Kol Nidre service Yom Kippur 2021 5782

[Music] so [Music] my [Music] do [Music] okay [Music] thank you oh it's not the best metaphor [Music] [Music] yes [Music] my [Music] good evening it's so good to be back together here and to be get to to be together with all of you who have joined us online and if this is your first time celebrating the high holidays with beth on i'm thrilled to welcome you to our congregation my name is rabbi jeremy morrison and i'm joined today this evening and throughout this whole next 24 hours by my colleagues rabbi sarah weissman rabbi jonathan prosnic cantor jamie spall and rabbi heath watermaker the next 24 hours promises to be arduous but ultimately it will be a joyful and uplifting experience but we've got some heavy labor to do together some serious lifting but what's going to make all of this easier as we move towards tomorrow evening is that we get to do it together we get to do it with colleagues i'm so thrilled to be with them we have with us tonight in our mishkan in our sanctuary our choir it's good to be back together with you and we're thrilled that you are with us as well online our makhsour mishkan hanefesh is our guidebook for the path that we will walk from sundown to sundown if you don't have one in your hands you can utilize the flip book there's a link to it on our website and so now we begin our trek a difficult day lies ahead but one that holds the promise of rebirth and of renewal and we take our first step by lighting this near nishima this flame of memory page 9. [Music] you are blessed eternal one who places within us life everlasting and it's a pleasure to invite forward jeff and lynn mcgill to light these lights the human spirit is the lamp of god searching out what lies within us guided by the flame of conscience on this sacred night we search for truth shine your light upon us as we strive to serve you may we find safety in your faithful love we light the flame of healing and forgiveness on this atonement night we give thanks for love oh [Music] oh [Music] me [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] ah [Music] cole nadre grants us the gift of sacred uncertainty the chance to begin this new year with a sense of what we do not know rather than a narrow certainty about what we do it's what buddhists call beginner's mind what if every time i was ready to proclaim some self-evident truth i allowed colney dre to whisper in my ear says who we begin this evening konadre with max brook's well-known setting performed by donna rudin and russell norman as you listen you will see that we have continued in a virtual way our cherished tradition of honoring our past presidents i also invite you as you are listening to utilize the readings on pages 10 through 13 as sources for reflection [Music] uh [Music] is [Music] um [Music] so [Music] my [Music] ah [Music] him [Music] hey [Music] now [Music] um [Music] now [Music] is [Music] we continue now on page 16. please rise [Music] oh is [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] my is me [Music] [Music] these dreams is [Music] is [Music] i [Music] me [Music] bless her [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Laughter] oh [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Laughter] need [Music] [Laughter] [Music] love [Music] [Applause] [Music] join with me on page 19. give us the strength to keep our promises the sacred vows of partners in marriage the promises of love and care between parents and children the promises of duty between citizens and country the oaths of doctors the sacred trust of teachers give us the strength to keep our promises to our friends and colleagues to those who live with us and depend on us to those who work for us and those for whom we work to those who pray with us and those for whom we pray to those we love and those we serve give us the courage to keep our promises to ourselves to one another and to future generations [Music] all shall be forgiven the entire community of israel and the stranger who lives in their midst for all have gone astray in error moses prayed to god as you have been faithful to this people ever since egypt please forgive their failings now in keeping with your boundless love and god responded i forgive as you have asked [Music] oh [Music] my me kids so we continue on page 22. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] god [Music] please join with me on page 26. love beyond all time and space your love enfolds your people israel we receive it in your teaching your gift of torah sacred obligations discipline and law so let us speak these teachings when we lie down and rise up and find joy forever in your torah and mitzvot they are the very essence of our life ours to ponder and study all our days may we never lose or be unworthy of your love baruch [Music] he's right [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] we're on page 30. where are you [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] please turn to page 40. witnesses to this heroic might the people thanked and praised god by name freely accepting the reign of heaven then moses and miriam and all israel saying to you this song of utter joy [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] no [Music] i [Music] is [Music] you can turn now to page 42 for our nighttime prayer the hoshkiv [Music] i [Music] [Music] vein [Music] [Applause] [Music] hello [Music] oh [Music] [Music] to catch you [Music] me [Applause] [Music] god [Music] hello [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] hush [Music] we continue on page 45. for