Sermon - 1st day Rosh Hashanah

RH1 – ‘05

IN TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY AMERICA IT IS COMMON FOR NON-JEWS TO BE PRESENT AT JEWISH WORSHIP SERVICES. SUCH VISITS OCCUR EITHER BECAUSE AN INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP IS INTERESTEDIN LEARNING MORE ABOUT OUR RELIGIOUS PRACTICES OR, MORE FREQUENTLY, BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN INVITED TO ATTEND A BAR OR BAT MITZVAH. QUITE OFTEN THESE GUESTS WILL APPROACH RABBIS OR MEMBERS AFTER SERVICES WITH A QUESTION ABOUT WHAT THEY HAVE SEEN OR EXPERIENCED. MOST OF THE TIME, THEIR QUESTIONS ARE THE USUAL ONES, ABOUT THE KIDDUSH, THE ARK, THE TORAH.
BUT RECENTLY, A YOUNG GIRL APPROACHED ME AFTER A BAT MITZVAH AND ASKED ME A VERY DIFFERENT KIND OF QUESTION, ONE FOR WHICH THERE IS NO ANSWER IN ANY BOOK ABOUT JEWISH CUSTOMS AND CEREMONIES, A QUESTION WHICH AT FIRST APPEARS TO BE BASED UPON NOTHING MORE THAN A RATHER NAÏVE OBSERVATION, BUT ON FURTHER REFLECTION CAPTURES THE VERY ESSENCE OF WHO WE ARE AND WHY WE ARE DIFFERENT. THE YOUNG LADY ASKED ME, “AFTER SERVICES, WHY DID EVERYONE KISS EACH OTHER?” I GAVE HER A VERY BRIEF ANSWER THEN, BUT TODAY I OFFER A MORE EXTENSIVE ONE:
MY DEAR YOUNG LADY:
THE FIRST THING YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND IS THAT WHEN YOU COME HERE YOU HAVE ATTENDED SOMETHING VERY DIFFERENT THAN THE SERVICE IN YOUR CHURCH, OR ANY CHURCH. NOT JUST THE MUSIC, NOT JUST THE WORDS OR THE RITUAL OR THE LANGUAGE: THERE’S A GREATER DIFFERENCE! JEWS AT WORSHIP ARE NOT A COMMUNION OF THE FAITHFUL, SHARING A COMMON CONFESSION OR DOGMA. JEWS AT WORSHIP ARE NOT A CONGREGATION IN THE MYSTICAL CHURCH, AS ALL TRUE CHRISTIANS ARE PART OF THE MYSTICAL CHURCH IN CHRIST. JEWS AT WORSHIP ARE, FIRST AND FOREMOST, A FAMILY ENGAGED IN A FAMILY REUNION. ACTUALY, YOU KNEW WE WERE A FAMILY ANYWAY, BECAUSE THE BIBLE THAT WE BOTH SHARE ALWAYS CALLS US “THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.” SO ASIDE FROM PRAYER AND SONG AND PRAISE AND WORSHIP, OUR SERVICE IS ALWAYS A FAMILY REUNION. AND THAT’S PART OF THE REASON THAT YOU SAW PEOPLE KISSING EACH OTHER WHEN IT WAS OVER.
BUT YOU HAVE TO KNOW A LOT MORE ABOUT OUR FAMILY TO FULLY APPRECIATE IT. AND SINCE YOU ASKED, YOUNG LADY, LET ME TELL YOU. YOUR FAITH TRACES ITSELF BACK TO A BIRTH, A BIRTH OF A CHILD SAID TO BE CONCEIVED IMMACULATELY. OURS TRACES ITSELF BACK TO A PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT. WE CALL IT A COVENANT. IN BOTH CASES, GOD WAS ONE OF THE PARTIES. IN YOUR FAITH HE HAD A SON; IN OURS, HE ADOPTED A FAMILY! HE AND OUR FATHER ABRAHAM, BECAME PARTNERS IN A SENSE. THEY MADE AN AGREEMENT, AND GOD BECAME OUR GOD AND WE BECAME HIS PEOPLE. AND PART OF HIS PROMISE WAS THAT THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM WOULD GROW IN NUMBERS AND WOULD BE A SPECIAL FAMILY. IN US, GOD SAID, EVERY FAMILY ON EARTH WOULD BE BLESSED.
