Rosh Hashanah 5770 Day 2

At this point in our service everyone settles back to be educated, entertained and mostly to be inspired. I am going to try and fulfill that tall order by introducing you to three people. One was an olympic bicycler. The other a prostitute and the third is part of a kollel in Jerusalem. Without any background their stories are moving entertaining. With some educational background their stories are truly inspirational. Shall we begin?

Today is the birthday of the world. As we know it is not really the birthday of the world it is the birthday of man. We all know what birthdays are like from the time delivery begins. In tractate Niddah we are shown a talmudic sonogram of the events leading up to birth. There sits our baby, chin touching knees arms folded, feet up against its backside. But in this sonogram there is an unusual detail. There is a light shining above the babies head. With this light the baby is being taught Torah and with this light the baby is able to see from one end of the world to another. This description is strikingly similar to the description of Adam on the day he was created. Adam we are told was was blessed with a special light which he could use to see from one end of the world to the other. Adam was created on Rosh Hashanah. But I digress. On this day our baby is being taught Torah by an angel as has been that case for the past nine months, but today is different. Today the angel reaches out and strikes the child on the upper lip. As it is struck the child gains the capacity to speak, which is the capacity to share knowledge but the child simultaneously forgets all of the knowledge it acquired during the past nine months, which by the way is all of knowledge. Then the angel forces the baby to take an oath. Be a tzaddik /righteous one don't be a rasha /wicked person. Moments later, Mazel tov! Everybody is happy except the baby who is crying which is no surprise considering what he just forgot.

So baby is born in to a nice jewish home, wears a "Daddy's little matza ball" bib to the seder. Goes to Jewish schools. Bar / Bat Mitzva goes off to college or yeshiva or both. Becomes a Doctor, this is before national health care or a bureacrat after national health care, or rabbi or personal trainer. Lives his or her life and now lying on its deathbed surrounded by family and friends breathes it's last. The soul hovers above it's now lifeless body watching everyone cry and is very confused. Where am I? What is happening? it wonders. The soul hangs around the body not knowing where else to go until the body is intered in the earth and covered up. What do I do now wonders the soul. Just then the soul is approached by three figures who wisk it away to a very different place. When they arrive at their destination one of the beings reveals his angelic face to the soul and says
"Tell me all of the mitzvos you preformed".
The soul begins to list them. "I gave tzedaka and I honored my parents and I wore tefilin etc. etc. "
The soul is scraping for any mitzva it can think of because it is clear that this is important. Finally the soul can think of no more mitzvos.
"Thank you that will be all" says the angel.
Now the second angel speaks up . "Please list for me all of your sins". This is an excruciating experience where the soul is obliged in its own words to accept responsibility for every single misdeed. The soul of course has selective memory. What about that weekend in Ft. Fauderdale. Oh! that was a mitzva. My mother always wanted me to have lot's of friends.

When this process is finished the 3rd angel speaks up "what did you do with your Torah?" The soul looks into the face of the 3rd angel and is shocked. It is none other than the one who tapped him of the lip and made him take an oath to be a tzaddik.

There are many questions we could pose about this gemara perhaps the most pressing of them is c'mon what are you talking about. I have seen sonograms and there were no shining lights and the baby had a cleft in his lip long before it's birthday. So let's deal with that one first.

Talumd stories as opposed to Torah stories do not have to be taken literally and often should not be taken literally. When the Torah tells us that Bilaams donkey spoke it means just that and nothing less. Probably a lot more. The Talmuds description of a 'light shining on the baby' is a truth on some level although not necessarily a physical level that we could perceive. In this particular case we are being taught great insights into the nature of man and his world both the world that we see and the spiritual world that we occupy which we don't necessarily see.

Now let's ask some specific questions about this gemara.
1. Whats with the oath 'be a tzaddik don't be a rasha'? Ever since Mt. Sinai every Jewish soul is obligated to observe the Torah. If I observe I am a tzaddik, if not I am a rasha. Why an extra oath.
2. We could ask the same question of the back end. What's with the third angel? One takes down the good deeds and the other the bad deeds what is the meaning of the third question what did you do with the Torah? Is it not obvious from their deeds what they did with the Torah?
3. One last question before we begin to tie things together. Rosh Hashanah is the day of judgement. Why is there no repentence on the day of judgement? Would it not make sense to repent our crimes before we are judged on them. Yet vidui, the confessional is a major feature of Yom Kippur  but not a word of teshuva on Rosh Hashanah. This last question is a major question raised by all classic scholars. You have probably even heard an answer or two on the topic. My approach may or may not be consistent with what you have learned but I believe it carries a power mesage anyway.

