don't look or smell very rabbinic we went anyways and after our hellos and our air hugs one of kathy's co-workers a woman named christine asked if i would sit down with her she told me her story in a similar way to how i tell a story which is not very linear it jumped around and across centuries christine's son had just died and she was broken her husband and teenage daughter were trying to work through the grief of losing a son and a brother a seemingly healthy son in college whose cancer diagnosis progressed so quickly i assume that this is why a rabbi emergency was called on a thursday to help christine this non-jewish woman through her sorrow but then christine's story went on she wanted to be jewish she loves judaism and always felt connected to judaism this must be why i was called in to start counseling her toward conversion to recommend books and classes and set up regular appointments for questions and discussions but again no i jump to conclusions too quickly she remembers her grandmother in mexico lighting candles on friday nights making circles with her hands and mumbling something she never thought much of it she was handed a silver cup and told to keep it in the family on display in her house a friend came over and asked why christine had a kiddush cup she started doing research poking around and asked her grandmother and a faint whisper days before abuelita died she told christine that they were jewish that they could trace their ancestry through 25 generations to royalty in spain the mayor of the town and the rabbi passed down from generation to generation were silver cups and candlesticks the family secret not shared until the matriarch was about to die through countries on three continents she it turns out is jewish she who didn't know she was jewish until she was in her late 40s she whose name does not sound jewish who always felt connected to judaism even before she'd ever met a jew herself she who fell in love with a jewish man and raised jewish kids and converted those kids and always felt like she was getting the stink eye from her synagogue because she didn't come across as jewish was jewish all along this year i've heard from so many jews who don't look like your traditional ashkenazi jews jews who are black and asian and hispanic jews who get the sideways glances when they go to shul or jewish events who have who have to constantly explain themselves to people who think jews should look like gal gadot or jerry seinfeld or a bearded hasidic rebbe on instagram there's an entity called hey elma and on tuesdays they put out a game they hope is fun though i'm sure they get a lot of mail about it the game is called jew or not and they put up pictures of celebrities and politicians and athletes and you guess if they're jewish or not and it is surprising every time people who look jewish whose names sound jewish who have played jews and movies turn out to not be jewish conversely people who don't like look like the jewish kids from my hebrew school class turns out they're jewish last year i heard a story from my colleague rabbi angela buchdahl rabbi buchdalt is an asian jew and a great rabbi and an incredible singer she was counseling a couple before their wedding and the groom was trying to convince his fiance to convert the fiance tall and blonde and well not looking like the typical jew was really interested in the theology and she loved the holidays and shabbat she dove into the learning in one of their last sessions the rabbi asked the groom what he loved most about being jewish and he said i love that i can look around the room and just get a sense of who's jewish just by looking the fiance then asked would you think that i'm jewish he realized that with all the beauty of our peoplehood that his beloved had learned with all of our holidays and customs and language and recipes and prayers of all the things he could say the idea of looking jewish and saying it to his asian rabbi and his statuesque fiancee was the wrong answer the couple got married but the woman did not convert if in her husband's eyes she would never be seen as jewish what was the point a distant cousin called me a few years ago i believe that she is my third cousin once removed and we started looking into our family tree that goes back six generations unlike christine i can't trace my roots much further back than this one family tree the cousin tells me that the furthest back ancestor we know of my great great great grandmother was not born jewish she was so ugly the story goes that no one in town would marry her a poor jewish merchant came to town and her father liked him the father married his daughter off to this impoverished yid supposedly giving them both a better life my most distant ancestor wasn't jewish but christine's was it brings to mind the question of what is being jewish is it merely handed down through birthright or is it something that we can embrace and become fully i love the fact that you can adopt judaism and become jewish that no one can question your judaism after that i love the fact that jews look more diverse today than we did a generation ago and that's beautiful probably every family here has been touched by this progress how incredible a rabbi and a priest were talking this is not a joke this actually happened a rabbi daniel graber was talking to a priest in his community in durham about obtaining membership in their houses of worship the priest said to be a member of our church all you have to do is say that you believe in jesus and all that that entails you sign on to the same theology as everyone else in the church and you are one of us so how do you become a member of your synagogue the rabbi gulped in embarrassment we don't care what you believe you just have to write a check and fill out some paperwork the rabbi told me this story in shame but i see it i see it as beautiful we don't need identical doxologies we don't need to all think alike for us to be a united community there are many pathways to