on this day atonement shall be made for you to purify you from all your wrongs and pure you shall be in the presence of adonai [Music] kivam hazard [Music] oh if you're able i invite you to rise on page 46 for the amidah [Music] [Music] [Music] that my mouth may declare your praise [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] new [Music] [Music] hello [Music] oh [Music] [Music] maybe [Music] they are [Music] this is [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] oh [Music] we continue silently in the prayer book or in our own thoughts until page 81 when you're done with your personal prayer i invite you to be seated time um [Music] me [Music] is [Music] [Music] r [Music] [Music] ah [Music] the words of confession begin with the asham new prayer on page 82. hi that i died [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] sorry [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] join with me in the english on the bottom of 82. of these wrongs we are guilty we betray we steal we scorn we act perversely we are cruel we scheme we are violent we slander we devise evil we lie we ridicule we disobey we abuse we defy we corrupt we commit crimes we are hostile we are stubborn we are immoral we kill we spoil we go astray we lead others on page 86 the vidue rabba the long confession of join us in the english the ways we have wronged you deliberately and by mistake and harmless in your world [Music] the ways we have wronged you through lies and deceit and harm the ways we have you by judging the ways we have wronged you through insincere apologies and harm we have caused in your world by mistreating a friend or neighborhood the ways we have wronged you through violence and abuse and harm we have caused in your world through dishonesty in business [Music] hello [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh [Music] for all these failures of judgment will god of forgiveness forgive us pardon us lead us to atonement page 98. hear our call at an eye our god show us compassion accept our prayer with love and good will [Music] i [Music] oh [Music] i don't know [Music] [Applause] [Music] my [Music] [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] i [Music] damn [Music] is [Music] with hope adonai we await you surely you are deny our god you will answer continue on page 114 with avinu malkinu invite you to rise as we open the ark [Music] [Music] i [Music] new [Music] oh [Music] my [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] renew for us a year of goodness will read together at the bottom of page 115 avinu malkenu almighty and merciful answer us with grace for our deeds our wanting save us through acts of justice and love you can be seated on june 15 1955 a black woman named lucille times was driving to the dry cleaner in montgomery alabama suddenly a white bus driver named james blake tried to force her from the road he followed her all the way to the dry cleaner trying again and again to drive her off the road after a confrontation which ended with a police officer beating her with his flashlight lucille times called the naacp to see what could be done she suggested a bus boycott but the leadership said they needed more time to prepare for such an action so lucille and her husband organized their own boycott driving to bus stops and offering rides to black passengers six months later rosa parks defied the very same bus driver and the reverend martin luther king jr announced a city-wide bus boycott a seminal moment in the civil rights movement lucille times died last month at the age of 100. aruka juma the last surviving male of his amazon tribe also called the juma died in brazil last february ted lumpkin jr one of the last of the original tuskegee airmen died in december just days before his 101st birthday general suhayla siddiq was a renowned surgeon and the first woman to hold the rank of lieutenant general in afghanistan when the taliban took control in 1996 and forced all of the women out of their jobs they called her back to work because they needed her to treat wounded taliban fighters she was a feminist icon one of the few women who dared to walk the streets of kabul without a face covering she defied the taliban by training female medical students whose studies had been interrupted by the takeover refusing to stop even when the taliban pressured her she died last december we also lost charlie pride the first black member of the country music hall of fame joe long the bassist for the four seasons and john davis one of the real voices behind the lip-syncing duo millie vanilli lillian blancas a widely respected lawyer in el paso died at age 47 five days before her runoff election for municipal judge she won anyway and honesty hodges who was handcuffed by the police outside her home in grand rapids michigan at age 11. an incident that drew outrage across the country died last november she was 14. lucille times aruka juma ted lumpkin jr general suhaila siddiq charlie pride joe long john davis lillian blancas and honesty hodges all died from coven 19. i could go on but this year they're just too many obituaries to choose from four and a half million people have died from this virus so far 650 000 in this country alone and those are just the ones we know about the enormity of the loss is difficult to grasp in some ways it's not even the most profound loss we've experienced 650 000 americans have died but for some of us just one one irreplaceable mother or father one spouse or sibling child or dear friend and in that one life a whole world has been taken from us