First Day Rosh Hashanah Sermon - 06

RH 1 ‘06

CAN YOU IMAGINE JULY 4TH WITHOUT ANY AMERICAN FLAGS ON DISPLAY? OR MEMORIAL DAY WITH NO PARADES IN ANY SMALL TOWNS? OR CAN YOU IMAGINE HANUKKAH WITHOUT MENOROT? WELL, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT IS HAPPENING TODAY, ON THIS THE FIRST DAY OF ROSH HASHANAH THIS YEAR. WE CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAY - BUT OMIT ITS MOST VISIBLE SYMBOL – THE SHOFAR. WHY?
WHY REMOVE THE CENTRAL SYMBOL OF THE DAY? SURELY THERE ARE TECHNICAL REASONS, WHICH SOME OF YOU PROBABLY KNOW. THE GENERAL NOTION THAT AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE THE DECREE WAS MADE NOT TO BLOW THE SHOFAR ON SHABBAT. THE TECHNICAL REQUIREMENT THAT WE SHOULD NOT CARRY OR FIX A BROKEN SHOFAR ON SHABBAT; AND IN ORDER TO AVOID THOSE CONTINGENCIES WE SIMPLY REMOVE IT ALTOGETHER.
BUT I THINK THAT THIS YEAR NONE OF THESE REASONS PERTAIN. I WANT TO SUGGEST THAT THERE IS A MORE GLOBAL REASON WHY THE SHOFAR IS ELIMINATED TODAY. MY NOTION IS EXTRACTED FROM THE MIDRASH, THE RABBINIC COMMENTARY, ON A PSALM, 98, THAT WE RECITE IN OUR PRAYERS.
THE WORDS GO SOMETHING LIKE THIS: “ZAMRU LADONAI B’CHINOR…BHETOTZROT…V’KOL SHOFAR…ETC.” – “SING TO THE LORD WITH THEHARP, WITH HORNS, AND WITH THE VOICE OF THE SHOFAR.” THE MIDRASH IS STRUCK WITH THE MENTION OF SEVEAL INSTRUMENTS. WHY NOT JUST ONE?
ITS ANSWER, SOMEWHAT COUNTERINTUITIVELY, IS – “BECAUSE ISRAEL HAS NOT YET BEEN REDEEMED. TO TEACH YOU THAT THERE IS NO COMPLETE JOY UNTIL ISRAEL IS REDEEMED.” THAT MIDRASH HELPED ME TO UNDERSTAND WHY THERE IS NO SHOFAR ON THIS PARTICULAR SHABBAT/ROSH HASHANAH. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE TECHNICAL REASONS. IT HAS TO DO WITH THE FACT THAT IN THE WORDS OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH, “M’ZTAFON TIPATACH HARAAH, THE TERROR ARRIVED FROM THE NORTH.” IT HAS TO DO WITH THE STATE OF ISRAEL BECOMING CAPTIVE NOT ONLY TO THAT TERROR BUT TO THE NEGATIVE GAZE OF THE WORLD COMMUNITY. ON THIS ROSH HASHANAH BECAUSE “AM YISRAEL – THE PEOPLE, ISRAEL” AND “MEDINAT YISRAEL - THE STATE OF ISRAEL,” ARE FAR FROM BEING REDEEMED - OUR SHOFAR – OUR HOLYDAY RELIGIOUS FLAG – STANDS AT A HALF MAST. IT IS SILENT!
THIS MORNING IT IS NOT MY INTENTION TO OFFER A POLITICAL OR MILITARY ANALYSIS OR TO REPEAT WHAT YOU HAVE ALREADY HEARD AND READ ABOUT THIS DEPRESSING WAR WITH HEZBOLAH. SOME OF YOU KNOW THAT ANDREA AND I WERE IN JERUSALEM DURING THE FIGHTING AND HAVE READ THE E-MAIL COMMENTS I OFFERED DURING OUR STAY. TODAY, I WOULD RATHER CONVEY TO YOU THE MOVING WORDS WRITTEN BY TWO FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES, ONE OF WHOM I HAVE KNOWN FOR DECADES AND THE OTHER ONLY FOR TWO MONTHS. I FIRST PRESENT THE WORDS OF RABBI DAVID ZISENWINE, SOMEONE I HAVE KNOWN SINCE THE ‘60S. 35 YEARS AGO DAVID AND HIS LATE WIFE, ANNE, DECIDED THAT THEY WANTED TO RAISE THEIR FAMILY IN ISRAEL AND SO THEY GAVE UP CONGREGATIONAL LIFE IN COLUMBUS, OHIO, WHERE, AFTER ORDINATION, DAVID HAD EARNED A PhD IN EDUATION. HE RELOCATED, HAS THREE GROWN CHILDREN, AND CURRENTLY IS A PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION AT TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY WHOSE SPECIALTY IS THE TEACHING OF RELIGIOUS CURRICULA IN ISRAELI SECULAR SCHOOLS. LET ME SHARE WITH YOU WHAT HE WROTE ON THE FIRST DAYS OF THE HEZBOLLAH WAR:
“THIS WAR CAUGHT US OFF GUARD. UNLIKE PREVIOUS INVOLVEMENT WHERE THERE WERE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE WISDOM AND MORALITY OF OUR MILITARY RESPONSE, THIS WAR HAS NOT EVOKED THIS TYPE OF PUBLIC RESPONSE.
