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DRASHA NUGGETS

Yom Kippur:
Drasha Nuggets (p. 1-7)
Full Drashot Version (p. 8-15)



David Fine

Chag: Yom Kippur

Key Sources: Netivot Shalom (Parshat Re’eh), Rabbi Nachman of Braslav (Likutei
Eitzot 272, Sichot HaRan 288), Brachot 57a, Rav Wolbe, Yemei Ratzon. Rav Nosson
Tzvi Finkel as quoted in Michtav Me’Eliyahu, Rashi on Breishit 19:29, Breishit 1:11-12
and Rashi on 1:12, Avodah Zara 18a. Drasha based on shiur by Shira Smiles
(http://download.613.org/smiles/seizing%20the%20moment.mp3)

Description:

• New Year’s resolutions are usually about the distant future but Judaism believes
that living in the present and in the moment is what is important.

• Debate about prisoner who has one day of freedom at his choice. Most poskim
say that he should pick the next day because the mitzvah that is immediate is
most important.

• Eating of Rimon on Rosh HaShana and statement of Talmud that “even the
empty ones amongst you are full of good deed as a rimon”. This is contradictory.
Rav Wolbe suggests that terms “empty” and “full” are qualitative not quantitative.
Accordingly, someone can be empty of qualitative mitzvot (mitzvot chamurot)
even though they are filled with mitzvot kallot. Chamurot are challenging mitzvot
and kallot are easy mitzvot, ones that are second nature. Example of Lot
brought by Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel proves this.
 • The challenge is living in the moment and doing the next mitzva that comes to
one’s attention. Judaism sanctifies every moment of the day and the challenge is
doing this. If we can do this then we will be full and not empty.

• Earth disobeys God’s command in Breishit 1:11, 12 by only producing trees that
bear fruit but not producing trees where bark is also fruit. Shira Smiles suggests
that earth is only worried about future but not present. Earth is not worried about
the daily process that gets us to the future.

• Yesh Koneh Olamo Be’Sha’a Echat (AZ 18a) teaches that living in the present
can guarantee our entire future.

• story of Rav Frand from Siyyum HaSha”s: Yesh Koneh Olamo Be’Daf Achat.

• Yom Kippur is about committing ourselves to the challenge of everyday living and
not only about doing easy mitzvot (such as being in shul on Yom Kippur).

Practical Applications:
This can be used to get people to commit to doing things at Kol Nidre or before Ne’ilah
or to urge people to worry about the here and now and about climbing the ladder not
about what they must accomplish at the end.

Key Words: Present, Commitment, Mitzvot, Sha’a Echat

Additional Sources:
Click here to see full drasha

Yonah Gross

Chag: Yom Kippur

Key Source: Rambam Teshuva 1:2-3

Description:
The sayir la’azazel was michaper for our sins together with our teshuva.

Practical Application:
The teshuva that was done through the azazel was a result of recognizing yourself as
part of the Jewish people and that we don’t think that we are better than anyone else.
The Azazel thought that when he saw the other goat being slaughtered but then he
was taken to the cliff

Key Words: acceptance, klal, nonjudgmental

Additional Sources:
STORY: about Lubavicher Rebbe – where Chassidic rebbe came and the entourage
came with him into the Rebbe’s study and waited for the learned discourse that was
sure to ensue. The Rebbe began by asking “what are you doing to curb drugs and
promiscuity in Israel? That’s not a problem among our children. The Rebbe
responded ‘and which children are not our children?’
Asher Oser

Chag: Yom Kippur

Key Sources: Selichot; Rebbe Nachman MiBreslov

Description:
“Al tashlikhenu milfenach v’ruach kodshecha al tikach mimeni”

The ability to feel God’s presence is a gift and so we ask God that this gift stay with us.

Our greatest fear is that we won’t care anymore and when we don’t care yom kippur
becomes torture for if I don’t feel the presence of God then how can I honestly say “Al
tashlikhenu milfenach…”

Rebbe Nachman talks about two types of heresy:

Type One heresy is intellectual. We read a book about the authorship of the Bible and it
is troubling but we can deal with it. We continue to pray and be faithful to halakha and
have a relationship to God.
Type two heresy is when I don’t feel anything and don’t feel like begging Hashem not to
forsake me because I already feel that I have been forsaken and forgotten. To this
heresy, there is no solution.