even if our loved ones didn't die from the virus their death this year was even more terrible they died alone in a hospital where visitors weren't allowed they died across the country where relatives couldn't say goodbye they left survivors who were suddenly and totally alone without the comfort of community to embrace them these things happened all over the world and in this very congregation and so many of us felt powerless in the wake of such suffering those of us who were lucky enough to escape a loss like this are counting our blessings knowing that it could easily have been otherwise but if you're one of the lucky ones and you're still feeling an overwhelming sense of grief you're not alone for there's a whole host of other losses we've had to contend with we've lost jobs education and recreation our children and their parents have had to endure distance learning our relationships have suffered either from not enough time together or too much time together the very routines and rhythms of our lives have been upended and perhaps above all we've lost our sense of security and safety we are now regularly often deeply afraid to go about the daily tasks of living the very air we breathe is a potential threat and the hope that we would all go back to our normal lives once the vaccine was available has all but vanished into that potentially covet-filled air enough already you might be thinking tell me something i don't know this litany of loss is so familiar to us after all we've been living with it for a year and a half and there is certainly something to be said for not dwelling on the pandemic for focusing on other things for moving on with our lives as best we can but it seems to me that on this day of days it is no time for ignoring or avoiding the truth of our lives or our mortality on yom kippur we bear our souls facing our anger and fear and grief in the hope that we can transform them and transform ourselves into something new that is our task every year but this year the pandemic has shaped our lives so profoundly that i don't think we can do the work of atonement or renewal without contending with it what are we to do in the face of all this loss this isn't the first time the jewish people have had to answer this question indeed we've survived a long list of crises and tragedies but tonight i want to focus on one particular moment in our history a moment i think that i think can teach us important lessons about how to face our current circumstances almost 2 000 years ago in the year 70 of the common era the temple in jerusalem was burned to the ground by the mighty roman army it had been destroyed before 600 years earlier when the babylonians conquered the land of israel but that time the temple was rebuilt this time the temple was gone for good the center of jewish communal and religious life for the past thousand years god's very own house was up in smoke thousands of jews were killed enslaved or exiled worst of all in the jewish people's view the shekinah god's very presence had also fled the scene in a striking midrash after the destruction of the temple god summons the angels and asks them when a human king has a child who dies and he mourns for him what does he do the angels answer he sits and weeps and god says i shall do so as well even god doesn't know what to do in the face of such loss and has to ask the angels for help and the angels tell god just sit and cry that is all there is to be done the angels are right when everything is destroyed sometimes tears are all we have left the talmud teaches since the day the temple was destroyed the gates of prayer were locked and prayer is not accepted as it once was but the gates of tears were not locked though the usual avenues of connection between god and the jewish people had been cut off the gates of tears through which both the jewish people and god passed through remained open the jewish people kept that gate open by instituting the annual fast of tisha b'av a day of mourning for the destruction of the temples and other calamities that have been fallen us two thousand years later jews still observe to shabba as a day of mourning by fasting singing laments and crying there's a famous story about tisha b'av that goes something like this one day napoleon was strolling through a neighborhood on air of tisha b'av and passed a synagogue he looked through the window and saw people sitting on the floor in the dark wailing and lamenting so he asked one of his officers what was going on those are jews he answered they're mourning the loss of their temple napoleon says what i didn't hear anything about a temple being destroyed when did that happen and the officer replied it happened 1700 years ago and napoleon said this is a people who will live to see their temple rebuilt while it may seem strange to mourn a nearly two thousand year old loss tisha bob holds the very keys to our survival as rabbi tali adler writes tisha b'av in its best form is a day when we do not need to be afraid of tears it is a day when parents teach their children how to cry how to expose and embrace their pain on tisha b'av a day of communal mourning we cry openly because we believe that in the face of a world filled with pain knowledge of how to cry the torah of tears is a gift that human beings need to survive the gates of tears are still open and not just on tisha b'av plenty of us have gone through those gates during this past year and a half we cried when our loved ones got sick when our simchas got cancelled when the sheer exhaustion of taking care of small children