Yom Kippur Torah Vort 5783
Yom Kippur is essentially a wake up call.
We are waking up to the reality that our actions have impact on ourselves, one another, and our planet. We are waking up to the truth that we are going to die. That life is impermanent. So are we living the lives that we want to live?
Today we read from Parashat Nitzavim, one of Moshe’s last speeches to Am Yisrael. It contains some powerful messages.
“I am putting life and death before you, blessing and curse. So choose life, that you and your descendants may live!” (Deut 30:19)
Choose life.
As human beings, our ability to make choices is our essential power; our greatest gift and responsibility. And we have so much more choice than we often think. Perhaps our most fundamental choice, in any given moment, is how and where we place our attention. Even in this moment - are we lost in our own minds, seeking to control a situation, to affirm our own beliefs, our sense of being right? Or are we paying attention to what is real, to what is here - to one another? Are we listening?
Choose life, because your choices have impact. And we belong to one another.
This imperative may seem daunting, but our parsha has some gems of wisdom to guide our way.
“Surely, this instruction which I enjoin upon you on this day is not too baffling for you, nor is it beyond reach. It is not in the heavens, that you should say, “Who among us can go up to the heavens and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?
Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, who among us can cross to the other side of the sea and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?
No, the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to observe it.” (Deut. 30:11-14)
We don’t need an intermediary, or anyone to take action for us. The life-giving choice is right here in our own hearts and mouths. Can we open and soften our hearts to allow them to lead us, and to give and receive love? Are we paying attention to both what comes in and out of our mouths, and the impact that follows?
This directive is not in heaven or across an ocean, or far off in the future, but right here in this very moment. There is an urgency in this wake up call, because we can see and feel the impact of our choices that do not come from love and listening. But there is also a profound simplicity. We are not asked to understand everything, to go on a hero’s journey, or to develop a master plan - but to tend to what is right here in front of us, one step at a time.
So how can we choose wisely? Towards the end of his speech, Moshe says,
“Choose life - if you and your descendants would live - by loving the divine, listening to God’s voice, and cleaving to God.” (Deut 30:19-20)
Love. L’ahava et Hashim. As we enter this new year, may we soften and open our hearts to feel the great love that is available to us in every moment, and allow it to lead us.
Listen. Lishma b’kolo. May we continually empty our cups so that we can become available to perceive the truth and wisdom that is all around us and deep within us, and take great care to speak only after we have listened.
Cleave. U’ldvakhah bo. May we remember God in all moments. Throughout our highs and lows, may we see and feel the sacredness of life. And may we treat it as such.