Welcome to the first Rosh Hashanah service of the year 2000. We are so lucky to be here! We think we got here by ourselves, because we are free to make our own choices. And we think that we are so independent, so self sufficient. We have done it all ourselves.

Well, that is not quite so. Not one of us originated speech; no one person invented the double helix of D.N.A.; no recent genius discovered a way to make life where there is no life. We are good, quite good, at figuring out the systems that are in existence. The super computers exhibit signs of working almost as well as the human brain - but, of course, they are limited by the need to be plugged in to a power source – while the human brain is powered by the Source of all power, the Holy One, Blessed be He.

Nor is it true that we are not affected by our surrounding. We think that our religion, Judaism of the twentieth century, is not affected by Christianity or Islam - but of course it is – or maybe it is they who are affected by us. After all, they claim to be spiritual off-springs of Judaism. Sometimes they even claim to supercede us. Take for example the matter of numbers: The Christians believe in the “Trinity.” We claim that this is a heresy, and profess a belief in the unique and singular nature of God. We avoid “counting” anything, it is considered “bad luck.” You know how they count a minyan in an orthodox shul: “not one, not two, not three, etc...” Our great Sephardic sage, Moshe Ben Maimon, was vilified for publishing lists of numbers: from the qualities of God to articles of faith, from positive mitzvot to negative mitzvot. However, the holiday liturgy quotes the Hebrew Scriptures, “So teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom ” [Psalms 90:12] So it is that numerology, or “gimatriya” is very big in Judaism. Which means that we do not believe “trinity,” but do believe in the power of “three.” Quite so, we do, indeed. Ecclesiastes teaches us, “And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” [Ecc. 4:12] In case you are wondering what that means, let me make it clear: one is weak, two is stronger, three is the strongest yet... Does this apply to our God? Probably not, not the way Christianity does! But the numerical “value” of “Eheye” (I am [that I am] IS three in gimatriya... And in the liturgy of the High holidays we read “Utfila utshuva utzedaka ma’avirin et ro’a hagzera” – and prayer, return to the good path and deeds of proper lovingkindness avert the evil decree. Tractate Avot in the Mishnah teaches us, Al shlosha dvarim ha’olam omed – the world exists by virtue of three things: Torah, the service of God, and G’milut Khasadim – deeds of lovingkindness and mercy. We have our three fathers, Avraham, Yitzkhak and Ya’akov. Now, the modern thinkers will hasten to add, “but we also have four mothers.” I agree, and would like to point out to you that the three and the four are together seven, as the seven days of the week – six for labor and the seventh for rest. We are all influence by and from one another, from generation to generation and from civilization to the next civilization. We are all limited by the length of our days and the paucity of our Shabatot that come only once a week!

Only God, who is eternal, whose Being is from everlasting to everlasting, is without the limitations and restrictions of time. For Him, today is the Day of Creation. Today is the day of His revelation to Israel at Sinai, and the day of infamy, whenthe Israelites mourned the report of the spies, bringing about the curse of the ninth of Av; Today is the miracle of Khanukkah and the debacle of Beitar, the expulsion from England and Holland, from Spain and Portugal. It is today that we arrive at New Amsterdam and Newport; today we establish the Zionist movement. It is also today that our great-grandchildren, still unborn, still subject to our creative genius or destructive impulse, will usher the Messianic era. How good it is to think that if only we heed His word, if only we use our God-given powers to learn from our past and improve our present – His will shall prevail, and His design shall come to be speedily and in a timely fashion. This is our destiny, this is our challenge.

Shanah Tovah to one and all.

We read in the Torah the history of our first Patriarch, Avraham, from a Rosh Hashanah view point – that is, the view toward the future. “And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. ” [Gen. 21:1,2] Abraham had waited long to see a child born to Sarah, since children are every generation’s hope for the future. Because Sarah could not conceive for such a long time, she had attempted to procure a child by proxy, allowing her handmaid to bear a child to Avraham, who was mades Yishma’el. After the birth of Sarah’s son, Yitzkhak, we read that “Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had born to Abraham, mocking. And she said to Abraham, Cast out this slave and her son; for the son of this slave shall not be heir with my son, with Isaac.” [Gen. 21:9,10] The text in the Torah tells us that Avraham was not keen on doing as Sarah had asked, but God intervenes. “And God said to Abraham, Let it not be grievous in your sight because of the lad, and because of your slave; in all that Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac shall your seed be called. And also of the son of the slave will I make a nation, because he is your seed. ” [Gen. 21:12,13] Modern scholars of Torah and social science like to condemn our heritage because of this story. Avraham and Sarah are painted as heartless manipulators of human lives that should have been left to their own destiny. Hagar becomes a sex slave, raped and forced to raise the child forced upon her, and then expelled from the camp precisely because of the presence of that child.