The Rambam writes about this fear that we are living a life where we have lost the
capacity to draw near to God. For him, it is a punishment from God.

Isaiah is sent to tell the people that “You shall hear but will fail to understand; You shall
see but will fail to know. The heart of this nation has become fat; its ears heavy, its eyes
dazed, lest its eyes shall see, its ears hear, its heart understand and it will return and be
healed.” God punishes us with not being able to see and feel so that we won’t return and
be healed. It’s true for us as a nation and it is also true for us as individuals.

God hardened the heart of Pharaoh and so for Rebbe Nachman, Pharaoh is afflicted
with the type two heresy. What solution is there to a hardened heart?

For us there is hope – “Koh amara HaShem yesh tikvah l’achritech n’eum HaShem.”

And the truth is that even for Pharaoh there was hope. The midrash teaches us that
Pharaoh and the Egyptians merited burial – Even Pharaoh and the Egyptians were not
completely lost. Why did he merit burial? In the midst of the plague of hail Pharaoh
admits, “Hashem is just and me and my people are wicked.” At every previous plague
Pharaoh had just called Moshe and asked him to stop the plague but this time he said
“God is right and I am wrong” and for that reason alone, he merited to be buried.

The dorshei reshumot, those who know how to read and pray in multiple dimensions
have taught us that the words - Al tashlikhenu milfanecha spell out emet.
“God don’t forsake us” is not only a request, but it is also truth. God doesn’t forsake
anyone.

Practical Application:
 • Every good deed we do is accounted for and will be rewarded. God pays back –
ultimately there is hope. It may be at the end, at the point of burial, but every
deed we do, every smile, every action, every kind word has a consequence that
is not forgotten.

• Ultimately we don’t know what counts and what does not count and therefore, we
should not give up because even the things that we do that seem small to us,
maybe in God’s book they are great.

• During yizkor and we think about our loved ones who are not with us in this
world. If we could meet our loved ones now and tell them what we remember of
them, how many of them would be surprised. “That’s what you remember – what
a strange thing to remember.” The things that stick are sometimes things that
don’t seem like a big deal… but in the end they can really be quite meaningful.

Key Words: Hopelessness, Teshuva, Paroh, Yizkor

Additional Sources:

• Click here to see full drasha

• We have all met this second heresy on Pesach - the wicked son who asks “what
does all this mean anyway – it doesn’t speak to me.” The tzaddikim teach that
each person has a little bit of those four sons in them. And so it is that sometimes
we hear an echo of this heresy rumbling through us.

• We are told that at the end of time there will be a huge battle involving Gog from
the land of Magog. They will come to attack Israel and they will lose yet they too
will be buried properly. Why? Because their ancestor, grandfather Japhet,
covered his drunken father Noah. And because of this, Japhet’s descendants will
be given a proper burial at the end of time

• The mishna in avot teaches us - to be as anxious about the small mitzvot as you
are about the big mitzvot, for you do not know the reward of any individual
mitzvah. Not only does it teach us to value the small mitzvot but it also teaches
us that the small mitzvoth we do have value.

Ariel Rackovsky

Chag: Yom Kippur (Kol Nidrei)

Source: Midrashim about angels and HKB”H fighting, various halacha of Yom Kippur
designed to imitate angels

Description:
There are many practices we do on Yom Kippur to emulate angels (we don’t eat, we
wear white, we stand), but this seems somewhat odd. At many critical junctures, Chazal
tell us that the Angels fought with HKB”H and they lost, in favor of mankind:
 • He created us above their objections
• Redeemed us from Egypt
• Gave us the Torah

Why would we want to be like Angels?

Rav Kook- once a year we imitate angels because we want to set our sights higher.
Angels have the gift of clarity, as there are no grey areas in the world of an angel.

Practical Application:
After Yom Kippur, we will return to a world of sin, but on Yom Kippur, we have the ability
to understand that everything we did that was wrong actually was wrong. We can use
clarity of Yom Kippur to spur us to positive action for the year to come.

Key Words: Angels, Clarity of Actions

Ariel Rackovsky

Chag: Yom Kippur (Yizkor)

Key Source: Avodas Yom HaKippurim, specifically lottery to determine which goat is ‫'לה‬
and which goat is ‫לעזעזאל‬.

