A Thought for Yom Kippur
This weeks’ Dvar Torah was adapted from one written by Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz, President & Dean of Valley Beit Midrash, Founder & President of Uri L’Tzedek, Founder & CEO of Shamayim: Jewish Animal Advocacy, and Founder & President of YATOM: The Jewish Foster & Adoption Network.
Photo by Josh Hild on Unsplash
This week our traditional liturgy is filled with mentions of המלך “HaMelech” (The King), and I want to share a few reflections from how I’m thinking about this today.
1. On Power – We are, understandably, used to thinking that, here on earth, “power corrupts.” The King is the most powerful, but that is not what we celebrate in our prayers. We are celebrating that the most powerful One uses that power for love, mercy, kindness, and compassion. מֶלֶךְ חָפֵץ בַּחַיִּים – The King wants life! Each of us has our own uniquely phenomenal power to leverage and to remember that the only true value to power is that it is used for good. Let’s ask ourselves: How might I use my power, privilege, and resources for more good this year?
2. On Value – For some, the King (or President or Prime Minister) holds the most value, but for Torah, the earthly king holds no more dignity or value than the one who sleeps in the dust right outside the palace gates. Both are created בצלם אלקים (in the image of the Divine with infinite worth). It is not grand palaces, heavy gold, fast cars, shiny diamonds, or huge houses that represent G-d in this world, rather it is individual people (souls of light), and each one equally. Further, we are created in the shadow (“b’tzel”) of the Divine to remind us that even with our horrible vices and dark shadow sides, still we all matter so deeply, each and every one of us.
3. On Change – Much of Judaism, largely, takes a wary approach toward the politically powerful. It is very tempting to come to idolize leaders that promise to produce all what we desperately yearn for. Jewishly, the king isn’t worshipped – real virtue and deep social change occurs outside the palace. Each of us is morally responsible. Even David HaMelech/ King David, in our daily prayers, is celebrated not for power but for being “avdecha” (Your servant). It is humble service, not power, we wish to emulate as those who yearn for societal betterment.
4. On Accessibility - המלך בשדה – the King is in the field. Regarding leadership, it is not distance, prestige, and fame that we are to emulate but rather accessibility. The Alter Rebbe wrote: משל למלך שקודם בואו לעיר יוצאין אנשי העיר לקראתו ומקבלין פניו בשדה (there was a king who would greet each person face to face pleasantly in the field). It is not a wave to the masses from the stage, but rather a 1-1 encounter of respect that our King models for us. Many don't have access to so much of the resources we benefit from. We are to meet them in the field and see them, hear them, and be in allyship.
5. On our Dignity of Being – The capitalistic ethos can lead one to believe that our value is based upon what we produce for the system. But what do we say about the Eibishter (The One Above in Yiddish) in the liturgy? הַמֶּֽלֶךְ יּוֹשֵׁב עַל כִּסֵּא רָם וְנִשָּׂא – G-d sits! Being able to sit (to prayer, mediate, think, learn) matters. Investing our minds and souls matters. We don’t need to produce all the time. Our dignity is not tied up with our wealth, production or consumption.
May we all embrace the majesty of what praying toהמלך can potentially provide for us as we work toward self-transformation & renewal (בריאה חדשה), reconnect to our own power to do good, and reconnect with our innate value and innate value of all others.
We are living through a moment in history where the choices of today will have enormous implications for the future. This is a time for us to be humbled but also find our moral clarity for how we will use our own (מַלְכוּת) to have our own unique impact upon the world.
As we ascend toward the heavenly thrones, may it be an inner ascent; a journey toward our best potential.
!כְּתִיבָה וְחֲתִימָה טוֹבָה
Shabbat Shalom