We must be wary of people who wish to impose the mores of our times on a civilization four millennia old. We do not live in the age of Avraham, even as he did not live nor perform his destiny in our times. Would that he did. I think we could have learned a thing or two from him. However, there is value in learning from the experience of our progenitors. The lesson they impart to us concerns the rearing of children. All too often, nowadays, we allow our children to grow like weeds in the field. We believe that “self expression” is a natural right not only of adults but of children, without limit or restriction. We fail to discipline children, and we demand precious little of them. Consequently they grow like weeds in the field, uncivilized and uncultivated, socially maladjusted and incapable of interacting in society for the good of the community. So many young people go astray, lacking discipline they fall prey to negative disciplines: cults, violent gangs, drug cultures and the such.

This shortcoming of the young is not new! It is precisely what happened to Avraham’s first born son. He was failed by his mother, who reared him, and became a child of violence and raw emotions. His “ mocking” which Sarah noticed and for which she asked to have him expelled was not a matter of joking or fooling around. Commentary suggests that he was threatening the life of Yitzkhak. When Sarah said to her husband, “ for the son of this slave shall not be heir with my son, with Isaac,” she did not mean to disinherit him of his portion, but rather she was informing Avraham that Yishma’el was not inclined to share any inheritance with his younger brother. God’s affirmation of Sarah’s request of her husband was not the act of a capricious deity that favors one over another of His creatures, but rather the intervening of a merciful God who recognizes the potential of extreme violence and who wishes to prevent theviolence from taking place. Hence, he prompts Avraham to follow his wife’s request, but immediately informs His servant, “ And also of the son of the slave will I make a nation...”

Judaism teaches us that our progeny is in our hands as a trust from God. If we wish to see them prosper and become responsible adults and members in good faith of the community of Israel, we must insure their proper instruction and rearing. In those cases, and there are always such cases, when children go astray, we must accept the need for what is called these days “tough love.” We must not allow our children to engage in unlawful and destructive behavior while under our roof and our protection. A child who becomes criminally involved, who takes drugs or abuses alcohol must be expelled from the home, for the benefit of society, and possibly even for his/her benefit. For when a child realizes that his/her own parents will not put up with this kind of behavior, it may just be the impetus to change and return to the good grace of society. This is a time of repentance and return, and we must learn to forgive and to forget. However, we must also recognize that the habitual sinner, who asks to be forgiven and then proceeds to repeat the sin again, will find the gates of forgiveness closed before his insincere plea. Let us hope that the lesson will be learned, that the misbehavior will be mitigated, and that pardon will be gained by all who have gone astray. Amen

This evening I will make a brief comment since we are all still sated from the morning service and wish to return home to be with family and friends.

We come to worship Him on this holiday, and we ask, what holiday is it? We have just consecrated the holiday with the wine of Kiddush, and we mentioned “Yom Hazikaron” (the day of Memory) and “Zikhron Teru’a” (the remembrance of the blast of the horn). These named give us a clue to the nature of the holiday and the theme of our observance during this holiday. The remembrance we mention is our history, and the history of God’s interaction with that which he created. We say in the service, “Ha’yom harat olam” – this day the world is pregnant, about to give birth to creation. Thus we celebrate history, from the time of creation to our time, but also onward, for all the coming years, generations, and even eons – to the end of time. The “Zikhron Teru’a” that we call the holiday speaks of the sound of the Shofar, a ram’s horn which is sounded as part of the service of the holiday except when the holiday falls on Shabbat. The name of the instrument in Hebrew, “Shofar,”

comes from the root “leshaper,” meaning to improve. The horn is sounded to alert us to the need to improve: improve our attitude, improve our relation with God, improve our relation with God’s creatures, from the beasts of the field to our brethren, God’s handiwork.

We gathers in synagogues around the world on this holiday, and we pray for a “shanah Tovah Umetukah” – a good and sweet year. We ask God to review our behavior during the past year with compassion and forbearing, with mercy and pity, granting us a chance to change and improve our performance. We ask this with a view to the future – a future which is manifest in our progeny, our children and grand-children. We must be keenly aware of the passage of time, that we play our role as adults even as our parents and grand-parents did only a few short “minutes” ago. Life is a fleeting commodity. Time is the only thing in our lives that we cannot save nor hoard, give away nor store for a future opportunity. Time passes, it moves on whether we make use of it or not. It waits for no one and is the same for the rich and the poor, the fortunate and the wretched.

This holiday that we celebrate, which is not called in our Torah Rosh Hashanah – why do we call it that, and why is it so important? The Mishnah, which is the Oral Torah that was carried on by our people in parallel with the Torah in ancient times and was then transcribed after the destruction of the first Temple, says, “There are four ‘new years.’ On the first of Nisan is the new year of sovereignty and pilgrimage; on the first of Elul is the new year for tithing the domestic animals... On the first of Tishrei the new year for years and for the release and the jubilee and planting vegetables; on the first of Shevat, the new year of the trees, according to the House of Shama’y. The House of Hillel says, on the fifteenth of that month.” [Tractate Rosh Hashanah I]

What does it mean, “ On the first of Tishrei the new year for years and for the release and the jubilee and planting vegetables?” It does not sound like the important festival that we have come to accept this yearly celebration to be. I have found in commentary a very interesting and instructive explanation.