judaism there are many pathways to god some have deep belief and some question some are atheists but cultural or gastronomic jews and they are still part of our community you've never heard that before gastronomic jews that's good right some believed in god yesterday and then yelled at god today and will be comforted by community tomorrow you don't have to share the same views on god that i do to be part of this community the words of cole ninja admit this they remind us that sometimes the things that we say and the things that we think are not constant we can really mean it today and feel differently about it tomorrow we take back the promises and the oaths and the vows because we are human we are evolving and we are growing if there is one line of torah one line of the bible that most jews know it's from the first chapters of deuteronomy it's not merely a line of torah we've made it a prayer a central prayer in the morning service and in the evening service we say it when we wake when we go to bed when we travel when we're stuck at home shema israel adonai eloheinu my teacher rabbi showai says some prayers i read and just simply don't pay attention to but this prayer i have never read or heard without feeling that it captured the very heart the very marrow of jewish life what does it say first of all the prayer is remarkable because it doesn't talk to god every other prayer seems to be directed at god i'd expect it to say shema elohim adonai no it's talking to us shema israel listen jews just listen to what to the very essence of god and the essence of god the only predicate that the whole bible uses to emphasize god's essence in our world think about the statement god is blank what would you fill in that blank god is omnipotent or god is omnipresent no the only word the bible fills in there is in shema the last word here echad do you hear did you say hear o israel the lord is all-knowing the lord is all-powerful the lord is everywhere the lord isn't even all good according to this unity oneness it was the jewish tradition that understood that we are all of us interconnected look at how you're sitting right now where your hands are or your feet are this is how your great great great grandfather sat i am an echo of those who came before me and i am someone's ancestor our prophet isaiah knew this as well he preached to the jews habitu al-sur look back to the rock that you were hewn from look back to sarah and abraham god blessed them and you are their progeny you carry that blessing i love that isaiah says this a lot that were hewn from the same quarry of our ancestors and the imagery used by the prophet is that we are hewn from the same holy rock of those who came before us one of the names for god that isaiah uses is sewer rock where do you come from not just your parents or your great great great grandparents who sit like you not just from abraham and sarah but also from hatsura from god we are hewn from makur hayim from the source of life how beautifully unlonely this year to carry that flint that piece of soul within you being a god being one is not easy it means that we can't put others down we can't denigrate we have to take care of others as much as we take care of ourselves because we are one maybe you've seen that jewish quote splayed across benches around the valley written in hebrew torah font via la reichamocha love your fellow human being the same way that you love yourself it's from leviticus we'll read it tomorrow afternoon some rabbis of antiquity debated this line who is re-echa your fellow human being is it only your next door neighbor the one that you agree with the one who goes to the same school or the same school or the same politics as you does it include competitors or someone i once had a spat with the context is maximalist it's universal take care of everyone else not just yourself not just those who are like you not just those you know everyone and if we think about the power of breath if we think about the atomic level about the laws of inertia about the molecules that make us up we know that we are interconnected throughout time in addition to space what i do today affects the next generation and the next and the next the stone they will be cut from includes us and our story and our choices we are echad even if i will never meet them generations hence what ties us together what unites us we call god god is the echad if we are bound by god then how do we act towards one another as if we are one loving and compassionate jonathan safran foer writes something in his book we are the weather that i find fascinating he writes every inhale every inhalation includes molecules from julius caesar's final exhalation the magical compression of time and space and space the implications were almost unbelievable if i just inhaled caesar's last breath and i also must have inhaled beethoven's and darwin's and that of roosevelt and rosa parks and elvis and the pilgrims and native americans at that first thanksgiving and even the grandfather that i never met and every breath of everyone not only of humans but all other animals too and with each inhale i absorbed the story of life and death on earth caesar's ending was also a beginning his was the first recorded autopsy which is how we know that he was stabbed 23 times the iron daggers are gone the blood-soaked toga is gone the curia of pompeii in which he was killed is gone and the metropolis in which it stood only exists as ruins it's hard to think of a more ephemeral artifact of a civilization than a breath but it's impossible to think of a more enduring one jonathan safran fowler's vision of our interconnectedness puts a burden on us in a year when we're very aware of everyone's intertwined breaths our holy breath is godly we have no way of escaping our unity the torah says today you are all standing in front of god leaders and elders and children and converts who have chosen to be part of your community all entering this covenant together as one not one better than