To Put the Fire Out

Yom Kippur

Posted on September 24, 2020 (5781) By Rabbi Label Lam | Series: Dvar Torah| Level: Beginner

For the sin which we have committed before You under duress or willingly.

And for the sin which we have committed before You by hard-heartedness.

For the sin which we have committed before You inadvertently.

And for the sin which we have committed before You with an utterance of the lips.

For the sin which we have committed before You with immorality.

And for the sin which we have committed before You openly or secretly.

 

These are just a brief sample of a long laundry list of items that we mention verbally quietly and together aloud on Yom Kippur. Every time we say the words, “for the sin” we give a tap on our heart. What is that small often repeated action meant to accomplish?

 

The Dubner Maggid answered every question he was asked with a Moshol – Parable. When he was asked how come he answered every question with a Moshol, he responded, as you might expect, with a Moshol. He told a story that a man named EMES his English name was TRUTH. He walked all over town but he was naked. Everywhere he went people were shocked and alarmed by his presence. Immediately rooms cleared out and people left screaming like their hair was on fire. He was making everyone very uncomfortable. He had a close friend who cared about him very much and his name was Moshol or his English name was Parable.

 

One day Moshol approached EMES and made him an offer. He said, “I have a giant clothing store with all sizes and styles. I am inviting you to my store and am happy to give you an entire wardrobe of shirts, pants, socks, shoes, jackets, and hats. You can have them for free. Then people will not be disturbed by your presence and they will not be repulsed by you and reject you before they get to know you first in a comfortable way.

 

People don’t appreciate being told the TRUTH straight to their faces. It wakes up the defense mechanism of the ego. No one wants to see themselves as being wrong or faulty in the clear light of the TRUTH.

 

A good pediatrician does not approach a child showing the needle. They have the child blow on a pinwheel to distract him and then they punch the injection quickly into his arm when he is unsuspecting. Immediately the kid gets a lollypop in the mouth. He leaves happy, but wondering why he feels soreness in the arm. So too a good teacher tells a parable to make the message more acceptable.

 

Why do we bang on our hearts repeatedly on Yom Kippur? The Dubner Maggid told a story about a fellow named Reb Berel that went to visit a certain town for the first time. He was sitting by his host on Shabbos enjoying the delicious meal when the peaceful atmosphere was suddenly disturbed by cries of distress and panic. People were shouting in the distance, “Fire- Fire!” Then there was a heavy pounding of drums that continued to beat until the cries were quieted.

 

Reb Berel asked what had happened. The host explained that there was a fire and then the drums were pounded until the fire went out. Berel was amazed by this phenomenon.

 

After Shabbos and before going home inquired about the type of drums that were used. When he returned to his town Berel shared with the community leaders his firsthand experience in that neighboring town. They too were amazed but skeptical. They ordered the drums and based on Berel’s report they fired the fire department and retired all the trucks and hoses.

 

Months later a fire broke out in the town and the drummers banged loudly and continually but the fire spread and the entire town burnt to the ground. Everyone turned to Berel for an explanation. Berel went back to that town where the drums had worked wonders and shared his bitter experience. They were astonished to hear that they fired the fire fighters and stored away the hoses. They told Berel that the drums were an alarm to set the fire fighters into action. They then put the fire out with real water. The drums alone did not put out the fire.

 

So too on Yom Kippur we bang the drum because the fire of Aveiros and sins uncured burn in our hearts but banging is not sufficient. It’s meant to awaken our pure and holy hearts to bring some tears to put the fire out.

 

To Choose Life

Yom Kippur

Posted on September 9, 2021 (5782) By Rabbi Label Lam | Series: Dvar Torah| Level: Beginner

This day, I call upon the heaven and the earth as witnesses [that I have warned] you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. You shall choose life, so that you and your offspring will live; (Devarim 30:19)

 

“Choosing life” is not counted amongst the 613 Mitzvos! According to Rashi it’s like a loving father giving wise counsel to his child. HASHEM implores us to choose life. Free will is a risky but necessary business. One of the greatest challenges for parents is to watch their children as young adults make obvious mistakes without rushing in to rescue them or manage the outcome. Everyone must learn on their own to fail their way to success.

 

According to the Zohar, however, the only Mitzvah is ‘Choose Life” and what we refer to as the 613 Mitzvos are really 613 pieces of advice. It’s just the opposite! How can this be so?

 

The 613 Mitzvos are addressing the physicality of man. Torah is a training ground to cure our negative tendencies. The assumption is that a man left up to his own devices would do great harm to himself and others, and fall way short of his potential. The body of man needs a constant guide and ready coach to coax him into alignment with his sublime assignment. Such is the nature of a man. Things that are left to chance go to chaos.

 

While the code of Jewish Law is training the physical part of the man from the outside in, the Zohar is speaking to the inner life of man, the knowing heart. Everything is ultimately and really one clear option; “choose life”. When the choices are clear like between truthfulness or falsehood or life and death then choosing is easy. It’s only because the waters of our mind are so muddied with materialism that we naturally can’t see so clearly.

 

When the Torah tells us that life and death, blessing and curse are placed before us then choosing life should be easy. The task is to come to the point of recognizing the binary nature of the choosing. Imagine now that all the deeds of your life are spread out before you. There they are for you to view like a feature length movie in living color.

 

You are told this movie will play before a large audience of your relatives past and present, sages and wise men from all ages and the Almighty Himself. Every act, word, and thought will be available for endless viewing and reviewing. It’s your life!

 

Is that a glorious notion or a frightening proposition? The good news is that everything we do is forever and the bad news is that everything we do is forever. I think for most of us a sense of panic will have set in already. Now we have some better news! You have been gifted with a sophisticated editing tool -TESHUVAH – that allows you to delete the unwanted scenes, foolish conversations, and unwanted thoughts that are on display in this movie.

 

This is actually our situation as we enter the 10 days of Teshuva between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur. All parts of our life are now open and available for editing. “Life” are those moments we would feel so good to be seen acting out in front of such an audience of HASHEM and everyone else. The experience of NACHAS those scenes deliver will be our Gan Eden. “Death” is those wasteful and destructive deeds that we would wish not to be discovered and witnessed. The experience of embarrassment those scenes would deliver will be our Gehinom.

 

Now we can realize that the choice is clear. While editing or living – filming forward, the Torah is advising us how to live life in such a way that very little will need dramatic and drastic editing.

 

Be careful how you speak to people and about people! Place HASHEM before you always.

 

Everything the Torah tells us begins to make sense in this light as advice on the best way to behave. The fleshy body that lives in a world of distractions and temptations requires a system of guidance. We need to be saved mostly from ourselves.

 

The knowing heart senses well that what happens in this world has limitless consequences and will be played before the audience of eternity. Deep down inside, each and every one of us knows that life and death, blessing and curse is before us and our job is to choose life.