The Book to Take to Yom Kippur

Even inanimate objects “pray.” When a bris takes place on Rosh Hashanah, and the mohel happens to be the one who will afterwards sound the shofar, we instruct him not to wash out his mouth from the blood of the circumcision. The presence of the blood of the bris enhances the mitzvah of shofar. It speaks to G-d, as it were, and asks Him to take note of our eagerness to induct our children into a life of His service. And then there is the pile of ashes, the remains of akeidas Yitzchok, that speak on our behalf to HKBH.

Following this line of thinking, I would recommend that every shul have a copy of One Day in October (Toby) on the bimah on Yom Kippur. Not for anyone to read, but for its contents to scream Heavenward: You tested us grievously in 5784. We passed the test! Have compassion on Your people, because this proves their worth.

Here is the assumption behind our Exhibit A in defense of the holy nation of Israel. Too many of us have made the mistake that the shortcomings that led to a year of midas hadin were x,y, and z. We then fill in aveiros for the variables, almost always offering shortcomings in our own communities. Lace-top sheitels. Too little kavanah during pesukei d’zimra. Lashon hora.

We point a finger at ourselves, rather than at others. Classic. That’s the way it should be. The problem is that in relating to our situation, it is not even remotely true. When Hashem moves to a period of din and hester for the entire nation, such as began on that fateful day, it is because of the behavior of the entire nation, not just a part of it! Ironically, the Israeli man-in-the-street – neither charedi nor dati-le’umi – nailed it. So many who have weighed in on the Big Why of Oct. 7th pointed to the divisions among the people, the animosity, hatred, and even violence directed by Jews against other Jews in the year before last.

So what we need to do to counter midas hadin is to demonstrate the love of one Jew for another, the commitment to the continuity of the Jewish nation. After all, that is exactly what Yom Kippur is about. To allow the continuity of His covenant with His beloved people, Hashem has to ensure that there is a people left for which the covenant has meaning. If they become too mired in sin, they lose the qualities of the nation with which He contracted. He therefore, once a year on Yom Kippur, removes some of the weight of sin, allowing the people to live on as authentic Jews.

All we need to demonstrate this Shabbos is that ahavas Yisrael is alive and well, beating in the hearts of His nation. Frum, secular, Ashkenazi, Mizrahi. It is there in abundance in our People.

This is exactly what One Day in October does. It tells the stories of forty heroes on that dark Simchas Torah, in the words of those heroes, or in the words of their survivors. It is a translation of the Hebrew best-seller, and is emerging as a powerhouse item on Amazon since it became available just a few days ago. These stories reveal to us and the world what is in the Jewish heart. Whatever backsliding we are experiencing (still minor, relative to the general unity that is palpable in the street), Rachmana liba ba’ee/ Hashem wants the heart. And the book shows that He has it. All other points are distractions.

How does the book demonstrate this? In two ways. First, a theme of many of the forty stories is people deciding in a heartbeat to risk their lives to save strangers. We know a bit about heroism in war times. Since the end of WWII, social scientists have been telling us that soldiers fight, not for flag and country, but for their own platoon buddies. The guys they bond with. Not for strangers or abstractions. The heroes in One Day in October risked – and sometimes gave – their lives because nameless, faceless Jews were under attack. If, as we are taught, Rachmana liba ba’ee/ Hashem wants the heart, they gave it to Him.

Let’s unpack this for a moment. The Torah writes in parshas teshuva (Devarim 30:1-2), “When all these things come upon you…then you will take it to heart…and you will return to Hashem your G-d.” Listen to how Meshech Chochmah understands this. “You will take it to heart – because ahavas Yisrael is etched into its heart. It hears what was engraved there from Sinai. It will recall the quarry from which it was hewn. And once a person returns to his people, perforce he will also return to his G-d.” In other words, “taking to heart” does not just mean giving deep consideration to the events around that seem to show Hashem’s displeasure with us. Rather, it means returning to the deeper recesses of the heart, where he finds a love of fellow Jews. And that love, in turn, lodged in the Jewish heart at Sinai. So when a person shows his commitment to other Jews, he is really in touch with the magical moments of maamad Har Sinai, whether he realizes it or not! Therefore, as a cross-section of the Nation, the heroes stand as eloquent defense witnesses this Yom Kippur.