Normally we accept the term “Rosh Hashanah” to mean ‘head of the year,’ since “rosh” is head and “Shanah” is year. This new commentary I spoke of suggests that “rosh” is not the word head but rather an acronym for “retzon Avinu Shebashama’yim” – the wishes of Our Father who is in the Heavens above. Thus, the holiday is not “head of the year” but “the time of year to do the will of Our Father who is in the heavens above.” In this regard, we read in the our Scriptures, “Return, O Lord, deliver my soul. Oh save me for the sake of your loving kindness! For in death there is no remembrance of you. In Sheol who shall give you thanks? I am weary with my moaning; all night I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with my tears. My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my enemies. Depart from me, all you evil doers; for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer. Let all my enemies be ashamed and much troubled; let them return and be ashamed in a moment. ” [Psalms 6:5-11] God wishes to have us follow inHis path, do that which is proper and receive His blessing. All we need to do is recall our history, follow the example of those who did God’s bidding, and make sure that we establish God’s purpose upon this earth. It seems simple enough, though to be sure it is far from simple. However, it is ‘do-able.”

May we so conduct ourselves during the coming hours and days that we shall be judged by our God as fulfilling His wishes, and thus we shall inscribe ourselves in His book of merit, find favor before Him, and be inscribed in the book of life. “Let your work be visible to your servants, and your glory to their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us; and establish the work of our hands upon us; O prosper it, the work of our hands. ” [Psalms 90:16,17] Shannah Tovah.

I must make a confession: I have sinned by speech. I have been very sophisticated, which is a Greek word, meaning polished or refined - but only “skin deep.” Actually it means to place a thin veneer over something, which hides all imperfections and makes it look like something it is not. I have spoken to you three times in the last day and a half, and I waxed philosophical, and hopefully profound and wise, too. I told you of freedom and connectivity, of love and harmony with God and our fellow men (and women, to be sure). But yet I have not looked at the fact that when push comes to shove, we shove – that is to say, when our intellect is threatened by brutality, brutality wins every time. In the final analysis, we are flesh and blood, we are clay and dust. We aspire to godliness – but we rarely achieve it. The High Holidays, with the beautifully lyrical and rich liturgy composed and written by God inspired-men in over a millennium, attempt to elevate us from the everyday to the sublime, from the primordial ‘soup’ to the lofty heights of the Eternal, way above the atmosphere to the “domain of the Almighty.” Yet our mortality and our physicality bring us back to earth time and time again. We aspire for the apogee, but we end up in the dust and dirt, in the slime and silt of human existence. It is the “curse” of our nature.

Our faith recognizes it, and gives voice to it with the sound of the shofar, and with the physical characteristics of the Ram’s horn. It is interesting to note that while we have very fancy and beautiful “shofrot” (horns) that some from kosher animals such as gazelles and mountain goats and are long and curled and capable of multi-sounds – still, for the obligation of hearing the sound of shofar on the High Holidays, it is the wild ram’s horn that is required. The ram is the animal that was caught in the thicket when Avraham bound his son to offer him as a sacrifice to God. The ram replaced the boy, as a measure of mercy from God for the life of the boy. Another reason for using the ram’s horn is that the sound emanating from this kind of a horn is harsh and shrill and reminiscent of the screeching cry of small infants. Listen to its plaintive wail, and you shall become aware of what it awakens in us. Call it “sound therapy,” or call it atavism, there is a primitive and deeply rooted reaction to the sound as we hear the “teki’a, shvarim tru’ah, teki’a.” And when it is time for the “teki’a gedolah” – the longest possible wail – why, the very heavens rip open to plead before the Eternal, Blessed be He: “Av harakhaman,” Father full of mercy, listen to the cry of the infant, the frail human you have placed on the earth that you created. You have made him smaller than the bear, weaker than the tiger, slower than the wild dog, and least ready to face the elements in his naked and natural state. The only advantage You have given him is that he has a prehensile thumb and a brain that can figure out how to overcome his handicap. Why be surprised if he turns out to be a little wicked, malicious, spiteful and sinful in his ways? Have pity on him and give him a second chance to do well, to do good.” Another teki’a, a couple of more shvarim, and our case is made. Here we are, suspended between our mortality and His Eternal nature. We are the ones you created with the Spark of the Divine - we are humanity. With all our failings, deficiencies, imperfections, inadequacies and weaknesses, God, have pity on us! God, save us for the sake of Your glory. Grant us a year of peace. Amen

Amen

Rosh Hashanah 5763