Kol Nidre Sermon - 06

KN ‘06


During this season MANY OF US BOTH SEND AND RECEIVE ‘NEW YEARS’ cards. It is a LOVELY thing to do, to wish each other well.

Most of the shona tova cards that we get and that we send are pretty standard. They are store-purchased cards or cards that we buy from various organizations, and their wordings are pretty much the same. They say: “may you have a healthy and a happy new year,” or: “may there be peace in the world this year,” or something like that. Occasionally, someone will send a longer message in which they bring us up to date on what is doing in their lives. I look forward to getting these annual reports on what my friends have done during the last twelve months, though I MUST ADMIT THAT sometimes I get A BIT BORED reading ALL THE DETAILS.

But this year I RECEIVED two new year's cards that were different, and I want to share them with you THIS EVENING.

The first one READS: Dear STEVE, In the spirit of the season, if there is anything that I have done that has offended you, I want to make amends. But simply saying that in a perfunctory way is too easy. And so if there is anything that I have done that was hurtful, I hope that you will tell me what it was in specific terms so that I can make amends properly. Sincerely yours, And then his name.”

I was moved by that card for two reasons. One is: this is what you are supposed to do at this season of the year. It is not enough to just wish someone a peaceful and a prosperous year. You are also supposed to make amends and to apologize for any hurt that you may have caused them. Otherwise, how can you go into Yom Kippur and ask God to forgive you until and unless you have asked for and given forgiveness to others? How can you ask God to accept your apologies and to wipe away your sin while you have not yet admitted your sin to the one whom you have hurt?

The second reason why I was impressed by this card is that my friend is right: it is not enough to simply say: If I have hurt you in any way during this past year, please forgive me. That's too vague. You have to name the sin. And you have to be specific. Otherwise, it becomes a meaningless cliché, a phrase that you rattle off that means nothing, not to you and not to the one YOU’VE OFFENDED.

The second shana tova card that I received this year came from one of my friends who is into what IS callED 'new age' Judaism’ or 'Jewish Renewal'. THE CARD CONTAINS SENTIMENTS IN BOTH Hebrew and in English, and there Are some wonderful insights in both parts. BUT THIS EVENING, FOR THE SAKE OF TIME, I ONLY WANT TO SHARE THE HEBREW.

THE CARD BEGINS with a blessing that IS based on THIS YEAR’S HEBREW NUMBER, 5767, TAV, SHIN, SAMEACH, ZAYIN,
, WHICH, FREELY TRANSLATED, MEANS “mAY THIS YEAR BE A PURE TREASURE.”

Then the Hebrew GOES on: “yihi ratson shetichaleh shana ukililateha, vatachel shana ubirchateha - may the old year end and may its curses go away with it; may the new year begin and may its blessings accompany it.” This prayer is an echo of one of the prayers in the High Holy Day liturgy and the writer has carried it over from the machzor onto his shana tova card.

Then it says: “hareynu miachalim lachem brochot, briyut gufa unhora mialya.” in rough translation, “we hereby send you wishes for health of body and light from Above.”

It goes on with: “umivakshim slichotchem im b'eze shehu inyan paganu bichvodchem.” - “We ask your forgiveness if, in any matter whatsoever we have diminished your honor.” NOW I REALLY like that phrase, “DIMINISH YOUR HONOR,” because that is the real damage that we all do to each other. I don't think I have hurt anyone's body even once during this past year, and I doubt if you have either. I don't think that I have lifted a fist against anyone during this past year and I doubt if you have either. But I am sure that I have, and I suspect that you have, been “pogea bichavod,” that we have hurt each other's dignity, that we have demeaned each other's esteem, and for this we need to do teshuvah. “Lifgoa bichavod” is a fascinating phrase. In Modern Hebrew, a terrorist incident is called a “pigua,” because it injures people. But you can injure a person spiritually as well as physically. You can injure a person if you hurt their feelings or if you injure their self esteem. That can be just as hurtful as a body blow is. Therefore my friend asks forgiveness if he has been “pogea bichvodi,” if he has damaged my self respect. And I would suggest that you and I do the same thing. If there is anyone whom we have hurt by a cruel word, by a nasty joke or by demeaning them in any way, let us realize that demeaning is also damage, and let us apologize.

And FINALLY, my friend says: “vinizke litshuva meyahava, hamihapechet et zidonot lizchuyot.” “ And may all of us be worthy of achieving the highest level of teshuvah, the kind that stems, not from guilt and not from fear, but from love, because the tradition is that if you repent out of love, then your sins are transformed into merits.” Think of that! If you really repent with all your heart and soul and spirit, then God considers the things that you have done wrong as springboards that led to your transformation, and so God counts them as good deeds, and not as sins.

That is the highest and the holiest wish that anyone can give to another human being at this season of the year, but it only works if we wish it to ourselves as well. May we do the kind of teshuvah that transforms us. May we do the kind of teshuvah that transforms our lives and that not only affects our future but that also affects our past. Because, if you really, really repent, then not only does your future change but your past does too. If you really repent, then God looks at the bad deeds you have done in the past and says; Look what these deeds led to! Look what these deeds brought about! And God blesses those deeds.

So let this be my wish tHIS EVENING - for you and for myself. May we repent, not just pro forma, but really. And may we repent, not out of fear, and not out of guilt, but out of love. And may that love be so pure and so strong that it transforms the bad deeds that we have done, that have led us to the realization that we need to repent, become a source of blessing. may that be the kind of teshuvah that we are all enabled to do in these coming days. AMEN.