Go UP!© - Neilah 2015/5776
Rabbi David Baum
Congregation Shaarei Kodesh
This year, my siblings got me a new gadget for my birthday, something called a Fit Bit.
You know you’re getting older when you get exercise trackers for
your birthday.
But I am getting to an age where I do need to take better care of
myself, to exercise more, and this device helps me become better because I can
keep track of my steps. Now,
instead of sitting on the couch at night, I’ll be pacing in my house at night
if I’m close to 10,000 steps.
But Fit Bits are all about reaching that goal, 10,000 steps a day. When you reach that goal, your arm
starts vibrating – it’s like your arm is cheering for you – you’ve accomplished
the goal. But what happens when
you don’t reach that goal? I was
recently at my doctor’s office and the nurse said, “hey, nice fit bit, do you
like it?” I answered, yes, and she
continued, “I used to have one, but I never got up to 10,000 steps, so I took
it off.”
In Judaism, we have 613 mitzvoth or commandments, but if we
translate the word mitzvah in Aramaic it means connection – they are actions
that connect us to God. Mitzvoth
are acts, like the steps we take in a day, so the question is, if we don’t get
to our goals, should we give up?
Franz Rosenzweig, a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian from
the late 1800s, answered this question.
One time, someone asked Rosenzweig whether he wore tefillin. He replied, “Not yet.”
Rosenzweig did think that he would one day become a fully
observant Jew, but believed in the gradual approach in which the observances
slowly made their impact by “ringing a bell” for him.
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is all about keeping track. In the Rosh Hashanah Musaf Amidah we
say - Ki Zocher kol HaNishkachot
Attah - Because You are the One who remembers for all eternity all that has
been forgotten, and there is no forgetfulness before the throne of Your glory –
our deeds are recorded.
On Rosh Hashanah our deeds are written, and on Yom Kippur, our
deeds are sealed.
It seems that if our prayers are right, we wear a mitzvah Fit Bit,
and yes, each step matters. I know
that this might be a scary thought for us – especially since more and more our
actions are being recorded online.
But, there’s a different way to look at.
The Talmud tells us that we need to see ourselves as half-guilty
and half-innocent at all times, and Mitzvah Ahat, performing one mitzvah, can
tip the balance in our favor for the year ahead. And the Talmud goes on to say something even more profound: One person’s actions, a mitzvah one person
performs, can tip the balance for the entire world.
There’s a famous prayer that we say on these days that
typify these holidays – the Unetaneh Tokef – and it contains this famous line
from the Mishnah of Rosh Hashanah: B’Rosh Hashanah Kol Baieh Olam Ovrin L’fanav
K’VNEI MARON – our translation – On Rosh Hashanah, all those who dwell on
earth, not just Jews, but every single person, passes before You, God – like a
flock of sheep.
But the Rabbis weren’t sure what this meant.
A famous scholar of the Talmud, Reish Lakish, says Kivnei
Maron are like the people traversing the elevated paths of the Maron area, a
mountainous part of Israel. In
Maron, there is a path where only one person can walk at a time and there are
steep drops on both sides, again, they are alone, but they are going up. And this is the important part of the
interpretation – going up.
Aliyah – it’s what we say when we come up to say the prayer
before we read the Torah; it’s what we do when we move to Israel. Going up.
On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we go up before God, and
we’ve been climbing ever since then, until this moment – Neilah.
Our service culminates with the whole community GOING UP
before the Torah.
But the going UP cannot end here, tonight. So what does it mean to GO UP?
Rabbi Richard Agler, a friend and colleague, often talks
about getting an injection of Vitamin J, J for Judaism. Vitamin J isn’t a vaccine – it’s
a vitamin, you need it everyday to stay healthy and grow.
Reish Lakish, the famous rabbi who gave us this
interpretation of going up, was on the path of stopping his spiritual rise. He was a guy didn’t care at all about
Judaism, didn’t learn a thing, and in fact, he was once a gladiator, the
equivalent of a MMA fighter, and he also robbed people.
But that all changed when a famous Rabbi named Yohanan
challenged him as he was about to rob him: Your strength should be for Torah. Stop robbing, start learning, start doing, and GO UP.
So here’s what I want you to do – set a goal for yourself –
in addition to 10,000 steps, I want you to perform 10 mitzvoth a day: say a bracha/blessing in the morning when you
wake up; say hamotzi before you eat bread; call a friend who is sick; go to a
Jewish website and read one article a day; donate $2 to a Jewish cause; kiss a
mezuzah when you walk into home; give someone standing on the corner begging
for money a couple of bucks on Friday before Shabbat. The great thing about mitzvoth is that there are so many of
them, so many opportunities to tip the balance for the entire world.
10 mitzvoth a day – commit to it – write them down everyday,
and by this time next year, you will have something to be truly proud of.
I’m sure there’s an app for it also.
And what happens if you don’t get to 10? It’s ok, just tell yourself what Rozensweig
once said, one day, I’ll get there, but I’m not there YET.
For those who are looking for a way to strengthen the Jewish
people this year – become more Jewish yourself – go up, for yourself, for your
community, for Israel, for the whole world. Even one mitzvah can change the course of the world.
It all counts.
In a couple of moments, the congregation will rise up from
their seats, and get in line to stand before the Ark, before God. You are going to go up – but God wants
to see you again after this moment, and so do I.
This year, my prayer for you is that you GO UP, that you
take steps that will make you a better person, and a better Jew.
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