“I SEE MYSELF AS PART OF THE RESPONSIBLE, ZIONIST LEFT. I USUALLY HAVE STOOD WITH THOSE WHO RAISE THE MORAL ISSUE WHEN DEALING WITH ARABS IN ISRAEL AND BEYOND OUR BORDERS. THIS TIME IS DIFFERENT. THE REALITY IS THAT HEZBOLLAH VIOLATED OUR BORDERS, KIDNAPPED SOLDIERS, AND BEGAN RANDOMLY FIRING MISSILES AT OUR CIVILIAN POPULATION. IF ANYTHING IS IMMORAL, IT IS THIS CONTINUING AND UNRELENTING ATTACK ON OUR POPULATION. I SEE IT, AS DO MANY OTHERS, AS AN OUTRIGHT ATTACK ON OUR EXISTENCE. HEZBOLLAH IS IDEOLOGICALLY, AND NOW PRACTICALLY, COMMITTED TO OUR DESTRUCTION. I HAVE NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT. I SEE THEM AS THE PROXY FOR IRAN. WE HAVE PROBABLY NEVER CONFRONTED SUCH A DETERMINED ENEMY, AND I JOIN THOSE WHO SAY – STOP IT NOW BEFORE THEIR ARSENAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL ABILITY GETS STRONGER. YOU HAVE TO LIVE HERE, AND EXPERIENCE THE PAIN AND SUFFERING OF THE ENTIRE NORTHERN PART OF ISRAEL TO APPRECIATE THE FEELINGS THAT I SHARE WITH YOU.
“THE LAST FEW WEEKS HAVE SHOWN US THE POTENTIAL THREAT WE ARE FACING. I BELIEVE NASRALLA. HE WANTS TO DESTROY THE STATE OF ISRAEL AND IS WORKING HARD TO DO IT. WE CAN’T AFFORD THE LUXURY OF NOT HURTING HIM BADLY – NOW! I KNOW THAT THIS SOUNDS HARSH TO AMERICAN JEWISH EARS, BUT IT IS THE EXISTENTIAL REALITY.
“I AM PART OF THE VERY LARGE GROUP THAT SEES THIS AS A FIGHT TO THE DEATH. IT IS NOT SOAP OPERA DRAMA, BUT REALITY AS WE SEE IT FROM HERE. I MUST ADMIT THAT I SOUND LIKE SOME RIGHT WING CRAZY, BUT THIS REALITY IS CRAZY. THE LEFT HAS BECOME THE CENTER.”
JUST FIVE WEEKS LATER, THE FOLLOWING, VERY DIFFERENT CORRESPONDENCE ARRIVED FROM A NEW FRIEND, RABBI DANIEL GOLDFARB. LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING ABOUT RABBI GOLDFARB.
DANIEL GOLDFARB IS ALSO AMERICAN BORN. HE GRADUATED FROM HARVARD, THEN COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL, AND ONLY THEN WAS ORDAINED AS A CONSERVATIVE RABBI. IN 1976 HE LEFT BOTH THE POSSIBILITY OF EITHER A RABBINICAL CAREER IN THIS COUNTRY, OR A LAW CAREER TO MAKE ALIYAH. THERE HE WORKED FOR MANY YEARS AS A LAWYER. IN 2000 HE LEFT LAW TO BECOME THE DIRECTOR OF THE CONSERVATIVE YESHIVA. IT IS IN THIS ROLE THAT I MET HIM THIS PAST JULY WHEN I LECTURED AT THE YESHIVA.
DANIEL AND HIS WIFE, ADA, HAVE FOUR CHILDREN, ALL OF WHOM SERVE IN THE IDF. SO DANIEL GOLDFARB’S CREDENTIALS, TOO, ARE IMPECCABLE. HIS LETTER, WRITTEN SOME FIVE WEEKS AFTER RABBI ZISSENWINE’S WAS MORE SOBER: LESS HUBRUS AND DEFIANT, AND CERTAINLY MORE REALISTIC:
“THE WAR BETWEEN ISRAEL AND THE HEZBOLLAH IS NOW IN ITS FIFTH WEEK. IT REMINDS ONE OF TWO BOXERS SLOGGING AWAY IN THE TENTH ROUND, TOO STRONG AND PROUD TO FALL, YET EACH TOO WEARY AND PAINED TO KNOCK OUT THE OPPONENT.