the other it continues i make this covenant not with you alone but with those standing with you this day and those who are not standing with us here today it's binding for all future generations let us see and count every jew equally as part of the jewish people just as god does when i was in college i saw an art installation that was a video of the exodus from egypt i don't know if it was from the movie the ten commandments or if they got actors to do it more recently or if this is real footage from 3 300 years ago but you stand there watching hundreds of people walking through the parted sea it's incredible to look at these people who are supposed to be my ancestors our ancestors experiencing a great miracle tasting freedom smiles on their faces escaping pharaoh and slavery i was trying to take it all in each face when i noticed among the representation of my ancestors i noticed myself that's me was i there did i forget that i was part of this thing with hundreds of extras did it just look like me but as i furrowed my brow to look closer so did the projected image then i moved and so did the projected image there was a hidden camera and a projector so that i was in this historical moment i was projected there among my people and so would you be and so would christine we would all see ourselves in this foundational story this is your story your story that you share with all of us with all those who came before you and all those who will come after you the other day at breakfast my four and a half year old son pardon me my four and three quarter year old son asked me what is a jew he then took a bite of his homemade chocolate chip waffle with peanut butter on top while my brain reeled do i go into ethical monotheism the idea that we believe in one god a kind and vulnerable and true god do i explain meek's vote the good deeds we do to stay connected to religion to our tradition our community and our torah in the brief seconds that i was trying to come up with an answer he said is a jew someone who is jewish and with a smile on my face i said yes i couldn't come up with a better answer than that i laughed to myself at this answer but it works perfectly i can't define judaism it's a little different for everyone so maybe the only way to define it is to break the rule and use the word in its own definition we are jews in all forms with many understandings of the world with diverse backgrounds may we remember this year may we remember how connected we are and may we look out for each other so that we are all sealed for a year of goodness kamar khatima tovah you may now open back your mocks or as i'm getting i'm getting news we're on page 446. thank you thank you we invite up lisa and hardy warren to open up the ark for us on page 446 with the words of yale if you're able please rise as the birthday boy and his wife open up the ark for us i ruined it i ruined it i'm sorry join me in the bottom of page 447 the final two stanzas may our knocking at your gates be heard at nightfall our joy come to us in the morning and our petition be granted at dusk may our cry rise up to you at nightfall our plea reach your presence in the morning and your mercy be shown to us at dusk if you are closed you may be seated on page 448 and 449 at the bottom of the page and we'll read together in the english that the bottom paragraph but it just strikes me that the word here hana shama hanash here translated as the soul is yours also means the breath our breath is yours so join with me at the bottom of page 449 that paragraph the soul is yours the body is your creation have compassion on your handiwork the soul is yours the body is yours forgive us lord for the sake of your name we have come trusting in you lord deal kindly for your name's sake gracious and compassionate god forgive us for numerous are our sins like to invite up joe weiss onto the bema we're on page 453 and joel read us will lead us responsively in his best teacher voice on page 453 a prelude to the 13 attributes these 13 names for god will be reciting in just a moment who has ever lived who did not sin is there any mortal untainted by inequity no one is free of all transgression all therefore stand in need of god's forgiveness our ancestors sinned at the very foot of sinai when the command of god had just been proclaimed though they pledged we will do we will obey they soon broke their promise of loyalty to god faithlessly they broke the commandments of the lord they fashioned and worshipped a calf of gold how wondrous then was god's compassion for god did not destroy the rebellious people subduing the divine wrath god forgave our ancestors revealing the thirteen aspects of divine mercy now we o lord come before you in contrition recalling those same attributes of your compassion as you have mercy upon our ancestors have mercy upon us we pray for we o god have also sinned we too forsake and break our pledge we too worship the work of our own hands we too make a gold of god we too cast off the torah's yoke show compassion oh lord forgive our sins for we like our ancestors need your pardon on page 454 to say these 13 names of god a pardon our iniquity and our sin take us to be your own forgive us our lord for we have sinned pardon us our sovereign for we have transgressed for you o lord generously forgive great is your love for all who call upon you islam we're on page 458 for shimakolenu those who are able please rise and we invite up joe tishler and nomi freed to open up the ark for us know know this jerk is closed you may be seated we'll reach makaleno in english on 4 59 hear our voice lord our god spare us pity us accept our prayer in your gracious love turn us to you o lord and we shall return renew us as in days of old do not banish us from your presence do not deprive us of your holy spirit do not cast us off in old age when our strength declines do not forsake us do not forsake us o lord our god do not make yourself distant from us page 460. elohey we are arrogant but you are merciful