YOUR FAITH HINGES ON AN EXECUTION, THE EXECUTION OF JESUS ON CALVARY. OUR FAITH, OUR FAMILY, ALMOST ENDED IN AN EXECUTION. AFTER GOD HAD MADE HIS PROMISE TO OUR FIRST FATHER, ABRAHAM, HE TURNED AROUND AND TOLD HIM TO KILL HIS SON, ISAAC, OUR SECOND FATHER. BUT YOU KNOW THE STORY! IN THE LAST SPLIT SECOND THE EXECUTION WAS CALLED OFF, AND OUR FAMILY WENT ON. BUT WE LEARNED SOMETHING THERE AND IT BECAME PART OF A PATTERN, NOT A PATTERN WE CHOSE, BUT A PATTERN THAT HAPPENED TO US. AFTER THAT MOMENT ON MT. MORIAH, WE BECAME A FAMILY OF SURVIVORS; AND WE HAVE NEVER FORGOTTEN THAT THROUGHOUT ALL OUR HISTORY, AND WE HAVE SELDOM BEEN ALLOWED TO FORGET.
WE KNOW EVERY TIME WE GATHER FOR A FAMILY REUNION THAT WE ARE ONLY A SMALL FRACTION OF THOSE WHO MIGHT HAVE BEEN THERE. WE ARE THE SURVIVORS. WHO KNOWS HOW MANY CHILDREN, AND THROUGH THEM THEIR CHILDREN AND THEIR CHILDREN’S CHILDREN HAVE DIED UNDER PERSECUTIONS? WHO KNOWS HOW MANY WERE KILLED BY THE BABYLONIANS OR THE ROMANS WHO WOULD HAVE LEFT DESCENDANTS TODAY FOR OUR FAMILY REUNION? WHO KNOWS HOW MANY OF US WERE LOST SURING THE MIDDLE AGES, WHEN AN IGNORANT PEASANT COULD KILL JEWS WITH IMPUNITY? WHO KNOWS HOW MANY OF US WERE LOST IN THE POGROMS OF RUSSIA WHEN A DRUNKEN BRUTE COULD SPILL JEWISH BLOOD AT LESS COST THAN SPILLING HIS VODKA?
AND IN THE LIFETIME OF SOME OF US, ONE OUT OF EVERY THREE OF US WENT UP IN SMOKE UNDER HITLER. SO AT A FAMILY REUNION WE ARE A MERE FRACTION OF WHAT WE MIGHT HAVE BEEN. AND EVERY ONE OF US, WHEN WE SHOW UP, WEARS AN INVISIBLE TATTOO ON HIS OR HER WRIST, SOME DON’T EVEN KNOW THEY HAVE IT, BUT IT’S THERE. IT’S A TATTOOED NUMBER, AND IT’S ALWAYS THE SAME – SIX MILLION AND ONE! WE ARE, EACH ONE OF US, A SURVIVOR. WE ARE THE ISAAC WHO WASN’T KILLED. WE ARE THE DIFFERENCE, EACH OF US, BETWEEN THE SURVIVAL OF THE FAMILY AND ITS EXTINCTION.
SO, WHY DO WE KISS AT THE END OF THE SERVICE, AT THE END OF A FAMILY REUNION? IN THAT KISS WE MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE NOT ALONE. IN THAT KISS EACH ONE OF US KNOWS THAT WE ARE NOT THE LAST JEW. AND IN THE WARMTH OF TOUCHING ONE ANOTHER, WE KNOW THAT “AM YISRAEL CHAI, THE FAMILY OF ISRAEL LIVES.” WE ARE ENCOURAGED AND WE SEPARATE, LOOKING FORWARD TO ANOTHER FAMILY REUNION.
THAT’S THE DARK SIDE OF OUR FAMILY; BUT I HOPE YOU DON’T THINK THAT’S ALL THERE IS TO US. YOU HAVE TO KNOW ABOUT IT, EVEN THOUGH SOME JEWS AREN’T SO CONSCIOUS OF IT. THEY DON’T SEE THAT TATTOO, SIX MILLION AND ONE, BUT IT’S THERE. AND WHEN OUR FAMILY IS THREATENED, EVEN THESE JEWS REMEMBER AND STAND UP, BECAUSE WE ARE A FAMILY OF SURVIVORS.
