September 13, 2007 - TO RETURN WITH FAITH AND LOVE - (Rosh Hashanah - 1st of Tishrei, 5768)

Tests! To some extent, each of us is tested every single day. For school kids, this may involve having to perform some exercise that emanates from their homework or having to take a pop quiz, or midterms, and then, of course, final exams. For those of us having past the test to get a driver's license in the first place, our tests thereafter may come at any moment that we are on the road and in traffic. Others of us, doing the prudent thing, may get a 'health test' by having physicals which may include blood, bone-density, or other tests.

[As an aside] Those of us over the age of forty can not only now open ourselves to the study of Kabala, should we be so moved, but we also should be getting annual physicals, eye exams and dental check ups. It's all part of preventative medicine and it just makes good sense to establish those base lines so that we can age in place and in style. By the way, changes of season such as that which Rosh Hashanah marks, should remind us about those eye and dental exams. They are, in fact, good things to do on a regular basis for people of all ages

We can also say that we are tested in our families and in our jobs. There are times when each of us is correct in saying that we are being scrutinized critically and are being evaluated according to some external standard. But how many of us, as individuals, could actually say that we have been tested..by God? How many of us have been tried by the Divine Judge?

Oh, I am sure that there are those seated among us who could attest to their having had a tough year. Perhaps it was due to illness, or accident or some family misfortune..and these are certainly tribulations that may have been hard to bear. But actually having been called out by God and put through a trial isn't something I've heard any of you mention. Such things just don't seem to happen these days. Or maybe we don't perceive what happens in our lives in this way….

But such a thing happened to Abraham in his day. The Akedah or Binding of Isaac involved such a divine trial, and its occurrence, as recorded in the Book of Genesis, leaves us annually scratching our heads and wondering. Just what did God have in mind when the Eternal tested Abraham this one last time? Hadn't Abraham proven his love, loyalty, and faithfulness many times before? Hadn't the patriarch secured for himself the promises of land and progeny that ensured him and those of his family success and God's favor for all time?

Today we may remember and understanding that Abraham, a semi-nomad wandered in a rough neighborhood. He was surrounded by people who were accustomed to sacrificing their first born children to a god of fire. That god's name was Moloch. There have been those commentators who, like myself last year, have argued that Abraham mis-heard God urging him to do to Isaac just as were his neighbors doing to their sons and daughters. Abraham was to offer up his son to propitiate his God..and would have done so were the angel not to have stopped him at the very last moment. As we know, the call of the Godly messenger put a stop to the test and taught Abraham the lesson that God does not desire human sacrifice and does not require an offering of anyone's children.

But the real mystery of the Akedah does not come at its end, when Abraham offers a ram in place of his son, rejecting the sacrificial habits and customs of his neighbors. The real enigma of the tail is the trial itself. Why, after all that has transpired between Abraham and God, would God have felt the need to test his faithful servant all over again? What heavenly or even earthly purpose did the command to go and sacrifice his son actually serve?

It is nearly inconceivable that the Eternal was setting up for Abraham a sort of Sophie's choice between the son whom Abraham loved, and the Lord whom Abraham loved.

Sefat Emet, published in 1905 following the death of its author, a Hasidic master, comments on the phrase: that he [Abraham] saw the place from afar. (vs.4)“ Now the words 'The Place… Ma-Makom” can refer to God who occupies all space and time. And what the verse, interpreted thusly, then means is that Abraham felt very far from God, and God was very far from him. God could not have meant this commandment to slay his son. This could not have been God's will and Abraham knew it. “And therefore, all Abraham had was the fear of God, not to question God at all.” Sefat Emet concludes:“That is why Abraham insisted that God try him no more; that God never be far from him again. For Abraham's path was that of love.” (Page 32)

Today, on this birthday of the world, I am afraid that we have, as a nation, as an American people, and as Jews who are lovers of Israel, all been tested in a test that is comprised of fear. It is our fear of terrorism that has led us to do unspeakable things to other human beings. It is our fear of being wiped out along with those we love that has encouraged and enabled us to abandon our scruples and compromise our ethics. The commandment that God has given us for self preservation does not entail wanton disrespect for life or for the dignity and rights of other human beings.

We may try to justify our actions by claiming to have been called out by God, by our beliefs, or by our alleged common sense as citizens of this world, or of this country or of this way of life, but this calling out, if you will, does not then give us license to take the lives of those we oppose unless we understand that there is a clear and present threat to our existences. Just as Isaac was no threat to Abraham, most of our fellow world citizens aren't a threat to us.

No, you have not misheard me. I know you have understood what I have preached at past High Holidays. And I know that you have heard me. But, I think that there is a line which we Americans and we Jews have crossed which does not reflect our best natures. Even though I have warned about threat of Islamic fundamentalism, I also remonstrated about the American use of torture some seasons ago. I said that it may have arisen from a deep wound that was, indeed, inflicted on this nation. But 9/11 was not and can never be allowed to become a cause for irrational hatred and brutal, inhuman acts. Acts of the terrorist must not be allowed to reduce us to that level, else we become no better than he or she is who has sought to destroy this country, its values and its way of life.

As we enter this New Year, as we seek a merciful decree on these Y'mei Ha-Din, these days of Judgment, it would serve each of us well to afflict our souls and see if we haven’t some elements of culpability in having given into a false command, having capitulated to fear, and having lost faith in the basic goodness of life and God. I know that when I have recently reached into my own soul, I have not found so much love as I have apprehension. I haven't experienced so much joy and gratitude for life as angst and worry.

If the Akedah is to speak to each generation according to its circumstances, then Abraham’s separation from God that we perceive this year is most probably reflective of what many of us are feeling. But Rosh Hashanah comes with its clarion call to return to God and to rekindle in ourselves a love of all that God is, all that God has implanted in this world, and to begin anew with fresh goals and renewed resolve to return to the type of living that reflects, not fear and trepidation, but faith and rekindled hope.

You might not have entered this sanctuary thinking that you have been tested like Abraham was in his day. But, indeed, each and all of us have been tested throughout these past few years. Unfortunately, like Abraham, I think that we, too, have been consistent in failing God's test.

But today, we can begin again…for that is what these holidays are about…new beginnings. We can resolve to see fear for what it is and for what it does. We can resolve to live more courageously and more faithfully. And in doing so, we can rest assured that we shall secure a future that will be sweeter, and richer and safer than any we might have imagined at the beginning of this journey.