“ISRAEL DID NOT SEE THIS AS SIMPLY ANOTHER PROVOCATIVE INCIDENT BUT AS WAR, AND RESPONDED LIKE THE U.S. DID AFTER PEARL HARBOR AND BRITAIN AND THE ALLIES DID FOLLOWING THE GERMAN MISSILE ATTACKS, AND RIGHTLY SO.
“ISRAEL'S FAMED MILITARY DID NOT ACHIEVE A QUICK AND DECISIVE VICTORY, A SURPRISE FOR MANY. THERE WERE SEVERAL REASONS FOR THIS. THIS WAS A NEW TYPE OF COMBAT - ONE OF BALLISTIC MISSILES, NOT TERRITORY.
“THE EXTENT TO WHICH HEZBOLLAH DUG IN VILLAGES NEAR THE BORDER, THE TENACITY WITH WHICH THEY FIGHT AND, MOST IMPORTANT, THE SOPHISTICATION OF THEIR EQUIPMENT AND WEAPONRY, MOST PARTICULARLY ANTI-TANK MISSILES OF RUSSIAN AND IRANIAN PRODUCTION, HAVE ALL MADE PROGRESS IN DRIVING THEM OUT OF SOUTHERN LEBANON SLOW AND COSTLY IN HUMAN LIFE.
“WE ARE IN A STANDOFF.
“THE RESULTS ARE TWO SELF-PROCLAIMED "WINNERS BY TKO," HEZBOLLAH AND ISRAEL, EACH BY ITS OWN CRITERIA OF VICTORY; AND ONE LOSER, LEBANON, KNOCKED OUT BY BOTH HEZBOLLAH AND ISRAEL, BUT ULTIMATELY THE VICTIM OF ITS OWN DENIAL. MR. SENIORA'S GOVERNMENT CAN NO LONGER LIVE UNDER THE ILLUSION THAT LEBANON CAN HAVE IT BOTH WAYS - BEIRUT THE SNAZZY, SOPHISTICATED PARIS OF THE MIDDLE EAST WHILE HEZBOLLAH RUNS A TERROR KINGDOM IN THE SOUTH AND LOBS MISSILES OVER A THIRD OF ISRAEL, CAUSING A MILLION ISRAELIS TO FLEE THEIR HOMES OR LIVE FOR WEEKS IN BOMB SHELTERS.”

TWO LETTERS FROM TWO FRIENDS - FIVE WEEKS APART. ONE HARD- NOSED AND STOICALLY DEFIANT. THE SECOND HARD - NOSED AND STOICALLY RESIGNED.
TODAY, THE SHOFAR IS SILENT BECAUSE “YISRAEL LO NIGALEEN” - ‘THE PEOPLE AND THE STATE OF ISRAEL THIS YEAR REMAIN UNREDEEMED.”
YET IN OUR PRAYERS IN THE AMIDAH ON THIS DAY WE ALSO EXPRESS THE NEW YEAR WISH “TEN KAVOD L’AMECHA” – “GRANT HONOR, LORD, TO YOUR PEOPLE ISRAEL.” IN SPITE OF THE NON-REDEMPTION OF OUR STATE THIS YEAR, THERE IS GREAT “KAVOD” -GREAT HONOR FOR OUR PEOPLE, EVEN IF IT WAS NOT A MAGNIFICENT, NECESSARY, AND DESERVED VICTORY AGAINST AN ENEMY THAT WANTS NOTHING LESS THAN THE ANNIHILATION OF THE JEWISH STATE. THAT “KAVOD” WAS IN THE REACTION OF OUR PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY AS CONTRASTED WITH MOST IN ARAB WORLD. THAT REACTION WAS NOT TO BLAME THE EXTERNAL WORLD FOR THIS STALEMATE, BUT TO BLAME OURSELVES – ESPECIALLY THE GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL BOTH PRIOR TO AND DURING THE EXECUTION OF THE WAR. IN THE WORDS OF OUR OWN PRAYER BOOK “UMPNEI HATAENU GALEENU M’ARTZENU” – “BECAUSE OF OUR OWN SINS WE HAVE BEEN EXILED FROM OUR LAND.”
IRONICALLY, IN THAT SELF-BLAME IS THE POSSIBILITY OF REPAIR AND HOPE AND OPTIMISM EMERGING OUT OF THIS SUMMER’S HARD AND DEPRESSING REALITY. THAT HOPE IS THAT THERE IS SUCH SERIOUS SELF EXAMINATION GOING ON IN ISRAEL TODAY. THAT MEANS THAT THE NEXT TIME – AND WE ALL KNOW THAT THERE WILL BE, WILL TRAGICALLY BE A NEXT TIME, ISRAEL WILL GET IT RIGHT. THEN WE SHALL BE ALLOWED TO SOUND THE SHOFAR ONCE MORE.