I saw a second theme in these testimonies. The heroes were uncomfortable with taking any credit for what they had done. They realized, after people pointed it out to them, that they were indeed heroes, but they remained completely self-effacing. Maharal (Nesiv Ha-Anavah) observes that some of the characteristics (for want of a better word) of Hashem remain just that – characteristics. Others are not just descriptions of His behavior in anthropomorphic terms, but describe His essence. One of them is anavah. That’s because what is behind humility in peshitus, or simplicity. The anav is uncomplicated, has no rough edges, no useless or irksome appendages attached to his personality. The ultimate peshitus is HKBH Himself, because His Oneness is whole and indivisible. When humans manage to be humble, they are imitating the essence of Hashem. The forty heroes of One Day in October therefore add a grace note to their demonstration of hearts devoted to the Jewish people. They do so with the Jewish emulation of midos Hashem seared into their being.

It is difficult to read the book without jumping up and shouting, “Mi ke’amchah Yisrael!!!” What a wonderful people You have! Even the sinners bring honor to Your Name! (No – it does not have to be everybody. We’ve been saddled with an erev rav since leaving Egypt. But it does need to include the man and woman in the street.)

None of us likely has the same ability as Rav Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev to mount effective arguments for his people. Individually, that is. But perhaps collectively, we can. At least those of us who understand the outsize role that Knesses Yisrael/the spiritual Jewish collective plays in Divine judgment. Together, perhaps, we can stand by this book and declare on Yom Kippur: We have done what is required of us. Now You, please do what is incumbent upon You. We’ve had as much midas ha-din as we can handle! Enough! Please replace it with the warm, open embrace that your holy nation seeks from You!

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6 Responses

  1. Bob Miller says:

    Well-said.

  2. lacosta says:

    there is an elephant in the room being underplayed. the frummest element of israel, the hareili community , is increasingly hated ever more so —as to most israelis , and to certainly the dati leumi communities , it is obvious that while the rest of the country is paying massive prices in money ,blood, and anxiety , the haredi community has doubled down as living an independent reality: the war affects them only to the extent it interferes with where they can visit on bein hazmanim . I wonder at what point is sinah not chinam ? when is it justified ? does the RBSO care ?

    I have to say for the first time in my life I can easily see the jewish entity in the middle east eliminated . the only question is would there be survivors . already 40% of country polled has thought of leaving , and envisioning a 2-3 yr war , and the war crimes commissions/ Harris administration attitude for the zionist entity, hopefully the dual citizens will have where to go back to….

    • Only someone thousands of miles from Israel could write those lines. Yeah, 40% of the country has thought of leaving. Just like Achim B’Neshek screamed that they would not report for reserve duty because of the judicial reforms that were contemplated, but when needed, more that 100% of those called up showed up. Anyone living here can feel the determination of the vast majority of the country. If anything, the behavior of the rest of the world has ensured that not only this generation but the next realizes why Jews need their own country, and their own devices to solve their problems, with the help of HKBH

    • Bob Miller says:

      Lacosta, your guesses are not our reality.

  3. Manya Shochet says:

    It’s very well translated.

  4. Shades of Gray says:

    “After all, that is exactly what Yom Kippur is about….All we need to demonstrate this Shabbos is that ahavas Yisrael is alive and well, beating in the hearts of His nation.”

    Unity is a theme of Yom Kippur per Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer Chapter 46 which says that peace is one of the reasons the Jewish people are compared to angels on Yom Kippur(I first saw this quoted in the Kol Nidrei section of the Artscroll Machzor):

    מה מלאכי השרת שלום מתווך ביניהם כך ישראל שלום מתווך ביניהם ביום הכפורים. והקב”ה שומע עתירותן של ישראל מן הקטיגור שלהם

    https://www.sefaria.org/Pirkei_DeRabbi_Eliezer.46.9?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en

    Regarding Simchas Torah and unity, Rabbi Yosef Zvi Rimon and Rabbi Shmuel Slotki(who lost two sons defending against the Hamas attack) published “A Unique Simchat Torah: Thoughts on How to Approach Hakafot This Year” through World Mizrachi which includes the theme of unity in the Fifth and Seventh Hakafa of their respective suggestions:

    Fifth Hakafa – For the unity of the Jewish people Od Avinu Chai – Am Yisrael Chai, Yehi Shalom BeCheilech, Lemaan Acahi Vere’ay, Aderaba Tein beLibeinu

    Seventh Hakafa – To strengthen the spirit and unity of Am Yisrael, and for the speedy return of those displaced from their homes – Include Chapter 122 of Tehillim and this tefillah of the Chida[regarding v’ahavta lereiacha kamocha]:

    https://mizrachi.org/hamizrachi/a-unique-simchat-torah-thoughts-on-how-to-approach-hakafot-this-year/

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