Description:
If the selection of the goats is a pivotal event in the Avodah, why leave it up to chance?
To answer, we need to look at the other events in which a lottery was used:

• Entering E”Y and dividing up territory

• Achan
• Haman

Common denominator in each was that they took place at a time when Jewish people
were risk averse or could have been. Entering E”Y was a risk as far as spiritual self
sufficiency was concerned. Achan was risk averse and hoarded loot despite HKB”H’s
promise of prosperity, and Jewish people in days of Achashverosh were afraid to assert
identity, and took path of least resistance by participating in the feast he threw. Lottery
comes to introduce element of randomness and risk into the holiest day of the year to
show that growth can only occur if risks are taken.

Practical Application:

Credit crunch is due to the backlash against excessive risk, with companies now
becoming extremely risk averse. Risk is more challenging these days, and ever more
important- and it does not have to cost a cent, as it applies to our relationships.

• Risk in relations between us and G-d, as we take on more spiritual initiatives

despite the possibility of failure.
• Risks in relationships with others. Opening up to someone else and making
ourselves vulnerable is risky.
• Risks in our relationships with ourselves as we push the boundaries of what we
thought was possible for us to do.
HKB”H is taking a risk on us today- there is a chance, even likelihood, that we will
disappoint Him. Y”K challenges us to seize the opportunity to grow, regardless of the
risk.

Key Words: Chance, Lottery, Spiritual Growth, Purim

Jacob J. Schacter

Chag: Yom Kippur

Key Sources: Haggadah Shel Pesach; GM’ Shabbat (31a)

Description:
If one asks four questions on the Seder night, one can also ask four questions on
Kol Nidrei night as well. ‫ מה נשתנה הלילה הזה מכל הלילות‬How different is this night from
all the other nights of the year
• ‫ שבכל הלילות‬some of us are in the synagogue and some of us are not in the
synagogue. Tonight, ‫הלילה הזה‬, on this night of Kol Nidrei, we are all in the
synagogue;
• ‫שבכל הלילות‬, some of us pray and some of us don’t pray. Tonight, on this night of
Kol Nidrei, all of us are praying;
• ‫שבכל הלילות‬, some of us eat and some of us, for whatever reason, don’t eat.
Tonight no one is going to eat;
• ‫שבכל הלילות‬, some of us feel calm, tranquil and comfortable and some of us are
tense, worried and preoccupied. Tonight, we are all somewhat agitated,
apprehensive and concerned. ‫הנה יום הדין‬, It is the holiest night of our Jewish
calendar.

On the Seder night we answer ‫עבדים היינו‬, - tonight we answer our ‫ מה נשתנה‬by
recognizing ‫עבדים אנחנו‬, we are now enslaved. We become aware of our shortcomings,
we are conscious of our frailties. We realize that we are merely:
• ‫כחומר ביד היוצר‬, like clay in the hands of the divine potter
• ‫כאבן ביד המסתת‬, like stone in the hands of the divine mason
• ‫כגרזן ביד החרש‬, like iron in the hands of the divine welder.
And if we ask four questions on this ‫יום הדין‬, the rabbis tell us that God asks four
questions of us on ‫יום הדין‬.
‫אמר רבא בשעה שמכניסין אדם לדין אומרים לו נשאת ונתת באמונה קבעת עתים לתורה עסקת בפו"ר‬
‫)צפית לישועה )שבת לא ע"א‬
(Note: the Gemara continues with additional questions but I stop with the first four in
keeping with the motif of four questions. )

Practical Applications:
4 Areas we can work on in the coming year:
• ‫( נשאת ונתת באמונה‬Ethical Behavior)
o Have I been honest in my business dealings and relationships with family
and friends? This year, perhaps more than any other year in the past,
this question is most relevant. . .
• ‫( קבעת עתים לתורה‬Religious Lives)
o Did we set aside time for the study of Torah
o Do we invest as much time and effort and money in expanding our Jewish
heritage as we do our cultural horizons (plays, concerts, museums,
lectures, and more)?
 o Were we kove’a the itim by the values of Torah? Did we judge the
contemporary values of our time by the eternal values of Torah to
determine which we can accept? (Note: Use whatever example you feel
is appropriate here)
• ‫( עסקת בפו"ר‬Family Relationships)
o Have I been involved with my family? Have I spent time with my family?
We shouldn’t take our families for granted.
• ‫( צפית לישועה‬Connection to the World Around Us)
o We are often so content and complacent. Have I looked beyond my
present situation and realized that it is not the way it should be and that I
need a yeshua? Do we really yearn for a better world, for Jews to feel
free, for the State of Israel to exist in peace and security?

