Congregation Netivot Shalom

Yom Kippur

Sep 26, 2012 / 10 Tishri 5773

Rabbi Shalom Bochner

Yom Kippur 5773: Chevrutah / Drash Discussion and Teaching

Using the Torah Reading, pages 278 – 281 in the Machzor, please choose from the following questions and discuss them in small groups with those sitting near you.

1. The Torah reading for Yom Kippur describes the ancient rituals of this day as they were to be observed thousands of years ago. What aspects of this reading seem most confusing and hard to relate to? What aspects of this reading seem most applicable to our lives and practices today? If Moshe and Aaron were to visit our congregation, what do you think they would find recognizable? If you were able to be back in the days of the Mishkan observing Yom Kippur as the text describes, what do you think you would find meaningful?

2. Aaron first cleanses his own mistakes, then those of his priestly household, and then the entire community. What does this teach us about ritual leadership?

3. “Thus he [Aaron] shall purge the Shrine of the impurity and transgression of the Israelites, whatever their sins; and he shall do the same for the Tent of the Meeting, which abides with them in the midst of their impurity.” (Vayikra 16:16). This text explains how the physical shrine was purified. What can we learn from this text about how we purify our emotional “shrines”, our hearts and souls? How do we ensure that we don’t just ask for forgiveness on this day, but actually feel it?

4. Two goats are central to this ritual: one who is offered on the altar as a sacrifice and one that is sent off to “Azazel” to be “free in the wilderness”. What do you think these goats represent?

5. The Torah does not speak on fasting on Yom Kippur, it uses the phrases: “practice self denial” and “to purify you of all your sins” and “Sabbath of complete rest” (Vayikra 16:29 - 31). The Hebrew phrase for practice self denial can also be translated as “afflict or push down on your souls.” What do these descriptions of the holiday teach us about the original intentions of the holiday?

6. “After the [Yom Kippur] services the worshippers go home in a festive spirit, confident that God has graciously forgiven their sins. They break the fast joyously, since according to the Midrash, at the close of Yom Kippur a heavenly voice proclaims ‘Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God has already accepted thy works.’(Eccles. Rabbah 9:7)” Rabbi Isaac Klein, A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice "There were no holidays so joyous for Israel as the Fifteenth of Av (Tu b'Av) and Yom HaKippurim…” Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Ta'anit 30b-31a Why do you think that for many of us accessing the joyful side of this day can be so challenging?

7. For Yom Kippur to be truly impactful and useful, its effects should last long beyond the holiday. How can we make that happen? How do we make this new year, truly “new and improved”, sweet, and transformational? How do the holidays that follow, Sukkot and Simchat Torah, help with this spiritual journey?

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The reading of the goats, one sacrificed on the altar and one sent into the wilderness may remind us of the recent Torah readings and an oft repeated line: " I have set before you life and death, blessings and curse; chose life that you may live." It's a familiar line and it's a strange line. What does it mean, choose life that you may live? If we are choosing life, aren't we living? And what kind of choice is this anyway? If it's multiple choice, who would actually choose death and curses instead of life and blessings?

There is a folk tale that might shed some light on today's Torah reading and this verse. The story goes that there was once a great rabbi, Reb Baki, whose claim to fame was that he could answer any question. People came from all around to hear his teachings and his answers. He was much beloved by all. Except there was one individual who did not love him, a man that became known as Tipesh, who was jealous of Reb Baki and he yearned to be the center of everyone's attention. And he realized that if he could come up with a question that Baki could not answer, he would be the famous one instead. So he decided to come up with the hardest question that he could to challenge Reb Baki and impress everyone with his own intelligence and skill.

So, one day, Reb Baki began his teachings as he always did by asking first if there were any questions. Tipesh raised his hand and asked: "Who was it, that with one blow, destroyed one quarter of the world's people?" The class grew quiet, even a bit frightened. Who was it, they thought, who could have been so powerful? They were stumped. But Reb Baki was not. He calmly answered: "Cain. When he killed his brother Abel he killed one quarter of all the world's people." The people were very impressed. "What a wise teacher we have." many of them said. Except Tipesh. He pretended to smile, but inside he though to himself: "I need a better question."

A few weeks later, before a lesson about Noah and the flood, Reb Baki again asked if there were any questions and Tipesh raised his hand. "You have been teaching how Noah saved all the animals in the ark, but what was the animal that was not saved in the ark?" he asked. Again, the class grew quiet as they thought. Baki smiled, and said calmly: "Fish. The fish were saved but not on the ark - they swam alongside it and under it." The class smiled and said what a wise teacher they had. There seemed to be no question that he couldn't answer. Tipesh also pretended to smile, but inside was already trying to come up with a question that Baki could not answer. 

He came back a few weeks later with a clever and cruel plan. Baki asked if there were any questions and Tipesh stood up and said: "I am holding a bird in my closed hand; it is alive or is it dead?" He was extremely confident that he now had a question that Baki could not answer correctly. If he said the bird was dead, he would simply open his hands and the bird would fly away. If he said "alive", he would crush the bird with his hands and open them to show everyone the dead bird.

The class grew extremely quiet. Even Baki was quiet, his eyes closed in deep thought. And then Baki calmy said: "You have asked a very hard and very important question. The answer lies in your hands. Choose wisely."

So it is with us. Our fate is often in our own hands. We need to chose carefully, and wisely.

May we all be written and may we all write ourselves into the book of life and blessings. And as one of my teachers, Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach Z"L used to say, it's not enough to be written in the book of life; we all want to be written in the book of life on the same exact page as our friends and relatives. May it be so and may this new year be one filled with good people and good blessings for all of us. Shanah Tovah!