What Can We Learn from Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur?

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Poconos

By the Rev. James R. Bridges

  

This season of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is perhaps my favorite holiday season of all the religious holidays I know.  Now I admit, having been raised in a Protestant Christian household in Southern Illinois, I had not heard of Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur until I moved East.  Even after my move to New York, when I heard the words mentioned, it was usually on a television newscast mentioning the holiday.  Although I had many Jewish friends, none were religious, and I assume none of them celebrated the holiday at the time, which was during the late 1960’s through the 1970’s.  It was only after I became a Unitarian Universalist that I began to be drawn to this holiday.

 

My understanding of this holiday season comes not from personal experience.  Those of you who come from a Jewish heritage know far better than I do its intricacies, rites, and customs. My understanding of it comes only from reading various books about it, its history, and its meaning.  Be that as it may, I am impressed, indeed, transfixed by it.  But some of you may ask, what exactly is it?

 

To begin with, this year Rosh Hashanah began on September 27^th  and continued through the 28^th.  It is followed by Yom Kippur which falls on October 6^th.  The month leading up to Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur is known as the Days of Awe.  Unlike all other Jewish holidays, these days are not related to historical events.  Further, they are not really happy, joyful, exuberant celebrations.  Instead, they are “religious holidays which celebrate God’s role as master of the universe.  They emphasize morality, self-examination, spirituality, and holiness.”[i]  This is, in part, why they are called the high holy days.

 

Some of you who know me, who think of me as a pretty secular person, might be shocked to think that I would be drawn to a holiday like this.  It is true that I do not think of God as Master of the Universe.  Be that as it may, I ask you to stick with me on this.  There are other qualities to this holiday that I find especially meaningful.

 

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year.  It comes at a time that makes sense, in the fall, when many of us, or our children, return to school.  It also is the time of the new church year – not fiscal year, mind you, but church year.  It stresses a return to God, who in His mercy and compassion is willing to receive those who are penitent, to forgive them for their sins and transgressions, allowing them to start the new year with a clean slate.  However, God is in no rush, and He does not make His decision until the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, when He decides “Who will live and who will die, who will be serene and who will be disturbed; who will be poor and who will be rich; who will be humbled and who will be exalted.”[ii]  The ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the last chance to influence God – and they are known as Days of Repentance.  With the closing Yom Kippur service, the books of life are closed for the coming year and the shofar, or ram’s horn, which has been blown every day of the preceding month, is blown for the last time until the next year.

 

An interesting aside about the shofar.  It is one of the world’s oldest musical instruments.  Originally, it was blown only at the beginning of each month.  Supposedly Moses, when he went up onto the Mount to obtain his second copy of the Ten Commandments, blew the shofar to remind the tribes of Israel not to sin before he returned.  A ram’s horn is chosen to honor the ram, which was slain by Isaac in lieu of his son.

 

But returning to my interest in the holidays, why am I so impressed with these two holidays?  First and foremost, they invite their followers to consider transformation, real transformation in their lives.  Rosh Hashanah asks us to evaluate ourselves, our shortcomings, to find where we have sinned – not only against God but also against our fellow congregants.  It asks us where have we broken our covenants.  Where have we not met the mark, so to speak, that either we or others have set for us? 

 

It begins a period of reflection, a time for looking within and engaging in self-evaluation.  It is also a time to be released from vows made to others but not fulfilled; to seek forgiveness from them and others whom you have wronged.

 

Judaism, like Unitarian Universalism, believes that prayer is not the only way to reach God’s heart.  Good deeds also carry weight and are also evaluated.  Hence, those of us who believe “Deeds, Not Creeds” can feel at home.  These good deeds can help balance one’s account, so to speak, on God’s ledger books.  It is not faith or prayer alone which carries the day.

 

Rabbis of old used to say that Israelites were  responsible to others within their community.  Today, given our shrunken world, I believe it might be more accurate to say that we are responsible for everyone.  This means that we, collectively, are responsible to the homeless people of Newburgh, as well as for the wellbeing of the HIV positive mothers in Africa.  We all live on this one small planet.  Each person represents a small part of the interdependent web of existence of which I am a small part.

 

One nice feature of Yom Kippur - is that God essentially is perceived as a compassionate and loving God - one who is quite willing to forgive - to close the door on one’s transgressions and sins.  Indeed, he might even be considered a Universalist God.  So the high holy days - while serious, are also looked at as somewhat a happy time.  The expectation is of goodness, of improving one’s self, and of forgiveness.

 

I would like to invite each of you, if you have not already done so, to consider your sins for the past year.  Look deeply inward, at the places where you have fallen short, to your loved ones, to your fellow friends in the congregation, to your neighbors, to your local community, and to the world.  For me, personally, I like to compare myself against the principles in our covenant.  I try to be realistic, accepting the fact that I am human.  In other words, this is not really a time to beat up on oneself, but it is a time for reflection and meditation. 

 

In some cases, I will ask another’s forgiveness if I have offended by omission or commission.  In other cases, I will try to do better….committing myself to self-improvement.  I invite you to do the same.  Make this a holy, sacred time for yourselves as well.  While many of us do not believe in an afterlife, nor do many of us believe in this literal of a type of God – with a ledger book nonetheless, we do believe in living the good life in a beloved community.  This celebration – this inward looking – can help us to create such a community and good life.  It invites us to change, to transform ourselves.

 

There is a tradition practices by some Jews, called a Tashlich – which means to cast off.  Jews would gather by a body of water and empty their pockets of crumbs, casting them into the water.  In later days, the practice has been frowned upon as related to pagan influences.  (dropping of crumbs into lake is seen as a way of bribing Satan, or giving him his due, to let you live freely for another year.)  Although this is frowned  upon, it does remind me of a Buddhist ceremony – which to me is meaningful.  Taking your sins, writing them on paper, and then use that paper as a sail for a boat.  Set it adrift in the water, and ignite the paper.  As way of being free – of letting go – of those weaknesses in you.

 

While that imagery is nice and can be helpful, it should not shortchange the other aspect of the days of repentance.  That is – we must still ask others for forgiveness.

 

Lastly, on Yom Kippur it is customary to fast.  Now I know this is not something that we practice in our faith tradition.  Indeed, many of us may never have fasted.  However, it might be an interesting task to undertake, to truly fast, taking in no food for the day, until sundown, as a way of heightening our awareness of our shortcomings.  I offer you this invitation as a form of experimentation – to explore a different dimension of spirituality in your lives.  At the end of the day, eat a simple meal, reflecting on your sins and accepting yourself as you are, with the intention of improvement.  At the same time, extend to yourself forgiveness for the past, knowing that you plan to do better in the future.

 

Yes, this is a solemn time, but one filled with happy expectations of rebirth, newness, a starting over after turning from one’s earlier path. 

 

May each of us be renewed in our dedication and commitment to living a good life, to being a living witness to our principles and purposes as a Unitarian Universalist.  Blessed be, and amen.