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DıVAR TORAH Yom Kippur 5762 by Brett Krichiver How many of you know who John Edwards is? Not the famous Jonathan Edwards from the 70's, the one-hit wonder who wrote the song, "Sunshine," but the John Edwards I caught on TV last week who has a completely different reason for being famous. His claim to fame is as a psychic medium, his specialty is communicating with those who have, as he calls it, "crossed over" to the other side. I have always been a bit skeptical of mediums, especially those with worldwide television audiences, but there is also something compelling and powerful about the stories that unfold. Edwards fulfills his audiencesı deepest needs, the need to know what happens after we die, the need to know the end of the story. As each audience member receives a message from their loved ones, even the mundane and trivial becomes filled with meaning. "Your sister wants you to know she likes the blue shirt, not the red one," one audience member is told. Later on, she explains that now she knows that her sister is okay, wherever she is. "Your brother says to tell you that his bakery was better than yours," a sure sign from the heavens that there is life after death, a place of comfort and peace, where brotherhood rivalry plays on. Deuteronomy is the final chapter of the ancient history of our people. As we read the pages during Yom Kippur, and Simchat Torah, we are reminded of that glorious moment for the Israelites crossing over the river Jordan, to begin a new life in the Promised Land. Unfortunately, we are told that our ancestors did not feel so glorious. As the Torah ends, our people are terrified of what comes next. The spies who come back from Canaan, all but two of them, report back that the land is filled with giants, that the Israelites can never succeed. Without Moses to lead them, they are filled with a tremendous fear of the unknown. The parallel is not difficult to draw. The comfort John Edwards provides to his audiences is touching upon this same fear. Making contact with loved ones who are gone, may indeed bring relief that someone whom we care about is okay. But it also brings relief to our wondering minds, our minds that fear death, our beings that need comfort when facing the unknown. Moses reminds our ancestors, and reminds us as well, that although things may look rough, and times may get bad, the end is peace, and comfort and love. Moses gathers the people together and explains to them that from this day forward there will never be another prophet like him, who speaks directly with God. The relationship that the people have with the Divine changes. No more great miracles, only a solemn oath, taken with each person individually, that God will bless us, and allow us to thrive. Then Moses does a strange thing, he describes the entire future of the Jewish people. He tells them of a time when God will turn away from them, when the people will turn away from God, and our people will be scattered to the four winds. For many generations reading these words, it may have felt that Moses was speaking directly to them. During the Crusades, pogroms, the Holocaust, people read these stories and felt the relevance in their own lives. But that is only half the story. In reality, the transition across the river Jordan into Canaan is only one of many transitions the people will face. Moses tries desperately to hold his people's hand through this painful process. The Torah does not end with the disintegration of our people. Like a small child who takes the first steps toward adulthood, the people of Israel need to know that things will turn out okay in the end. Here, at the end of the Torah, they turn to Moses for reassurance and comfort. Like the audience of a psychic medium, Moses explains to his people what their fate has in store for them, he tells them the end of the story. This is our Torah portion for Yom Kippur. On this day we bring ourselves close to death. On this day we uncover the sore spots, and we try to let them heal. Our liturgy is filled with imagery of pain and sin, of weakness and of loss. We have sinned, we say, we are not as noble as we pretend to be. But the symbolism is clear. The process we undergo during this day has a purpose, and we come out on the other side freer, lighter, and renewed. The darkness only has purpose, when we use it to grow. It is important that we each find a way to reach this place in ourselves. The act of fasting can help, some of us find that avoiding the luxury of leather shoes can also help. But these are merely symbols of the power of this day. We admit our faults, we admit our sins, and we stand naked before the One who sees our deepest heart. Moses tells the people that inevitably they will stray from the path. Inevitably God will turn away and forget them. Inevitably people will sin. And Godıs punishment is very clear. In exquisite detail Moses describes the landscape, "of brimstone, and salt, and burning. The wrath of the Eternal will glow against the land, to bring upon it every curse that is written." But the second half of the portion tells a different tale. "And it shall come to pass, when all these things have happened to you, the blessing and the curse, that God will have compassion upon you, and will do you good. . ." We go through pain, Moses suggests, in order to come out on the other side. Only by feeling the full depths of pain and suffering, can we truly be reborn and see the world with fresh eyes. We read about our own past, our own future, and our own redemption. The covenant that Abraham made is reborn in us, on Yom Kippur more than ever. For on Yom Kippur we feel the full weight of the words, you will feel pain and loss, and working through your pain will bring you to new life. For us, in a modern day, we read these ancient texts to find a covenant we can make with God. On Yom Kippur we search for compassion, we hold our lives up to scrutiny, and when we hear God's words on this day we desperately need to know that our atonement has been accepted. It is Godıs saving grace that we long to feel on Yom Kippur. Just as the people of Israel needed to know that the story would end all right, just as the psychic's audience needed to know their stories would end with peace, we need to know. The most powerful moment of Edwards' show for me last week was the very last segment. After the final commercial, we find John seated in an empty auditorium, summing up the emotions of his guests. And the last word he gives us, his hope for the world as the show is closing, is that we take advantage of the time we have with our loved ones. We have in our hands, John says, the ability to communicate in ways that psychics never can. Go home, and appreciate the time you have with your loved ones, before they are gone. What a perfect way to conclude the show! Let us learn from the experiences of others; let us learn from our own experiences. Let us take the message of hope for the future, and turn it into concrete actions today. For Moses, the message is that the Jewish community can survive oppression and hate, because we are special. The future may hold fearful times, but we must have faith that those times too shall pass, and we have in our hands the ability to work for a better world. For Edwards, the message is one of hope in our own future, and in the lives of those who we have lost. For us, Yom Kippur has not truly served its purpose unless we have experienced two things, #1 we must go through the painful process of self-reflection, and #2 we must wait and see the light at the end of the day. The Book of Life must remain open just a little bit longer, so we may all inscribe ourselves for a year of blessings. May this day be full of power for you, as well as for the community. May you find that place in your own heart which needs healing, and may you come together to bring healing into each other's hearts as well. Kein Yihi Ratzon. May this be Godıs will. |