Rabbi Howard Morrison

Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, is different this year after the tragic and horrific events of last October 7^th and its aftermath to this very day. For many of us, how will we sit through the vastness of these prayers, passages about acts wrongdoing and consequences for misbehaviors? There are so many empty chairs this year - Families who lost loved ones -  innocent civilians on October 7th; families who lost loved ones -  first responders and IDF personnel on October 7th; families who lost civilians, security officers and military personnel after October 7th; families who have lost loved ones around the globe, here in Canada, from surging acts of anti-Jewish and pro-Hamas hatred; and the list goes on and on.

Anger and grief are filling empty chairs this year. People, young and old, who could be asking for forgiveness are not present to ask for forgiveness. Many of us who are sitting in shul are questioning the whole thesis of asking for forgiveness from God this year.

One of the most difficult prayers of the High Holy Days, one which is recited on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, is the U'Netaneh Tokef - "Let us recount the power of the holiness of this day." The poem is said to be from the 11^th century. It may even go back to the Byzantine era, between the 4^th and 7^th century. Its words are terrifying: "All that lives on earth will pass before You like a flock of sheep . . . You will review and number and count, judging each being, determining the fate of everything in creation, inscribing their destiny." 

The poem then lists a series of gruesome ways to die:  "Who will live a long life and who will come to an untimely end; who will perish by fire and who by water; who by sword and who by beast; who by hunger and who by thirst, who by earthquake and who by plague."

Should we sit in shul and listen to this frightful recital knowing that beautiful, kind, and loving people - sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, siblings and other relatives, dear friends- did nothing to deserve their untimely end?

Perhaps we could opt out. Stay home reading a novel, or going for a walk. How can we use the "U'Netaneh Tokef" prayer to reflect on significant matters this year?

When the prayer was written, the death of a child or anyone from disease was commonplace. Likewise, death from natural disaster was commonplace. The pandemic of a few years ago brought us back to a place of the plague of a disease. The tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, tornados and the like have brought us back to a place of the plague of natural disaster. 

Now, such references as "who by sword; who by wild beast" have brought us to a place of renewed violence and terror, unprecedented since the days of the Shoah, two generations ago.

Yom Kippur is a proper day to reflect, even without having answers. The prayer "U'Netaneh Tokef" - "Who shall live and who shall die, and by what form?" fits many of the themes of this day.  

Consider the Torah reading which begins with the inexplicable deaths of two children, Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aaron.

Consider the martyrology section of Musaf today which begins with the words, "Eleh Ezkerah  - These I remember." I/We remember ten famous Sages who died horrific deaths and the hands of the Romans. Many congregations, like ours, supplement whom we remember with other chapters of Jewish history, including those who perished in the Shoah. This year, we remember 1200 precious souls who died on one single day, October 7, 2023 - Shemini Atzeret in the Diaspora and Simchat Torah in Israel, and we remember hundreds if not thousands more who have perished in the last year.

Consider the most famous part of the Yom Kippur day service which fills every seat of this sanctuary, the recitation of Yizkor, when each of us remembers precious loved ones in the context of our personal historical experience. Our Yizkor today is uniquely different given the past twelve months:

The infant in its mother's arms - We remember

The one sacrificed on the bed - We remember

The families wrapped in each other's arms in a final embrace at home, who were killed and set afire - We remember

The life partners who sat and cried a final tear in the safety shelters - We remember

The parents killed hiding their children beneath their own bodies - We remember

Those who were out for day trips and were murdered on the road - We remember

The children and young innocents who were slaughtered before their time - We remember

The parents murdered in front of their loved ones - We remember

The innocents dancing their final dance - We remember

The peace-loving youngsters who were viciously captured, raped, and killed - We remember

The cyclists on a never-ending trip - We remember

The vacationers in their tents, in the desert, or on the beach - We remember

The foreign workers who remained alongside their elders - We remember

The agricultural workers from around the world - We remember

The elders and founders - We remember

The musicians whose music went silent - We remember

The artists whose works remain forever incomplete - We remember

The passers-by who encountered evil - We remember

The philosophers whose last page will never be written - We remember

The security forces, and the Police, and the town security teams, and the military observers, and the IDF:

who fought a few against many

Who stood and delivered

Who saved lives

 And who fought till the bitter end, ensuring more innocents survived -

WE REMEMBER!

I conclude by returning to the U'Netaneh Tokef prayer. While little or nothing we do can actually change that which is not in our control, the prayer ends with the words:

"U'Teshuva U'Tefila U'Tzedaka Maavirin Et Roa Ha'Gezerah - But repentance, prayer, and acts of righteousness enable us to endure the sting of the decree."

Gmar Chatima Tova,

Rabbi Howard Morrison