Softening the Fate We Confront

Some years the High Holidays are late. Other years the High Holidays are early. Some years the High Holidays pass by with ease, and other years each step of the way can challenge us.

2001 was a difficult year. Rosh Hashanah fell just days after terrorists killed thousands and devastated our Twin Towers, destroyed a large portion of our Pentagon, brought crashing down a flight in Pennsylvania and shattered forever the sense of security and innocence so many of us had known.

Sadly, this year’s High Holidays will also be difficult for we stand again in the wake of a tragedy. On one hand it was a natural catastrophe as Hurricane Katrina devastated so many lives and so much of the Gulf Coast; and on the other, it was a human tragedy, as the majority of the thousands who were left behind to suffer most were the poor. I, for one, will keep them in my mind when I recite the viddui, the confession of sins. For when we create a society with such economic inequity and racial divides in which those who have little means are left literally to drown, all of us are responsible.

In just several days, we will stand with awe in our sanctuary and recite on Rosh Hashanah, and again on Yom Kippur, the unetaneh tokef prayer: “On Rosh Hashanah it is written, on Yom Kippur it is sealed, how many shall pass on, how many shall come to be: who shall live and who shall die, who shall perish by fire and who by water, who by hunger and who by thirst; who shall be secure and who shall be driven, who shall be tranquil and who shall be troubled, who shall be poor and who shall be rich.”

The words will ring true as just outside our sanctuary doors will be victims of the flood. The fate they have confronted has been harsh. Many of them have witnessed tragedies that will forever disturb their sleep and unsettle their minds. Many of them have been separated from family. Most of them have lost everything they have and do not know what tomorrow will bring. The conclusion of the unetaneh tokef teaches us how to respond. “Repentance, prayer and charity temper judgment’s severe decree.” Not only can making right our wrongs, reaching out to God and giving of ourselves help to soften our own fate, but in reaching out to others, we demonstrate in a tangible way our commitment to the path God sets before us. When a friend faces a frightening illness, when a coworker encounters a loss, when a complete stranger loses everything he has, let us be there with compassion to lift that person up.

One evacuee I talked with at the Coliseum remarked that he can handle the past. The nightmares of what he has seen, he is sure will fade. But he cannot handle not knowing the future. By reaching out with our hands, with our hearts and with our resources, we can help to restore other’s faith in God and in humanity. Indeed, with our prayer and charity, we can help temper judgment’s harsh decree.

Friday, October 7th at 8:00 pm
Join us for a service welcoming our evacuee families and offering them words of blessing for healing.