while working from home just got to be too much for us we cried as we spent holidays alone or apart from the ones we love we cried out of fear frustration loneliness despair it can be disconcerting for those who aren't used to being criers now finding themselves regularly in tears but it's actually a healthy response to what we're going through when we cry we're accepting the loss feeling the pain giving voice to it tears are honest unless you happen to be a very talented actor tears are cathartic and tears connect us for when we see others cry we see and share their pain when we let others see us cry we open ourselves up to the possibility of being comforted by them the destruction of the temple taught us how to mourn and it also taught us how not to be swallowed up by our grief the talmud teaches when the temple was destroyed a second time there was an increase in the number of ascetics among the jews whose practice was to not eat meat and not to drink wine rabbi yoshua said to them my children for what reason do you not eat meat and do you not drink wine they said to him shall we eat meat from which offerings are sacrificed upon the altar and now the altar is ceased to exist shall we drink wine which is poured as a libation upon the altar and now the altar has ceased to exist rabbi yoshua said to them if so we should not eat bread either since the meal offerings that were offered upon the altar have ceased they replied you are correct it is possible to subsist on produce he said to them we should not eat produce either since the bringing of the first fruits has ceased they replied you are correct we will no longer eat the produce of the seven species from which the first fruits were brought as it is possible to subsist on other produce he said to them if so we should not drink water since the water libation has ceased they were silent rabbi yoshua said to them my children come and i will tell you how we should act to not mourn at all is impossible but to mourn excessively as you are doing is also impossible rather this is what the sages said a person may plaster his house but he must leave a small amount without plaster to remember the destruction of the temple a person may prepare all that he needs for a meal but he must leave out a small item to remember the destruction of the temple a woman may engage in all of her cosmetic treatments but she must leave out a small matter to remember the destruction of the temple you can understand why those jews became ascetics their grief after losing their religious and communal home their very identity overwhelmed them eating meat and drinking wine usually symbols of rejoicing were now painful reminders of the sacrifices they once joyfully offered to god a god whom they felt had abandoned them but as rabbi yoshua shows them everything they eat and drink even water was once used in the rituals of the temple to avoid any reminder of their loss would mean death so rabbi yoshua suggests another way to mourn don't stop living he says build your houses make your meals get dolled up but leave one small piece unfinished a corner unplastered an ingredient omitted an accessory left at home in this way you don't ignore the loss but you find a way to accept it and honor it without it taking over your life that is our challenge today to find a place for our grief to live without letting it consume us for some of us it's easier to ignore the pain to focus on just getting through each day to keep up our business as usual attitude as much as we can or if we're really in denial we fool ourselves into thinking that the virus is no big deal or that it's all a conspiracy and a hoax for others it's easier to give into the grief to withdraw completely from the world because it's just too frightening to face but rabbi yoshua urges us to take the middle path to find ways to acknowledge our loss while continuing to live and thrive we don't have to leave our house unplastered or our soup unsalted though if that speaks to you by all means do it otherwise jewish tradition is a treasure trove of rituals of ancient ways to express the truths that are beyond words so as we live through this period of anxiety and loss we might make room in our days for more ritual daily prayer or meditation can help us maintain a sense of gratitude calm and strength making shabbat a day of rest gives us a regular time for reflection and renewal and we will especially need our rituals of memory lighting art site candles reciting kaddish giving tzedakah in honor of the lives we've lost these rituals help us to carry our losses with us as we continue to live the last lesson of the destruction of the temple is a lesson of creativity and adaptability for out of the ashes of the temple came the birth of judaism as we know it instead of the temple jews congregated in synagogues instead of priests who were born into the job the leaders of the community were rabbis chosen for their torah learning and wisdom instead of animal sacrifices prayer became the offering of our lips here's how rabbi benay lappy describes this moment which she calls the crash of the destruction of the temple one small group of queer fringy outsider hippie guys we call them rabbis today had a different idea they accepted the crash they embraced the crash went back to the tradition took with them what still worked mixed the old with the new and created a radical new tradition when the world was turned upside down and the old ways they knew were gone the rabbis didn't give up hope they remembered what was true and enduring what no army could