Erev Yom Kippur

                How good and how pleasant it is for us to come together on this holiest of nights. In these next 25 hours, we will kibbitz and kvetch, pray and learn, confess and forgive, fast and self-afflict, together as a community. Recently, I found myself in the position of defending the age-old tradition of praying certain prayers exclusively with a minyan. Judaism is a communal religion. The peoplehood of Jews is integral to our religious identity far beyond any specific theology or liturgy. As such, our liturgies and spiritual rituals reflect this importance of community involvement. Personal connection to the Divine and self-introspection is also valued highly in Judaism, of course. But personal prayer can be done anytime, anyplace, with any set of words. When we pray the proscribed liturgy meant for communal prayer, we are expected to be saying them with a community.

            The new Reform machzor, Mishkan HaNefesh for Yom Kippur, points out that if this need for community gathering and communal prayer is true for any regular Shabbat throughout the year, how much more so is this so for our High Holy Days. Throughout the year, we are sure to make space in our community for all sincere worshippers and those looking to learn more about Judaism. On our High Holy Days, we are extra sure to make space in our community for all such seekers as well as those who aren’t sure what they are looking for, those who have been estranged from Judaism or Jewish community, those who have been offended or offensive. Teshuvah must be open to anyone, or true teshuvah will be closed for everyone.

            This is at least one of the reasons I believe that throughout these Days of Awe, we do several iterations of confessional prayers, most of them out loud as a whole community. These prayers are written in the first-person plural. In the Al Chet segments we say: “We have sinned again You by.…” In the Ashamnu prayers, the sins themselves are written as such: “We betray, we steal, we lie,” etc. It does not matter which one of us has personally committed which of these sins. We take accountability as a community and we confess together each other’s sins as well. Although there are many ways to do teshuvah as a personal act, and some of the hardest work of truly returning to one’s best self is definitely a solo effort, this High Holy Day liturgy are prayers that cannot be said alone.

            We take this concept beyond the typical sins we name in the proscribed liturgy, the sins that are largely personal sins that we confess as a community, and consider also the societal sins we may be complicit in even if we are not aware of how our actions our improper. Sins of racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, and so on are most often perpetuate out of pure ignorance rather than malice. They may be small acts, the effects of which are lost on the person committing them, but they compound greater oppressions the person experiencing the action is already dealing with. We can say to ourselves, “Well I know *I* am not racist/sexist/ableist/homophobic,” but we also know if we haven’t committed adultery and yet people don’t seem to balk at having to include that in our public confessional prayers the way to do if they are asked to consider the feelings of minorities.

            As Jews we know how these microaggressions can feel. Hook-nosed banking goblins are just a fanciful invention of JK Rowling’s imagination! But they reflect a dark history of centuries of antisemitic stereotyping and violence across Europe. Model minority myths are a compliment! But they set us apart and mark us as different in our own home communities, paving the way for future alienation and potential violence. Jokes about the Jewish American Princess can be funny! But they contribute to the particular ostracization of Jewish women who are already dealing with the combined effects of antisemitism and sexism (as well as whatever other intersections of oppression they might also fall within) from countless sources throughout their lives.  

            As with so many other issues of justice, we should take our often-difficult experiences as Jews to learn compassion and empathy for others who might find themselves in similar positions. If we know how these slights can grate against us, if we know how they can add up and pave the way for greater offenses, we should be willing to recognize when another minority expresses concern over a language choice or other societal norm that does them harm. Even if we are not yet ready to accept any personal guilt for the -isms in society, we should at least be as comfortable acknowledging that they are societal sins as we are for all the other offences, we have not committed that we admit to throughout the Vidui.

            In 5780, let us pledge to return to the open-heartedness of youth, while also embracing a mature sense of responsibility for the wider concerns of our world. As a community, we can come together to take our prayers and stated values to the next level, living said values through action and commitment. Repentance and forgiveness between wide gaps in society can be possible, and will be our road map to greater peace in our future, but it will take buy-in from every member of any given community. While we are seeking greater communal accountability, we also recognize the limitations of our influence and ability to save the whole world, so let us focus on the Ner Shalom and Prince William County for this coming year. Maybe next year we can fix everyone else too. May we embrace every member of our community, and hold space for them in our sanctuary, social halls, and hearts, building up toward a world of love. Amen and g’mar chatimah tova.