Based on teachings of Rabbi Shimshon Pincus zicrono livracha may his memory be a blessing and yibudalu bain chaim lchaim Rabbi Akiva Tatz I believe that all of this is teaching us the exact nature of Rosh Hashanah and the tremendous ability we have to accomplish great things on this very day.

While Yom Kippur asks the question what did you do? Rosh hashanah asks who are you?

We generally define ourselves Jewishly by our obsevance. Very observant, very pious. Not so observant, not so pious. Observance also defines what type of jew we are. Chassdic, yeshvish, modern, sefardi and all of the other labels that enable us to deal with ourselves and others without really getting to know anybody.
As we sit here on Rosh Hashanah our actions of the past year weigh heavily on our hearts. This is understandable. Our actions have a great impact on us.
However on Rosh Hashanah my obsevance are not me. I am who I decide I am and that decision is not a function of observance. I could be scrupulously observant and yet a rasha wicked. I could be non observant and be a tzaddik. It all depends on how I view myself vis a vis G-d on this very day when I am like Adam . Rosh Hashanah is not as a continuation it is a new start. Is he my King? Am I his servant? If the answer is yes then I am a tzaddik.  No, then I am chas vshalom, a rasha. Sadly most of us never decide who we are. Many people including many "relegious" people use their actions to define themselves. I am a dentist, a baseball fan, a supporter of Israel, a chassid. I don't rely on that kosher symbol I eat at her home but not hers. None of those things are who we really are. Those are descriptions of what we do. Who I really am is who I have decided I am vis a vis my creator. How many people have actually declared 'I am a servant of Hahsem". How many of us are afraid to make that declaration because of what we fear it entails. So let me introduce you to Rachav.

Rachav lived in the city of Jericho before the Israelites conquored the land. She was a prostitute. Not just a simple prostitute but the most sought after woman in the world. Kings and powerful men from all around the world sought her services. The Talmud describes how men could be driven to distraction when fantisizing about her. Then business stopped. The Israelites were poised to enter the country and nobody had any interest in Rachav. This unexpected down turn in the economy gave Rachav some time to think. I know what i do but who am I? she asked herself. Two men came to her door. They were Israelite spies looking for cover. She offerd to hide them. One of them, Pinchus, said I don't need to be hidden. I have the power of the divine spirit and I can make myself invisable. Rachav was so moved by this that she asked them to bring her close to Hashem. You might ask what is so impressive she knew she was going to be killed so she decided to join the winning side? First of all she didn't know for sure that the Israelites would win but second of all even when we recognize a truth what do we do about it. She lived a life that was dedicated to the physical. Her livelihood and prestige revolved around her mastery of earthly delights. But when she saw that spiritual greatness could transcend the the physical she attached herself to that. When jericho was brought down Rachav was spared and converted to Judaism. Joshua was so impressed with her that he married her. They had one daughter whose decendents include 8 prophets and propheteses. Rachavs story inspired Joshua to compose a song which we sing untill this very day. The song is Alaynu. It talks about a time when the entire world follows Rachav's example and recognizes the sovreigity of Hashem. It is a central payer in the High Holyday mussaf service.

Let me be perfectly clear. We may declare ourselves to be servants of Hashem even if our deeds don't match up. Look at this shul. You are a member of Ariel an Orthodox synagogue. Therefore you are orthodox.
"But I don't practice Orthodox as a matter of fact I drove here on Rosh Hashanah". Driving on Rosh Hashanah is not who you are it is what you did.
"But I don't keep kosher" Oh you mean you are a servant of G-d but you were deficient in your service. We will deal with that next week. We call that Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is the day to deal with actions. Rosh Hashanah is a day to make statements. Create identity. Coming here for High Holydays is a statement. Joining this shul is an identity. By order of the Divine court we are obligated to keep a copy of our membership list on file in Heaven. I know it's scary to dedicate our life to G-d but thats what the angel made us swear we would do. Be righteous don't be wicked. Not 'do mitzvos don't do avairos'. Be be. Make a declaration. If I ask you if you are ethical you would probably answer yes. If I pointed out that you misreported your income or didn't try to return a lost object you would still say "I am ethical however I acted unethically".  That's the way we come in to this world. Thats the way Adam was put in to this world on Rosh Hashanah.  Every year on Rosh Hashanah we celebrate Adams creation and revel in the fact that just like Adam we can redifine ourselves once again.

