Sukkat Shalom Reform Synagogue

Now is the month Elul, the time of spiritual preparation. We each seek to become the perfect Rabbi, full of knowledge, good deeds, humility and, most important of all, true repentance. But as there is no such perfect Rabbi, from whom shall we learn the secret of how to obtain this goal? Who can show us the path they themselves have not trodden?

I suggest we might start by examining words of wisdom from three of our fellows.

The actress and lyricist Molly Picon (Małka Opiekun 1898 – 1992) said “According to Jewish dietary law, pork and shellfish may be eaten only in Chinese restaurants.” This teaches us how easy it is to rationalise our behaviour. We try to make law and even reality conform to our appetites and desires rather than curtail our appetites to stay within the bounds that reality sets for our own good and for the good of the world.

This applies to all of our appetites, not only that for food. We convince ourselves that what we want is what is right whatever the truth might be. We convince ourselves that our greed helps society, that pursuing our personal ease and convenience has no cost beyond the coins we pay, that the world and even God must match our self serving illusions.

During Elul we try to remove the scales from our eyes and replace rationalisation with reason.

The actor Woody Allen (Allan Stewart Konigsberg 1935 -) wrote “It is important to feel guilty. Otherwise you are capable of terrible things. Of course I feel guilty all the time and I never did anything.”

This teaches us two valuable lessons. The first is how poor we are at judging ourselves. We deny the sins we have committed, even to ourselves. (Indeed we live in a world that seems intent on banishing the word sin while enabling the reality of sin to flourish) Then we blame ourselves and suffer great guilt for that which was done by others. This leads to the second lesson, that such disembodied guilt leads to grand and meaningless gestures while doing little or nothing to repair the consequences of our own actions and inaction.

To me this was epitomized by the young man who went to Africa to apologize for the African slave trade. Forget for a moment that by definition the people who he was apologizing to were neither the victims not the descendents of victims of this hideous wrong and that there is a good chance that some of their ancestors may themselves have helped to capture and sell innocent people into slavery, the young man was not alive when this great crime was committed, he and we lack the power to repent on behalf of others as we lack the power to forgive on behalf of others the wrongs done to them. Better his money and energy be directed to helping those within his own society are today suffering great crimes. If he wishes to atone for slavery perhaps he should look at ways to help those women who suffer cruel slavery as victims of the trade in women within the sex trade. become a rabbi?’ said Rabbi Israel. ‘One who is not afraid of ruling incorrectly?’ Elul, Rosh HaShanah and Yom HaKippur are not for the perfect Jew but for those who are afraid of their own imperfection. L’Shanah Tovah

The third offering for this Elul is a story told about Rabbi Israel Salanter ( Yisroel Lipkin 1810 – 1883 father of the Mussar movement) by Shmuel Himelstein in his book A Touch of Wisdom, A touch of Wit. “One of Rabbi Israel Salanter’s disciples told him. ’Rebbe, I am in very serious financial trouble, because I don’t have a job.’ ‘Why not become a rabbi?’ asked Rabbi Israel. ‘Rebbe, I am afraid that I might give an incorrect ruling.’ ‘Who then should

Elul teaches us that the beginning of repentance is to judge ourselves neither too harshly nor too leniently but with justice and that guilt does not prevent terrible things, but that Teshuva, true repentance based on repairing the damage that we do can heal our wounds, for it is now that we seek to examine ourselves and our deeds and to repair that which can yet be repaired.