BUT THERE’S MORE! TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT US YOU HAVE TO LOOK, LIKE ANY OTHER FAMILY, IN OUR FAMILY BIBLE. LOTS OF FAMILIES HAVE FAMILY BIBLES, BUT OURS IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT. IT DOESN’T REQUIRE ANY EXTRA PAGES TO RECORD SPECIAL EVENTS. OUR FAMILY BIBLE IS THE ONE THAT SITS IN YOUR CHURCH, WITH BIRTHS, DEATHS, MARRIAGES, TRIUMPHS AND DEFEATS. FROM GENESIS TO CHRONICLES, IT’S ABOUT US, OUR FAMILY, AND THE OTHER PARTNER IN THAT COVENANT, OUR GOD. AND IT TELLS ABOUT OUR FAMILY TRIPS. WE TOOK A LONG TRIP ONCE – FAMILY PLAN, GROUP RATES – DEPARTING FROM EGYPT AT MIDNIGHT, ARRIVING IN CANAAN FORTY YEARS LATER. AND WE TOOK A SIDE TRIP; AND THAR SIDE TRIP, TO MT. SINAI, TRANSFORMED US. THERE WE WERE ENTRUSTED WITH GOD’S LAW. WE WERE ENTRUSTED WITH GOD’S NAME. WE KNEW HIM WHEN NO ONE ELSE WANTED TO. GOD WAS A FATHER WITHOUT A FAMILY, AND HE ADOPTED US. HE ADOPTED US AND WE ADOPTED HIM!
IN ANCIENT TIMES WE HAD A FAMILY HOME CALLED CANAAN, AND A PALACE CALLED THE TEMPLE. OVER 1,900 YEARS AGO OUR HOME WAS TAKEN AWAY AND THE TEMPLE WAS BURNED. OTHERS TOOK OVER OUR LAND, OUR FAMILY HOMESTEAD. BY ALL LOGIC, IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE END OF OUR FAMILY. WE HAD TO RUN; AND SOME WENT ONE WAY AND SOME ANOTHER. AND WE WHO HAD LIVED TOGETHER AS A FAMILY SUDDENLY FOUND OURSELVES SCATTERED INTO LITTLE ENCLAVES IN OTHER PEOPLES’ NEIGHBORHOODS, WHERE, MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, WE WERE NOT WELCOME. AND IN THE HURRY AND RUSH TO LEAVE THE FAMILY ESTATE AS IT BURNED AND WAS TAKEN OVER BY OTHERS, ALL WE HAD TIME FOR WAS A KISS AND TO SAY, “WE’LL WRITE, WE’LL KEEP IN TOUCH.”
AND WE DID KEEP IN TOUCH, AND NOT JUST ABOUT OLD TIMES. WE EXPANDED AND WE RESHAPED AND WE CREATED A WHOLE CIVILIZATION FOR OUR FAMILY, A WHOLE TRADITION THAT COULD KEEP US IN TOUCH, SO THAT THE RELATIVES IN SPAIN COULD SPEAK A COMMON LANGUAGE WITH THOS EIN ITALY. SO THAT FAMILY IN RUSSIA COULD COMMUNICATE WITH THOSE WHO LIVED IN GERMANY. AND THAT’S IMPORTANT WHEN YOU NEVER KNOW WHERE YOU’RE GOING TO BE TOMORROW. BUT YOU KNOW YOU’LL BE AT HOME IF YOU FIND A GATHERING OF YOUR FAMILY. OUR FAMILY HOME BURNED, BU FORTUNATELY WE HAD INSURANCE, OR WAS IT ASSUANCE? WE HAD THE ASSURANCE THAT WE WERE A SURVIVAL PEOPLE.