That is what the 3rd angel wants to know when it is all over. Each one of us will take up our actions with G-d in ten days on Yom Kippur a day designated with dealing with our actions. Today is a day designated with defining ourselves. So I ask WHO ARE YOU? The answer is whoever you want to be right now as I speak these words. If you want to be a servant of G-d Rosh Hashanah is the day of declaration. We can create a new reality in ourselves.

The reason we are affraid is because we don't realize the power of our identity. Enter Sam Zeitlin. Champion bicycler in the late 60's. Ever since he first rode a bike Sam Zeitlin knew bicycling was his destiny. He started competing in his teens and won a number of races. In college he was accepted to the American National Team. There he found great satidfaction and bitter disappointment. Heis satisfaction came from his growth in the support but his disappointment came from the severe anti semitism that he experienced from teamates. When the person he was vying for the lead spot on the team tried run him off the road with his car he realized that he had to leave the team. At loose ends he decided to go to Israel. When he reached israel he approached the israeli bicycling team and offerd to join the team and help train them for the olympics. Everyone was pretty excited about the possibility of israel fielding a competitive bicyvling team so Sam began training with the team. After months in israel Sam visited the Western Wall. There he struck up a conversation with a couple of yeshiva bochurim from Chicago who introduced him to a friend of theirs who kept an open home in jerusalem.. Sam started to attend shabbos meals and experience Judaism. Some time went by and Sam was encouraged to join a Rabbi named Noach Weinberg who was opening a yeshiva for young men of limited background. Sam became one ofthe first five students of what would later become Aish hatorah. Sam studied at Aish and continued to train. Then thIsraeli olympic authority announced the date for the qualifing event for the bicycling team. They were scheduled for shabbos. Sam protested but to no avail. They wouldn't change the event even though he was essential to the team. Sam discussed the situation with rabbi weinberg. Rabbi weinberg asked him Sam who are you. Sam responded I am a shomer shabbos jew. Nothing more was said. Sams declaration of identity enabled him to make his decison. If we don't declare them we have to decide over and over and over. Shabbos or Cousin Janies Bat Mitzva, kosher or the family dinner or the business meeting.  But if we have declared we know what the answer will be. Bicycling is what I do shabbos is who I am. Due to Sams absence the team fell apart and the next year israel did not send a bicycling team to the Munich olympics.


Some people don't make dramatic decisions they just live their lives according to their identity. In the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Eshkol the Sofer family brought their fifth child into the world. When the baby was two weeks old a neighbor came over to take the kids out of the house and give Mrs. Sofer a little break. She took them to the nearby park. In the center of this park is a hill and at the top of the hill a manhole which is covered. Inside the manhole is a gas main. There was a leak in the gas main and workers opened the manhole to fix it. At some point the workers left and did not secure the manhole. The four year old Racheli Sofer  wandered off and to the babysitters horror fell into the manhole . The babysitter started screaming. R' Menashe Chalifa, father of six, member of a Jerusalem kollel was walking by. When he heard the screams he ran over and realized what had happened. He immediately dove into the manhole grabbed the little girl and began to haul her out. As Menashe ascended the ladder he was overcome by the fumes and passed out. By now more help had arrived. Rescue workers extracted both of them from the manhole. Racheli could not be revived.  Menashe lies in hadassah Hospital in a coma. After getting up from shiva the Sofers went to the hospital to visit Menashe Chalifa. They met his wife who was sitting at his side. They emotionally expressed their gratitude for what Menash had done. His wife said if he would have the opportunity he would do it again. That's just who he is. Who am I? who are you? What would our loved ones say? Have we made a declaration?
As we recite the words of Alaynu let us remember that these words were inspired by Rachav and her conviction to declare her identity. Let us open our mouths and declare who we really are like Sam Zeitlim did. And as we pray for a refuah shlaymah for Menasheh Chaim ben Shulamit Simcha let us be inspired to declare our identity so that our family and friends could also say he would do it again thats who he is.