we are obstinate but you are patient we are laden with sin but you abound in compassion we are as a passing shadow but you are eternal those who are able we rise on page 462. i he's avenue i oh roshanu oh we turn forward out of page 466. we'll start in hebrew and then we'll say the words in english as well we'll go to the english responsibly we have sinned against you by hardening our hearts we have sinned against you by speaking perversely we have sinned against you publicly and privately we have sinned against you by evil thoughts i've sinned against you by in sincere confession we've sinned against you by intentionally and unintentionally for all these sins oh god of forgiveness forgive us pardon us grant us atonement we have sinned against you by foolish talk we have sinned against you knowingly and unknowing we have sinned against you by bribery and we have sinned against you by slander we have sinned against you in eating and drinking and we have a false pride for all these sins oh god of forgiveness forgive us pardon us grant us atonement we have sinned against you by wanton glances and we have sinned against you we have sinned against you by perverting justice we have said against you by being stubborn we have sinned against you by causeless hatred for all these sins oh god of forgiveness forgive us pardon us grant us atonement a we call up upon two of our past presidents harvey moskowitz and miles simpson to open up the ark for us on page 472 as we sing avinu volcano no so no you may for a brief moment be seated page 476 shalem is foreign is is coming home we invited the shonen walls to open up the ark for us we're on page 478 with the words of elenu those who are able please rise when the as the ark is open um elohim oh as the ark is closed you may be seated thank you jeff and sherry tonight with this service we transitioned from the ninth of tishrei to the tenth of tishrei and we note the yard sights in our community of benjamin ratson jacob por davoodi murray shapiro richard m golden anna leah friedman bernard weiner birdie snead gilbert guzik jenny h torchen rosie summerfeld and sarah kern may the memories be beautiful ones to those who remember them and loved them it should be noted that during the week we got we invite people and on shabbat too we ask people who have a yard site to share who they're remembering whose yard site it is whether they're on this list or not whether they're part of our community or not if they have a yard site they have a story to share about their mother their cousin their neighbor their friend whoever they have a yard site for they're welcome to share that so if during the year you have a yard site and you want to share with us who you're remembering so it's not just a name on the list but it's uh something that you can add some of their background and who they were who they are and who they are to you whether it's on zoomer in person you're welcome to do that um throughout the year um if you're in a period of morning or you're observing a yard site you're welcome to rise and join with us for kadish yatom the mourner's kaddish on page 482 or 483. rabbah is is you may be seated i want to thank you all for being here i noticed one person walking late so i'm gonna invite sherry back up here to share her story again for anybody who didn't hear it i invite sherry to come up here to share some announcements with our community you're funny wow thank you how do we say thank you for this extraordinarily moving service this evening it seems hard to say but thank you rabbi rabbi rachel thank you for your beautiful words kenny and choir just beautiful you added so much to our service this evening and our conan dre kickoff to yom kippur so following through tomorrow morning we will meet back in the tent for the children's or family service at 8 30 and back here and online for any everyone online thank you we'll be back here at 9 30 a.m i hope you all loved this as much as i did and found it is moving have a wonderful evening and an easy fast thank you thank you thank you thank you sherry we'll conclude on page 486 as cantor kenny ellis and eileen wiser and the choir of melody greenwald larry ehrlichman harold edberg melissa cohen janet blake and aaron ellis lead us in singing jigdal we're on page 486 is is oh two final thoughts as we're taking off our talises one is it struck me as we're saying forgive us pardon us grant us atonement that that word atonement can also be seen as at one mint that we confer please god grant us at one minute a sense of unity and a sense of peace um we say on on this holiday we say have an easy fast as a reminder this is my yearly reminder to you um that this is not a competition that afterwards you know it's not about who can say that they fasted the longest and oh well we had dinner earlier i don't even have dinner i only had lunch and just the going back about how who's that it's not about that and i'll talk more about it tomorrow so if you are taking medication please don't fast if you should be taking medication please don't fast if you are pregnant if you are nursing if you are recently pregnant or nursing if you're trying to get pregnant um if you know somebody who is pregnant if you saw a pregnant lady walk in here tonight please please don't fast um for those of you who are who are um not going to fast though try to change something so if tomorrow morning with breakfast um because you have to take your pill and so instead of having three cups of coffee and seven pancakes and two dozen eggs or whatever try to try to make it different try to limit yourself and change something and those who are fasting please have an easy fast have a good night um get out of here carefully thank you very much for joining us online or in person thank you to our ushers uh and for everybody making this possible tonight thank you okay you

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Length: 151min 44sec (9104 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 15 2021