crush and no fire could destroy the covenant between god and the jewish people and the torah that tells the story of that covenant so they took it upon themselves to write a new chapter of that story a story that we're still writing today it's too soon to tell what inventions and innovations might emerge from this new reality but we have had some time to discover what has revealed itself as essential for each of us and what we can live without there are activities and obligations we won't take on again having realized that they weren't that important or we simply enjoy a less scheduled life we might also decide that there are new hobbies and experiences we're no longer going to wait to pursue there are friendships we might never rekindle and loved ones we will recommit to staying in better touch with and then there are the new discoveries we've made or the truths we had forgotten but are now keenly aware of we've realized that being in nature is healing and that we need to spend more time outside we've come to understand that like it or not our behavior affects others that's the price we pay for living in community we can no longer deny that the legacy of racism is a scourge that affects nearly every aspect of our society including who lives and who dies we have a greater appreciation for how much good and how much damage our political leaders can do and therefore how important our civic duties are and we've learned that while technology has been a lifeline to so many of us it also has its limits we simply cannot sing together over zoom and there's no replacement for an actual real-life hug if we follow the example of our ancestors we will internalize these lessons and use them to create something new not a new judaism or not just a new judaism but a new world one closer to the world that ought to be one of the texts that has sustained me these this past year is psalm 126. the famous verse from the psalm is those who sow in tears shall reap enjoy but i actually prefer the verse that comes next though he goes along weeping carrying the seed bag he shall come back with songs of joy carrying his sheaves i imagine this farmer walking through the field tears streaming down his face i don't know why he's crying but i can guess it's because sometimes life is hard just too hard to bear but as he weeps he keeps working sowing seeds as he walks he hasn't given up hope in a better future he knows that out of these seeds watered by his tears something beautiful will grow shanatova [Music] is [Music] please rise since we turn to elena on page 116 [Music] [Music] um [Music] 118. [Music] [Music] oh [Music] god 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 god will sustain us we give praise to this life and rise up together to renew our strength our thoughts turn to loved ones whom death has taken from us in recent days and those who died at the season in years past our hearts open as well to the wider circles of loss in our community and wherever grief touches the human family may their memories be a blessing in this new year and always i invite you if you're thinking of someone tonight as we turn to mourner's college on page 122 to share the names of those loved ones you're thinking of maria gaggington [Music] [Music] page 123 those who saw who saw in tears [Music] tears enjoy [Music] will [Music] will [Music] you can be seated a couple of announcements as you may already know betham's september tsadaka box supports our local organization the csa community services agency a mountain view nonprofit organization whose mission is to be the safety net for the most vulnerable members of our community csa offers services to individuals and families on low or fixed incomes to those who are homeless and to seniors who are 60 and older csa's goal is to provide the basic necessities of life to those in need including assistance with homeless prevention food and health checks for the elderly and they've been providing vital social services for residents of mountain view los altos and los los altos hills since 1957 you can learn more and donate at the link at the bottom of the screen also a reminder that our high school youth group baddie is also collecting canned food as part of the jewish family and children's services annual food drive you can bring your bags of canned food canned goods to betham either tomorrow or in the next couple of days tomorrow morning our early service here at betham begins at 8 45 and the late service is at 11 30. the family service at mitchell park begins at 10 and afternoon services begin at four o'clock which will include yisker as well if you're planning to join any of our afternoon study sessions tomorrow the afternoon study sessions start at 1 30 or if you're planning to join those by zoom and you're going to be on campus please make sure to bring a phone or a laptop with you to betham there will also be some in-person offerings at betham as well tomorrow our service concludes on page 127. our god and god of our ancestors together eternal god of all generations may your presence in our lives this new year renew our spirits and renew our strength may it be a good year may it be a sweet year [Music] ah [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] i wish for you a restorative night of rest of sleep because we have a lot to do together in the morning shanatova and lailatov [Music] you

Channel: Congregation Beth Am of Los Altos Hills, CA

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Length: 92min 21sec (5541 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 15 2021