Key Words: Torah, Ethical Behavior, Family, Community Obligations, Relationships

Additional Sources:
Click here to see full drasha
 FULL DRASHOT

David Fine
THE POWER OF THE MOMENT
At this time of the year we are told to come up with “new year’s resolutions”, our goals
for the year. More often than not these goals, if they come to fruition at all, are goals
that will be realized at some point far into the future. We are always directed to think not
about our past as we cannot change the past but about the future. But what about the
present? What about the moment?
An interesting trivia question is often posed to Jewish children in school. If a Jew is
imprisoned and he is not permitted to do mitzvot in prison and will only be given one day
of freedom for the year that he could choose- which day should he choose? The
children almost always answer that he should wait until the most important times of the
year, Rosh HaShana to hear the Shofar, Yom Kippur to fast and pray all day, Pesach to
be at the Seder, etc. This is actually an issue that has been discussed by Jewish
authorities for centuries. Most authorities are of the opinion that he should ask to be
freed the very next day so that he could do the first mitzvah that comes to his hands.
With a slightly more Kabbalistic bent the Netivot Shalom (Parshat Re’eh) explains that
the most important mitzvah is the one that you can do right now, in the moment. He
quotes that Ar”i (R. Yitzchak Luria) who says that just as every person since the creation
of the world is different so too is every day different. Every day has its own role and
mission that will never be recreated on another day. A Jew’s responsibility, says the
Netivot Shalom, is to fulfill that day’s mission. An important idea in the teachings of
Rabbi Nachman of Braslav (Likutei Eitzot 272, Sichot HaRan 288) is that one of the
fundamental tools we need in serving God is to think only of today, the present hour and
to pay no attention to yesterday or tomorrow. When a person begins to concentrate on
serving God, it appears to be a heavy burden which he will never be able to bear. But if
he were to be told that he has to shoulder this weight for only one day, today, then it
would not seem like such a heavy burden at all. Man’s world consists of nothing more
than the day and the hour he stands in now. Tomorrow is an entirely different world
(summarized in Tehillim Treasury by R. Avraham Chaim Feur).
Last week on the first evening of Rosh HaShana many of us partook in the custom of the
eating of many symbolic foods before the eating of the meal. Most are familiar only with
the apple in the honey. But there are others as well. One of them is the eating of a
pomegranate. When we eat the pomegranate, we ask that our merits be multiplied like
[the seeds of a] pomegranate. According to our tradition a pomegranate has 613 seeds,
corresponding to the 613 mitzvot, making it the Jewish fruit of righteousness. The
Talmud has a very strange comment about the pomegranate: “Even the empty ones
amongst you are full of good deeds as a pomegranate (Brachot 57a). The famous (and
obvious) question asked about this statement is that it is contradictory: how can
someone simultaneously be empty and full of mitzvot? Rav Wolbe in Yemei Ratzon
suggests that when the Talmud uses the words “empty” and “full” it is referring to quality
not quantity. Even those who are empty ARE indeed filled with mitzvot but they are
“mitzvot kallot” and are therefore still considered empty. What is the difference between
a mitzvah kalla and a mitzvah Chamura? Rav Wolbe answers that a mitzvah kalla is one
that does not present a challenge to the one who is performing the mitzvah. If it is simple
for the person to do the mitzvah then it is a mitzvah kalla. Thus someone who is empty
may still be filled with mitzvot but they are mitzvot that do not present a challenge.
Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel of Slobodka (as quoted in Rav Dessler’s Michtav Me’Eliyahu)
reminds us that Lot was saved from Sedom because of a favor that Lot did for Avraham.
Lot knew that Sara was Abraham’s wife and he heard Avraham referring to Sara as his
sister and did not reveal the secret to Pharoah (see Breishit 19:29 and Rashi ad loc.,
s.v. “VaYizkor”) Rav Finkel asks: There is certainly a much greater act that could have
merited Lot being saved and that is the fact that when he came across strangers in
Sedom he was ready to insist that they come to his house and in the moment of danger
he risked his life to protect them from the mob that threatened to break down the door.
Why then was he saved because he did not reveal Avraham’s secret? The reason,
according to Rav Finkel, was because Lot was raised in the household of Avraham
where Gemilut Chesed was instilled in him in such a way that his taking in the guests in
Sedom even at risk to his own life was not a challenge- and thus was a mitzvah kalla.
But not revealing Avraham’s secret WAS a challenge for Lot because his weakness was
greed. He could have “cashed in” by giving away this secret. This was his Mitzva
Chamura for which he merited being saved.
To think about a goal that we may accomplish months or even years away is not a
challenge right now. It is easy to make a list of resolutions. We probably make a similar
list each year. Who doesn’t want to lose weight, exercise, get organized, spend more
time with the family? But sitting in shul right now on Yom Kippur are we really thinking
about those things and about their immediacy. It is easy to make such lists. What is hard
is to concentrate on the moment. God gives us mitzvot that can sanctify every act that
we do throughout the entire day, whether it is how we plow our fields or how we stand on
line in the bank. How do we eat? Do we talk properly? Do we spend our time learning
Torah and becoming closer to God or do we waste it surfing the internet and spending it
on Facebook? These are the real challenges of everyday life.
Breishit 1:11-12 contains God’s command for the earth to sprout fruit bearing trees and
for the bark of the tree to taste like the fruit itself (“ta’am ha-etz ke-ta’am ha-peri).
However, the earth did not do as commanded and was therefore cursed. The earth
only sprouted forth trees that would yield fruit but the tree itself was not fruit (see Rashi
1:11, s.v. “Etz Pri”). Shira Smiles explains that the sin of the earth was that it only
worried about the future, about the fruit that would eventually be yielded but the earth did
not worry about the present, about the bark, about the process of daily events that would
lead to the future.
It is easy to be here in synagogue on Yom Kippur. Everyone is. But it is more difficult
for many of us to be here tomorrow morning at 6:00 am for daf yomi and 6:45 for
minyan. It will be difficult for many of us to volunteer in the shul office on a regular basis
or to visit someone who cannot leave their homes. These are the moments that we
must commit to.

