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COURAGE, PERSISTENCE, & PERSEVERANCE Erev Yom Kippur 5762 by Brett Krichiver When he was 22, his business venture failed. He ran for Legislature, but was defeated at 23. His second business venture failed when he was 24. The next year he was elected to the Legislature, but his sweetheart died a year later. He experienced a nervous breakdown when he was 27. At 29 he was defeated for Speaker, at 31, defeated for Elector. Twice he was defeated when he ran for Congress, he was defeated for the Senate twice as well. At 47 he was defeated when he ran for Vice President, and at 51, Abraham Lincoln was elected to be President of the United States. Courage, persistence, and perseverance can change a life. Every day is a new opportunity to grow, to change, to forgive ourselves our past. Yom Kippur is a reminder once a year to be courageous in our lives. If we can release ourselves from whatever it is that was holding us back during the past year, then we may come into the New Year renewed and rejuvenated. On Yom Kippur we allow ourselves to come close to death. We wear the clothes of mourning. We deprive ourselves from basic needs food and drink to come close to an understanding of just how fragile our lives really are. The rabbis understood that fragility can motivate us. At the end of the day, when we re-emerge into the world of the living, we have a greater appreciation for life. The fact that life is precious can convince our cynical side to seize the moment, to make real our dreams. It is a choice we make every day to live our lives under our own direction, or to choose the easier path. Often our fears hinder us, and our dreams are discarded or simply set aside. Often we lack the courage, and we feel we cannot afford the persistence, and our lives slip into a comfortable routine. Yom Kippur comes along once a year to remind us that we can choose to grow, we can choose to challenge ourselves, we can choose to live our lives. Our tradition teaches us that Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year, because this day can become the day of change. The Book of Life is open, our fate is not yet sealed. Can we face the coming year with courage; can we take steps towards realizing the life weıve dreamed? Will we be here again next year, wondering where the time went, wondering how our choices might have been different? "There is a flaw," Emerson wrote, "in everything God made." On Yom Kippur we acknowledge our humanity. We look back at our lives, at our choices, and we see the flaws. They stick out; they are more visible than the rest. "What could I have done differently, better?" we ask ourselves. "How could I have avoided that mistake?" It is easy to forget that mistakes open as many doors as they close, that often we learn and grow much more from experiences that donıt turn out the way weıd hoped. To flag these moments as failures robs them of their importance and necessity. We are all on a growing path, whether we choose to see it or not. In their book The Spirituality of Imperfection, Ernest Kurtz and Katherine Ketcham write, "To be human is to be incomplete, yet yearn for completion; to be human is to be imperfect yet yearn for perfection; to be broken, yet crave wholeness . . ." Today is the day on which we recognize the paradox of human life we admit our imperfection, that we are incomplete, and we pray for the strength to see our lives as whole. We pray that we might be able to overcome our fears, and choose to live our lives completely. It is not easy to choose life. It is not easy to admit our imperfections, to admit we lack strength, to look back at our failures. This is the task of the Day of Atonement. We read in our liturgy, "for sins between humankind and God, the Day of Atonement atones." On this day, more than any other, we sit with uncomfortable thoughts, as much as we sit with the physical discomfort of fasting. We sit with our disappointments, our pain, and our losses. We struggle to find courage, and we pray for perseverance. We make our peace with God, and our slate is washed clean. We can choose to see our lives as a path of growth and challenge. We can begin the New Year unencumbered by our fears and thoughts of failure, we can see this new day as a chance to begin again. Here is the message for Yom Kippur: "For the words which I command you this day,²" we read, "they are not hidden from you, nor are they far off. They are not in heaven, neither are they beyond the sea. Rather, these words are in your own mouth, and in your heart, so that you may do them. See, I have set before you this day, life and all that is good, and death and all that is evil. . . Therefore choose life, that you may live." (Deut. 30:11-19) For us, choosing life can mean taking the risks that we dream about envisioning our lives and then taking steps to reach our goals. Whether we dream large or small, whether we want to reach out more to others, increase our friendships, or simply make a commitment to ourselves for the coming year to eat better, to exercise more, or to spend more time with family, on Yom Kippur we are offered a chance to begin again. When we take the opportunity to start anew, we step into the unknown. The risks are very great, but we have wonderful models to look to for guidance. Albert Einstein was kicked out of high school before he realized his ambitions. Henrietta Szold was laughed at when she talked about creating a womanıs organization and a hospital in Israel. Woody Allen flunked motion picture production at NYU and failed English as well. Abraham Lincoln experienced failure after failure until he realized his potential. But with courage, perseverance, and persistence each of these role models overcame barriers and accomplished their dreams. We also learn from these people that when we allow fear to rule our lives, when we choose not to live completely, we fail not only ourselves, but our community. We withhold from the world what would have been our important contribution. Just imagine the lives of Abraham Lincoln, or Henrietta Szold, and imagine what our world would be today, without them. Al Chet Shechatanu, for the sin we have committed by not envisioning our dreams. Today I challenge you to identify the dreams that you hold in your heart. Ask yourself what would bring you added fulfillment, and what do you have to contribute to the world around you? Begin to picture your dream, large or small, as reality. What will it feel like to be in better shape? What could you do to show your family and friends more respect? How much happiness could you bring to others by volunteering your time? How refreshing it would be to celebrate Shabbat once a month! Deciding to transform your dream to reality can be fearful. Again Einstein, Tzold and Allen are models for us. They may have been frightened after their failures, yet they kept going, and with time, became less afraid. Al Chet Shechatanu, for the sin we have committed by not taking the first step. But the first step can be a small one. Coming home early once a week to spend more time with family is enough. Exercising for 15 minutes is a start when going to the gym daily can seem overwhelming. Celebrating Shabbat once a month is a great beginning. While we hold the dream deep within and visualize the final results, we have to also feel good about starting, about taking the small steps that move us forward. When we feel good about the small successes we experience, we set ourselves up for even larger successes. Having the right attitude is such an important part in being able to move forward. Life is 10% what happens to us, and 90% how we react to it. Al Chet Shechatanu, for the sin we have committed of allowing poor attitude to influence our lives. Yom Kippur, a day of fear and trembling as we stand before God waiting to be judged, challenges us to overcome our everyday fear and trembling, and listen to the still small voice within, listen to our hearts. Al Chet Shechatanu, on Yom Kippur we reflect on our lives and confess the sins we have committed by not choosing life. At any moment we could start choosing life. Let this be the moment. Let this Yom Kippur be the moment that we being to choose life, a life of fulfillment, a life where we realize our dreams. Amen. |