Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur Sermons
Volunteering for a Dvar Torah
by Gita Mintz
My family has been attending High Holiday services at Kolel for many years. I have always been impressed by the multitude of volunteers those who chant Torah or Haftorah, those who help lead the service and of course those who give the d'var Torah. This year I learned something about volunteering at Kolel.
Sometime in August, Rabbi Goldstein tracked us down at the cottage and left us a message. Would one of you (my husband David or me) like to give the d'var Torah? No pressure, think about it and, oh yes, could you let me know by tomorrow because I am leaving for France.
There was no question that we would volunteer to do the d'var Torah. After all we owe Rabbi big time for a wonderful Kolel trip to Israel. However, the question was who would do it David or me uhh, I. We thought, discussed, argued a little and I won.
Therefore, here is David with the Yom Kippur d'var Torah.
[speakers switch]
Dvar Torah
by David Mintz
The Parsha for Yom Kippur discusses God's commandments about cleansing the temple and atoning for the sins of the people of Israel. It talks about the many animal sacrifices to be made on this Day of Atonement. First the high priest must make two offerings for himself, a bullock for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. For the people of Israel, there are three animals to be sacrificed: two he-goats for sin offerings and a ram for a burnt offering. By the drawing of lots, one he-goat is chosen to be sacrificed at the altar to atone for the sins of the people of Israel during the past year and the other, the scapegoat, is to be driven into the wilderness, carrying on its head the sins of the people.
The idea of a scapegoat has been used and abused throughout history. It's not my fault! is a common refrain used in the workplace. Some other group can be blamed for our group's problems. This blaming of others removes our own sense of responsibility.
However, today I would like to look at the scapegoat passages from a different viewpoint. Not as a negative idea that comes from shifting blame but as a positive inspiration that allows relationships to be rebuilt when there have been serious difficulties. How can the scapegoat help to repair relationships?
When I read the passage about the two goats, I think of the two goats as a wonderful gift, God's gift to the people of Israel. These animals not only allow us to atone for our sins but the goat sent into the wilderness, the scapegoat, will actually carry them away, making sins disappear as if they had never occurred. Then we can, once a year, meet with God totally without guilt, without the baggage of all previous mistakes. We can have a clear conscience. What a wonderful way to renew and strengthen our bonds with God. The gift of a scapegoat presents a door for us to start our relationship with God all over again.
As humans, we are social beings and relationships are key to our well being. How many of us have relationships that are in need of repair? How many of us have a mother, father, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, cousin, friend, from whom we have become distanced in some way? How many of us have lost relationships that formerly added a great deal to our lives? The barriers to renewing the relationship are often very hard to overcome. Many angry words have been spoken. Both sides may have legitimate concerns about the actions of the other side. Many conversations often begin with I am sorry for what I did but what you did and the chances of repairing the damage and rebuilding the relationship disappear into accusations and counter-accusations.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could have a personal scapegoat to take away all our intentional and accidental wrongdoings? Then we would be able to approach other people with a clear conscience. All the hurt, anger and frustration of previous encounters would be gone. How much would this new attitude allow for the rebuilding of trust and the strengthening of the relationship? After all, we are social beings and it is our relationships with other people, family, friends, co-workers, our surrounding community that define are social network and to a large extent our personal worth.
But a scapegoat is not a gift that you can give yourself. If you hurt someone else, intentionally or not, you cannot give yourself a free pass to remove your guilt. Only the injured person can make the guilt disappear into the wilderness. This is where the injured person must ask, How important is this relationship to me? Do I want to stay angry or is it worth banishing my feelings, forgiving the other person and forgetting the injuries caused to me? Should I make a scapegoat for the other person and give up my anger? Should I say, let's begin again?
Why has this passage struck me so deeply this year? This summer I witnessed the final estrangement of a sister and brother. Each side had grievances against the other and both sides were waiting for the other to make a move--to call--to apologize. A whole year went by without them talking. A whole year of anger built up. The sister was dying of cancer. Neither side called; neither side moved. When the sister died, the brother was forbidden to participate in the memorial process. Many people were left bitter and angry, and many family relationships were lost. If either person had decided to put aside their grievances against the other and approached with apologies for their own wrong-doing, then an important relationship may have been saved. If either person could have allowed their anger to be banished into the wilderness, a loving relationship might have been restored. It takes a very big person to put the importance of the relationship ahead of being right.
During this Day of Atonement, during this time of asking for forgiveness, we must also remember to forgive! God gave us the gift of a scapegoat to carry off our sins. We can forgive others by allowing a scapegoat to carry away their mistakes. In that way, our injury, our anger, our indignation, our self-righteousness are also carried away. By doing so, we can open the door to a renewal of an important relationship and we can begin again.
Shana Tova.