So as we sit here in shul on Yom Kippur praying for our future, let us commit ourselves
to living in the present, to challenge ourselves to invest the mundane tasks of everyday
life with kedusha and to use this process to get closer and closer to God.
The Talmud in Avoda Zara 18a tells the story of R. Hanina ben Teradyon’s executioner
who was “koneh Olamo be’Sha’a echat”. His past did not matter. Only the next
challenge, the next mitzvah mattered and by doing the right thing at that moment he was
able to guarantee his entire future. We too, right now, have a chance to guarantee our
future by living up to the challenges of the moment.
I would like to conclude with a story that Rabbi Frand told at the last celebration of the
siyyum of Daf Yomi. R' Frand told a story about a young man who had gone away to
yeshiva to learn. When he returned home, the boy used to sit at the dining room table
and learn, while his dad (a former boxer) watched the fights on TV in the other room.

One night, the father approached his son and asked what he was learning. The boy
replied that he was learning the Talmud. The father asked if he could learn with the son
and the son obliged. Over the course of the next series of months the father and son
learned together until they had finished a page of gemara.

When the two had completed their study, the father told his son that he felt a great deal
of accomplishment and wanted to make a party. The son was skeptical as one normally
celebrates finishing a tractate of gemara, not one page. Nonetheless, the dutiful son
asked R. Moshe Feinstein, zt'l whether the party could be made. R' Moshe answered in
the affirmative and asked for permission to attend the party.

Not long after the father passed away. When he was informed of the loss, R' Moshe
asked whether he could speak at the funeral. Upon being given an opportunity to speak,
R' Moshe commented that it is widely known that a person can obtain a place in the
world to come in one hour ("Yesh koneh olamo be'sha'a achat"). R' Moshe then
remarked that the boxer had secured a place in the afterlife with the one page that he
had learned ("Yesh koneh olamo b'daf achat").

The actions of the boxer could not be more important than at this time of year. If we can
emulate him our futures will be bright.

Asher Oser
Al tashlikhenu milfenach v’ruach kodshecha al tikach mimeni

HaShem do not forsake us and your Holy Spirit do not take from us.

