Devar Torah for the First Day of Rosh HaShanah
Rabbi Manes Kogan
5763
Today every Rabbi in America is sharing similar words with his or her congregation. Like one year ago, it was not difficult to guess what Rabbis’ messages would be throughout the world during this Rosh Hashanah. I know that for a fact, because I have spoken with Rabbi Cohen here in Roanoke and with many of my colleagues throughout America. I know it for a fact because I have read hundreds of e-mails during the last weeks, and I have received thousands of them during the last year. I also know it because I listen to my heart, and I can tell that for the first time in many years, I was and I am truly concerned for the destiny of my people in Israel and the security of the United States of America.
One year ago, we already knew that something terrible had happened, but now we know even more. We know that last year was a difficult one. It was a difficult year for the Jews in Israel, and it was a difficult year for the Jews in Argentina. It was a difficult year for the Jews in Europe, and it was also a difficult year for the Jews in the USA. It was a difficult year for frequent flyers, and it was a difficult year for workers who lost their jobs. It was a difficult year for immigrants, and it was a difficult year for investors.
The words "Who shall live and who shall die, who shall become rich and who shall become poor, who shall live in joy and who shall live in tears", which are part of the liturgy of the High Holy Days, will be felt differently this year.
Everyone who has gone through an experience of deep pain, suffering and loss can be considered a survivor. We have survivors among us, and we belong to a people, which has survived. I would like to venture that the experience of last year, after September 11 and the suicide bombers in Israel with its political repercussions in America and in Europe, extended the definition of survivor to all of us.
If we read testimonies of survivors –from the Holocaust, for example- we find that after loosing everything –family, friends, security, citizenship and dignity- the only thing they were able to keep, the only thing nobody could take from them was their hope.
As it happens with survivors, after a long and difficult year, we –as Jews and as Americans- may feel sad and beaten, but we know that no one can take away our hope.
It seems strangely coincidental that the newly assigned day of sorrow in the American calendar is September 11, numerically 9/11. This is precisely the day of sorrow in the Jewish calendar; Tisha B'Av is numerically the ninth day of the eleventh month.
Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev was asked: What is the right spiritual path, that of sorrow or that of joy?
He replied:
There are two kinds of sorrow and two kinds of joy. When a man broods over the misfortunes that have come upon him, when he hides in a corner and despairs of help, that is a bad kind of sorrow. But the grief that comes when a man knows what he lacks or has lost, is honest and good.
The same is true of joy. One who chases empty pleasures, never sensing their lack of inner substance, is a fool. But one who is truly joyful is like a man who is rebuilding his house after a fire. He feels his need deep in his soul, and with each stone that is laid, his heart rejoices.
On September 11th we will mark the Yahrzeit of thousands of Americans who perished in senseless acts of terror. Each month of this coming year, Yahrzeit candles will be lit in the homes of hundreds of Israeli families who lost loved ones to the bombs and bullets of terrorists.
But while this past year was a time of sorrow, we did not hide in corners and despair. We came together as Americans and as Jews – we did so in public ways to affirm our commitment to freedom and our resolute strength in the face of those who threaten our security.
We also did so with an honest view of what we have lost and what we lack. Many have lost someone that they once knew and loved. We have all lost a sense of security and safety. We lack a clear plan that will put and end to the terror. We enter into the New Year with our losses, our lacks, and a need to be together.
And what about the path of joy?
True joy is, according to the parable, like rebuilding after a fire. And while this fire has not yet subsided, we have begun that act of restoration. In America we are envisioning, physically, what rebuilding downtown Manhattan will look like. In Israel, many are working to provide medical care for the sick and injured, and security to enable children to go safely to and from their schools.
Much has been broken, and the work is far from complete, but in the process of fixing the world our faith in the future is restored. In these acts of rebuilding, we experience a quiet joy – each act a hope that our New Year will bring unexpected blessing.
We, the Jews, have overcome calamities for the last 2000 years. The Judeans recovered. The Jews live. We live because we are expert survivors. We live because we are proud of our heritage; we live because we know that "Life" is more than life. We live because we count our blessings and because we come together in time of crisis. We live because we are ready to learn from history and because we have faith –as we always have had - that God will not abandon us.
Gad has given us very much, indeed; but it is out of this faith, out of this unique relationship we have with our Father in Heaven, that we dare to ask for more. We may not deserve it, but we are the ones who invented the concept of "Chutzpah". And so we should have the "Chutzpah" to ask for more. We should be able to say to God, using the millenary words of the prayers or our own words: "Our God and God of our fathers: we had a very difficult last year, but we hope; we deeply hope that this coming year will be a better one. We hope so, because of us, because of our attitude, because we won’t hide in a corner and despair of help, and because 3500 years of history transformed us into a nation of survivors.
But also because of You, because we believe that You will help us, because we trust in You. Please, do not abandon us!
God, You have so many blessings! Please share them with us and bless all of us with a year of peace, health, security and prosperity; with a good and sweet year!