AND WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT GOD WHOSE TEMPLE WAS BURNED ON THE FAMILY ESTATE? WELL, OF COURSE, HE WENT WITH US! HE WHO HAD LIVED IN A PALACE WITH OUR FAMILY IN THE LAND THAT WAS OURS, NOW LIVED IN EVERY TINY TATTERED BAND OF US – IN BASEMENTS IN AMSTERDAM AND SIMPLE SHTIEBELS IN KIEV. WHEREVER JEWS GATHERED FOR A FAMILY REUNION, AND WHEREVER WE STILL GATHER, WE WORSHIP HIM, WE KISS ONE ANOTHER, AND HE IS THERE! EVERY SYNAGOGUE HAS BECOME A NEW PALACE FOR GOD TO DWELL IN WITH HIS FAMILY. AND EVERY GATHERING OF JEWS FOR WORSHIP BECOMES HIS GREAT HOME FOR THE MOMENT.
SO WHY DO WE KISS? WE KISS BECAUSE OF THE JOY, THE REASSURANCE AND THE EXULTATION WE FEEL WHEN WE KNOW THAT EVEN THE WRENCHING AWAY OF OUR HOMELAND AND THE BURNING OF GOD’S TEMPLE COULD NOT SEPARATE US FROM HIM. WE KISS AT ALL REUNIONS BECAUSE WE ARE ASSURED NOT ONLY THAT “THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL LIVE,” BUT ALSO THAT OUR GOD STILL LIVES WITH US.
WITH ALL THAT, WE DID A LITTLE MORE. EVERY SMALL SHTETL AND EVERY METROPOLIS TO WHICH OUR FAMILY CAME LEARNED FROM US, IF THEY LOOKED, THE REAL MEANING OF THE WORD “FAMILY.” A COMMUNITY CHARITY TO CARE FOR POOR JEWS, A BURIAL SOCIETY TO PRESERVE THE DIGNITY OF IMPOVERISHED FAMILIES, SCHOOLING FOR EVERY JEWISH CHILD, HOSPITALS, HOMES FOR THE AGED, EVERY IMAGINABLE CARE FOR ONE ANOTHER. THAT’S WHAT “MISHPACHA – FAMILY” MEANS. AND, HAVING CARED FOR OUR OWN, WE TURNED TO OTHERS, AND WE PROVED WHEREVER WE WENT THAT WE ARE A FAMILY WITHIN A LARGER FAMILY, THE FAMILY OF HUMANKIND. THE FAMILY BIBLE COMMANDS US TO BE CONCERNED FOR THE STRANGER, AND WE, THE ETERNAL STRANGERS, WENT AND DID FOR OTHERS. WE REACHED OUT TO ALL PEOPLE; AND, IF EVERY CONTRIBUTION OF OUR FAMILY WERE TO SUDDENLY DISAPPEAR, IN CULTURE, IN SCIENCE, IN ART, IN PHILANTHROPY, IT WOULD BE A VERY DIFFERENT WORLD, AND NOT A PRETTY ONE.
I COULD TELL YOU A LOT MORE, BUT THIS ALREADY HAS BEEN A LENGTHY ANSWER TO THE BRIEF QUESTION, “WHY DO YOU KISS AFTER SERVICES?” I COULD TELL YOU ABOUT OUR FIERCE LOVE FOR THAT FAMILY, LAND WE LOST – HOW WE REGAINED IT AND MADE IT FLOURISH ONCE AGAIN. I COULD TALK ABOUT OUR OWN FAMILIES, THE PREEMINENT EXAMPLE OF THE FAMILY IN ALL OF HUMAN HISTORY, IN WARMTH AND CONCERN. BUT ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. I CONCLUDE WITH A LITTLE DEVICE TO HELP YOU REMEMBER THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION. IN THE HEBREW ALPHABET THE SMALLEST LETTER OF ALL IS THE LETTER “YUD.” THE WORD “YUD” IS ALSO THE WORD FOR JEW. IN OUR WRITING, SOMETIMES WHEN WE WANT TO ABBREVIATE THE NAME FOR GOD, ALL WE DO IS PUT A “YUD” NEXT TO A “YUD” AND IT SPELLS GOD. THUS, WHEN “YUD” IS JOINED TO “YUD,” WHEN A JEW KISSES ANOTHER JEW, THERE FOR EVERYONE TO SEE, IS GOD!!