These words are our steady companions throughout the yamim noraim, the Days of
Awe.

We began saying them a few weeks back, on the first night of selichot and we continue
to say them until today.

Al tashlikhenu milfenacha

HaShem do not forsake us

The ability to feel God’s presence is a gift and so we ask God that this gift stay with us.

Our greatest fear is that we won’t care anymore and when we don’t care yom kippur
becomes torture for if I don’t feel the presence of God then how can I honestly say

HaShem do not forsake me and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

And isn’t this short prayer what this day is all about?
Rebbe Nachman talks about two types of heresy. Type One heresy is intellectual. We
read a book about the authorship of the Bible and it is troubling but we can deal with it.
We can imagine that there are solutions to such problems and so we continue to pray
and be faithful to halakha and have a relationship to God.

But then there is a problem that has no solution: Hashem, I don’t feel anything. Hashem,
I don’t feel like begging you not to forsake me because in fact, I already feel that I have
been forsaken and forgotten. Hashem, There is no Holy Spirit left in me for you to take
away. Rebbe Nachman says that this too is heresy but to this heresy, type two heresy
there is no solution.

According to Kabbalah, for an infinite God to create a finite world, He had to create a
space that was void of His infinite presence. In Kaballah this place is referred to as the
halal ha-panuy, the empty gaping hole. Says Rebbe Nachman, type two heresy
emerges from that gaping Godless hole and this type of heresy has no solution. I can
find someone to prove to me that God wrote the Bible but how will I find someone to
move me toward God when I am stuck in a gaping hole of Godlessness? This appears
to be a problem that has no solution.

The truth is we have all met this second heresy. Every year on Pesach he shows up at
our homes, dressed as the wicked song and at our seder he asks “what does all this
mean anyway – it doesn’t speak to me.” And the tzaddikim teach that each person has a
little bit of those four sons in them. And so it is that sometimes we hear an echo of this
heresy rumbling through us. So in fear we say

Al tashlikhenu milfenach v’ruach kodshecha al tikach mimeni

HaShem do not forsake us and your Holy Spirit do not take from us.

And we wonder how much we really mean it and how much we feel it.

The Rambam writes about this greatest fear of ours, this fear that we are living a life
where we have lost the capacity to draw near to God. For him, it is a punishment from
God. We are used to being told that where there is life there is hope, but for Maimonides
it seems that this is not always true. Sometimes the situation is beyond hope.
Sometimes the problem has no solution. Isaiah is sent to tell the people that “You shall
hear but will fail to understand; You shall see but will fail to know. The heart of this nation
has become fat; its ears heavy, its eyes dazed, lest its eyes shall see, its ears hear, its
heart understand and it will return and be healed.” God punishes us with not being able
to see and feel so that we won’t return and be healed. It’s true for us as a nation and it is
also true for us as individuals.

God hardened the heart of Pharaoh and so for Rebbe Nachman, Pharaoh is afflicted
with the type two heresy, for what solution is there to a hardened heart? And if we are
stuck in that place that says “why bother – what’s the point anyway” then maybe there is
no hope for us as well.

But this cannot be for on RH we heard:

Koh amara HaShem – thus says the Lord

yesh tikvah l’achritech n’eum HaShem – in the end there is hope says Hashem.
And the truth is that even for Pharaoh there was hope.

The torah tells us that when the sea drowned Pharaoh and the Egyptians, tivlaemo
aretz, the earth swallowed them. The midrash expands on this and teaches us that
Pharaoh and the Egyptians merited burial – zachu l’kvura. Even Pharaoh and the
Egyptians were not completely lost.

Why did they deserve to be buried when so many people throughout the generations
didn’t get a proper burial? Why does Pharaoh get a funeral? How many Jews in the last
hundred years didn’t get funerals?

The torah records that in the midst of the plague of hail Pharaoh admits, out of the blue,
“Hashem is just and me and my people are wicked.” At every previous plague Pharaoh
had just called Moshe and asked him to stop the plague but this time he said “God is
right and I am wrong” and for that reason alone, he merited to be buried.

In light of everything we know about Pharaoh this midrash is remarkable. Pharaoh is a

person who is destined not to change, he is the original hard heart. For rebbe Nachman
Pharaoh is the archetype of type II heresy, yet he, hard heart and all, makes one true
statement, “God is just and I am wicked” and is rewarded with the eternal gift of a proper
burial.

