Weren鈥檛 We Just Forgiven?
This coming Monday night 绿帽社 people around the world will officially conclude the holiday of Yom Kippur, and then immediately engage in one of the most confounding rituals of the year. After a day spent refraining from all earthly concerns, after hours of penitential prayer aimed at inspiring the individual to commit themselves to a year filled with less mistakes, and more mitzvot, after the gates of prayers are closed but before we have broken our fasts, what do we do? We daven 惭补鈥檃谤颈惫 (Evening Service).
Now, this in and of itself, is not what confounds me鈥攚e always conclude our holidays and fast days with an evening service that expresses gratitude for the separation between holy and regular time. No, what confounds me is one paragraph in the evening Amidah, which makes complete theological sense on any other evening of the year, but not on the night which ends Yom Kippur.
As in every weekday Amidah, the sixth berakhah asks God for forgiveness, and it is customary to strike one鈥檚 breast (as we do throughout the day on Yom Kippur) as we say:
住职诇址讞 诇指纸谞讜旨 讗指讘执纸讬谞讜旨 讻执旨讬 讞指讟指纸讗谞讜旨 诪职讞址诇 诇指纸谞讜旨 诪址诇职讻值旨纸谞讜旨 讻执旨讬 驻指砖指纸讈注职谞讜旨 讻执旨讬 诪讜止讞值诇 讜职住讜止诇值纸讞址 讗指纸转指旨讛: 讘指旨专讜旨讱职 讗址转指旨讛 讬职讛止讜指讛 讞址谞旨讜旨谉 讛址诪址旨专职讘侄旨讛 诇执住职诇纸讜止讞址
鈥淔orgive us Avinu, for we have sinned: pardon us, Malkeinu, for we have transgressed鈥攆or Your nature is to forgive and pardon.鈥�
On all other days, this blessing is a powerful reminder of the countless missteps that befall us every day of our lives. And each day, by asking God for forgiveness, we are being conscious and intentional about the types of people we wish to be. We recount鈥攖hen we recommit. But on motzei Yom Kippur, this blessing makes little sense. Is it possible that I committed a sin in the last thirty seconds since the gates closed at the end of the 狈别鈥檌濒补丑 service? Shouldn鈥檛 this be my most blameless moment of the entire year, and yet, here I am, beating my breast and beseeching God for forgiveness yet again?
I believe that possible answers to this theological challenge can be found in this week鈥檚 parashah, 贬补鈥檃锄颈苍耻, and in the haftarah for Shabbat Shuvah, which is read on the Sabbath between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
In our Torah portion, 贬补鈥檃锄颈苍耻, we read Moses鈥檚 final poem to the People of Israel before his death. The poem serves as God鈥檚 anticipatory warning to the nation not to forget or forsake the source of their good fortune. 鈥淗e who found him in a desert region. In an empty howling waste. He engirded him, watched over him, guarded him as the pupil of his eye鈥� (Deut. 32:10). And yet, despite God鈥檚 kindness, God knows that eventually the 绿帽社 people will be led astray. 鈥淵ou neglected the Rock that begot you, Forgot the God who brought you forth鈥� (Deut. 32:18). The poem concludes with God鈥檚 promise to bring retribution both upon the People of Israel, and ultimately upon the enemy nations of the world, whom God utilizes as tools of divine punishment.
In our Torah portion we learn the truth, that no matter how blameless and upright we might feel in one instant, life has a way of challenging our unfounded notions of perfection and reminding us that we are works in a constant state of progress. Striking our chests during the Amidah which follows Yom Kippur and proclaiming yet again 鈥淔orgive us鈥擥od!鈥� is a ritual manifestation of this theology. I may be blameless now, but not for long, not forever.
Our haftarah, from which this Shabbat derives its name, is unique in that it includes writings from three different prophets (Hosea, Joel, and Micah) among the 鈥淭he Twelve Minor Prophets,鈥� or the 鈥�Trei Asar.鈥� The core section, from Hosea, contains a clear message that not only is repentance possible鈥攊ndeed it is welcomed by God with joy!
砖讈謿讜旨讘指讛 讬执砖职讉专指讗值謹诇 注址謻讚 讬职讛止讜指郑讛 讗直诇止讛侄謶讬讱指 讻执旨芝讬 讻指砖址讈謻诇职转指旨 讘址旨注植讜趾谞侄纸讱指變Return, O Israel, to the ETERNAL your God, For you have fallen because of your sin. (14:2)
讗侄专职驻指旨讗謾 诪职砖讈郑讜旨讘指转指謹诐 讗止讛植讘值謻诐 谞职讚指讘指謶讛 讻执旨譀讬 砖指讈芝讘 讗址驻执旨謻讬 诪执诪侄旨纸谞旨讜旨變
I will heal their affliction,
Generously will I take them back in love;
For My anger has turned away from them. (14:5)
From the words of Hosea we can understand that despite our regular lapses along our path towards self-improvement, God desires a relationship. But this relationship takes work; it requires maintenance and careful attention to ritual. After all, our relationship with God is not merely an instant in time, it is a constant in time. Therefore, even though we just spent an entire day demonstrating to God how seriously we take this relationship, we are nonetheless obligated to maintain the regularity of the ritual, and show that our commitment is continuous, not contingent on a single day of the calendar year.
In his commentary on the opening word of this morning鈥檚 haftarah, Shuvah (Return), the 11th-century Spanish commentator Abraham Ibn Ezra adds the following teaching, and in so doing, builds on the lessons discussed above:
砖讜讘讛: 诪注讟 诪注讟 注讚 讛砖诐
Return: little by little to God.
May we all continue our work in progress in the coming year as we return, little by little, to strengthen and deepen our relationship with God.
The publication and distribution of the JTS Commentary are made possible by a generous grant from Rita Dee (锄鈥漧) and Harold Hassenfeld (锄鈥漧).