We are told, in a cryptic prophecy, that at the end of time there will be a huge battle
involving Gog from the land of Magog. They will come to attack Israel and they will lose
yet they too will be buried properly. Why? Because their ancestor, grandfather Japhet,
covered his drunken father Noah. And because of this, Japhets descendants will be
given a proper burial at the end of time

What these midrashim teach is that ultimately, every good deed we do is accounted for
and will be rewarded. God pays back – ultimately there is hope. It may be at the point of
burial, it may be, like it was for Japhet, at the very end of time, but every deed we do,
every smile, every action, every kind word has a consequence that is not forgotten

The mishna in avot teaches us to be mindful of this:

‫והוי זהיר במצוה קלה כבחמורה שאין אתה יודע מתן שכרן של מצות‬

Be as anxious about the small mitzvot as you are about the big mitzvot, for you do not
know the reward of any individual mitzvah.

Don’t be scared of this mishna for not only does it teach us to value the small mitzvot but
it also teaches us that the small mitzvoth we do have value.

God’s thoughts are not like ours, ultimately we don’t know what counts and what does
not count and therefore, we should not give up because even the things that we do that
seem small to us, maybe in God’s book they are great.

We are standing at the edge of yizkor and we think about our loved ones who are not
with us in this world. Each one of us brings our own memories to yizkor, Memories of
what was and sometimes memories of what could have been, memories of mothers,
fathers, sisters, brothers and sometimes, lo oleinu, of children. If we think about those
we love but cannot see. What do we remember about them? What are the things that
stick in our minds, what counts in our minds ? If we could meet our loved ones now and
tell them what we remember of them, how many of them would be surprised. “That’s
what you remember – what a strange thing to remember.” The things that stick are
sometimes things that don’t seem like a big deal. We work at parenting, we work for our
children, and it doesn’t work, and then we sit with our kid and read a story for 10 minutes
or goof around with them and everything changes. We remember working hard and
parenting hard but we don’t remember the goofing. Our children remember and cherish
the goofing. I will remember the daily rush home from shul to get the kids to school, but
my kids will remember racing me down the stairs to see who gets to the car first – that’s
what will stick.

So, when we say that God is tzofer nistorot, that in judgment God sees what is hidden, it
does not only mean that God sees what we hide from others and ourselves, it means
that God also sees what is hidden from us. God sees the good that we do and we don’t
know about. Pharaoh with his back against the wall and hail smashing outside says,
flippantly, “this time God is right and I am wrong” and he gets a proper burial. Japhet
helps with a blanket to cover his naked father. A moment’s work and the decent thing to
do and this deed is remembered to his descendants at the very end of time. There is no
forgetting before God, for God remembers every good deed and every intention is
recorded and the truth is that nobody, nobody is forsaken and to believe that one is
forsaken is heresy.

The dorshei reshumot, those who know how to read and pray in multiple dimensions
have taught us that the words:

Al tashlikhenu milfanecha, God don’t forsake us, spell out emet truth. The first letter of Al
is alef, the first letter of tashlikenu is taf, and the first letter of milfanecha is mem – alef,
mem and taf – emet.

“God don’t forsake us” is not only a request, but it is also truth. God doesn’t forsake
anyone. If God kept count with Pharaoh, and God kept count with Japhet,then it is
certainly true that God keeps count with each and every one of us too.

Al tashlikhenu milfanecha v’ruach kodshecha al tikach mimani

God forsakes no one.

Jacob J. Schacter

Two nights of the year have indelibly etched themselves on the collective consciousness
of the Jewish people, two nights that have had a powerful impact on young and old alike,
two nights that continue to be observed by multitudes of Jews, two nights that are so
different from all the other nights of the year. One is the festive, warm and relaxed night
of Pesach; the other, the holy, serious and awesome night of Yom Kippur.
If one asks four questions on the Seder night, one can also ask four questions on
Kol Nidrei night as well. ‫ מה נשתנה הלילה הזה מכל הלילות‬How different is this night from
all the other nights of the year
• ‫שבכל הלילות‬, On all the other nights of the year, some of us are in the synagogue
and some of us are not in the synagogue. Tonight, ‫הלילה הזה‬, on this night of Kol
Nidrei, we are all in the synagogue;
 • ‫שבכל הלילות‬, On all the other nights of the year, some of us pray and some of us
don’t pray. Tonight, ‫הלילה הזה‬, on this night of Kol Nidrei, all of us are praying;
• ‫שבכל הלילות‬, On all the other nights of the year, some of us eat and some of us,
for whatever reason, don’t eat. Tonight, ‫הלילה הזה‬, on this night of Kol Nidrei, no
one is going to eat;
• ‫שבכל הלילות‬, On all the other nights of the year, some of us feel calm, tranquil and
comfortable and some of us are tense, worried and preoccupied. Tonight, ‫הלילה‬
‫הזה‬, on this night of Kol Nidrei, we are all somewhat agitated, apprehensive and
concerned. ‫הנה יום הדין‬, tonight ushers in the Day of Judgment. It is the holiest
night of our Jewish calendar.
And if, on the Seder night we answer ‫עבדים היינו‬, we were once slaves, then tonight we
answer our ‫ מה נשתנה‬by recognizing ‫עבדים אנחנו‬, we are now enslaved. On this night of
the year we come face to face with our inadequacies, we become aware of our
shortcomings, we are conscious of our frailties. We realize that we are merely
• ‫כחומר ביד היוצר‬, like clay in the hands of the divine potter
• ‫כאבן ביד המסתת‬, like stone in the hands of the divine mason
• ‫כגרזן ביד החרש‬, like iron in the hands of the divine welder.
And if we ask four questions on this ‫יום הדין‬, the rabbis tell us that God asks four
questions of us on ‫יום הדין‬.
‫אמר רבא בשעה שמכניסין אדם לדין אומרים לו נשאת ונתת באמונה קבעת עתים לתורה עסקת בפו"ר‬
‫)צפית לישועה )שבת לא ע"א‬
(Note: the Gemara continues with additional questions but I stop with the first four in
keeping with the motif of four questions. Also, until this point I present the drashah word
for word. Now I present general ideas and want to allow you to develop the material as
you wish).
• ‫ – נשאת ונתת באמונה‬Have I been honest in my business dealings? This year,
perhaps more than any other year in the past, this question is most relevant. . .
But it means honesty and decency not only in business but in all our
relationships. Have I acted faithfully and honestly with the members of my
family, my neighbors, my friends?
• ‫ – קבעת עתים לתורה‬The simple interpretation is, of course: Have I set aside time
for the study of Torah? We study so much. We are intellectually engaged in so
many areas. We invest so much time and effort and money in expanding our
cultural horizons (plays, concerts, museums, lectures, and more). But what
about when it comes to our Judaism? We have such a rich and meaningful
heritage. How much of it do we access during the year?
• And then there is another interpretation. Were we kove’a the itim by the values
of Torah? Did we judge the values of our time by the eternal values of Torah?
Did the Torah and its values determine for us which contemporary values we can
accept and which we must reject? Or, on the contrary, did we judge the Torah by
the values of our time and somehow explain (away) the Torah in a manner that
would allow us to affirm them?
(Note: Use whatever example you feel is appropriate here)
• ‫ – עסקת בפו"ר‬Note that the Maharsha comments that this question is not ‫קיימת‬
‫ פריה ורביה‬but ‫עסקת בפו"ר‬. I understand this as addressing not the number of
children we have but to the nature of our relationship with our children, ‫ עסקת‬like
in the phrase ‫לעסוק בדברי תורה‬. Have I been involved with my family? Have I
spent time with my family? We take our families for granted. Time flies and our
children are suddenly out of the house and our parents are suddenly old. Where
did the time go, but by then it is too late . . .
• ‫ – צפית לישועה‬Have I sought redemption? Have I looked beyond my present
situation and realized that it is not the way it should be and that I need a
yeshua? We are often so content, so satisfied, so complacent. We often feel
that our worlds are complete, that we are missing nothing. Do we really yearn for
 a better world? For Jews to feel free wherever they are? For the State of Israel
to exist in peace and security?
As we begin this yom ha-din, we consider the following four categories: our
ethical behavior, our religious lives, our family relationships and our connection to the
larger Jewish and non-Jewish worlds around us. May we think about them honestly and
sincerely and, in the merit of our genuine introspection, may we be blessed with a happy
and healthy new year.