A Kol Nidre Sermon By Rabbi Barry Freundel Even though we don't feel it yet, even though we are still satiated by our "enteringthe-fast" meal, when we gather for Kol Nidre and begin Yom Kippur, we all know that by the end of the day, we are going to think that this is the longest day of the year. Not just by experience and emotion, but halakhically as well, we are able to make the argument that this is true. Despite the fact that Yom Kippur is on the 10th day of Tishrei, in tomorrow's Torah reading we find: It shall be to you a sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict your souls; in the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, shall you celebrate your sabbath. (Levit. 23,32) The Talmud comments on this verse and indicates that the Torah means what it says He should commence to afflict himself whilst it is yet day (Talmud Yoma 81b ). This is then also made part of the end of Yom Kippur because of the words "from evening to evening". As a result, we are required to extend Yom Kippur into the day before and into the nighttime after the actual period of one day's fasting. This is known as tosefet yom hakippurim (adding onto the Day of Atonement), and according to Maimonides, this adding onto the day is Biblically required only for Yom Kippur. We have a similar add-on each Shabbat, but that, according to Maimonides, is only by Rabbinic degree. It is not Biblical. As such, it is fair to say, that at least from a Biblical perspective, Yom Kippur is in fact the longest day of the year. The result of Biblically extending Yom Kippur into the day before its beginning, and into the night at its end effectively forces us to include two complete periods of twilight within the same day. Twilight is known in Talmudic literature as bein hashmashot.. This happens on Shabbat and other major holidays, as well, but again, only because of Rabbinic decree. In other words, since extension of Yom Kippur is a Biblical requirement, it is something that G-d wants to happen as part of His holiest day of the year. For some reason, it is necessary to have two twilights as we go through the process of atonement.
If you have paid attention to Kol Nidre talks over the years, I have often spoken about twilight and its meaning. I have, until now, done so only from the perspective of a human being. This year, given our discussion thus far of G-d's mandating this dual twilight, I'm going to look at the question of twilight from the perspective of G-d. To do this, we need to go all the way back to creation. The Bible begins, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." However, a problem develops "And the earth was without form, and void." G-d has a solution "And God said, Let there be light; and there was light." Anyone who knows anything about physics knows that at least since Einstein, light has been understood as the fundamental constant in the universe. It is light that keeps matter and energy separate and gives order and structure to tohu vavohu. One can barely imagine the mass confusion that would exist if our physical laws were not to be in place. Well, G-d gives a name to this light. He calls it "day," and He calls the darkness that occurs when light is absent, "night." By this designation then, erev or bein hashmashot, is a time when light and darkness are confused. It is a time of tohu vavohu. It is a moment when the primordial confusion emerges in our usually much more orderly world. That as it stands is a powerful statement. We are to begin and end Yom Kippur in a state of confusion. Even by itself, without further analysis, this is an important message. G-d is saying, "Don't come here with complacency, don't come here sure of yourself, instead come here with doubt, come here with confusion, come here with questions." Approaching Yom Kippur in this way will give us a much better chance at being successful in this enterprise of repentance and atonement. Beginning and ending the holiday in confusion is also an important empathic statement. Many human beings, at least on some occasions, find that their lives are filled with turmoil and doubt. If, independent of Yom Kippur, or because one takes Yom Kippur seriously, you come to the synagogue tonight in turmoil and doubt, it should be comforting to know that the mood mandated by G-d to be present at the beginning and ending of the day reflects your mood and speaks directly to it. On further analysis, there is something far more profound being said here as well. Again, let's approach the issue from G-d's perspective and ask the question of what tohu vavohu means to Him. This question is something we studied in our Job class
during the past year. We discovered that tohu vavohu is used in Biblical and Rabbinic sources as a synonym for evil. As an example, the prophet Jeremiah at the height of his condemnation of the Jewish people says as follows: For my people are foolish, they have not known me; they are foolish children, and they have no understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. I looked on the earth, and, behold, it was waste, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. (Tanach ó Jeremiah 4: 22-23). These verses describe moral turmoil to the nth degree. If one moves to Rabbinic literature, we find this said even more explicitly. "the earth was formless and void" alludes to the deeds of the wicked. (Midrash Rabbah ó Genesis II:5). If we understand, then, that G-d has required an erev, a period of bein hashmashot, a period of tohu vavohu, both at the beginning and the end of this holiday, then G-d is ending and beginning the holiday at its most morally dangerous time. There are realworld manifestations of the evil of this time, as anyone who has ever driven at twilight knows. It becomes more difficult to discern the shape of things, and it is, therefore, much more dangerous. I have also been told by some of our military people that nowadays, attacks begin at twilight because the difficulty in seeing and the changing of the landmarks that comes with the changing of the light adds confusion that benefits the attacking army. In G-d's choosing to begin and end His most holy day at the time of greatest evil, He says to us that we must take note of the evil that exists in this world and confront it head on. This is not a day to rationalize and cover up evil, rather it is a day to reveal and confront it. After all, this is the day when we are charged and required to overcome it. By making evil the beginning and ending of our experience of the day of Yom Kippur, we are reminded that hiding and rationalizing that which is wrong is not what we are about and that doing so is a sure formula for failure in our task and mission for this day.
Let us return to the story of creation once again. You will remember that in the beginning, G-d created the heavens and the earth, and that they were confused and in turmoil. You will recall that the solution to this confusion was light. G-d then declares the light to be good and divides between light/day and darkness/night, time periods which he names in this fashion and equates with the presence or absence of luminescence. Logically, the Bible and G-d, after telling us that light is the solution to tohu vavohu, and after calling the light, day and the darkness, night, should end the first day by saying "And there was night and there was day.". Instead, we have "And there was evening and there was morning, one day." Shouldn't G-d's creation and designations be put to use? Shouldn't it have told us that these new structures of light and darkness held sway and were bringing order out of the chaos? Is it not both surprising and troubling that even after G-d's input, we are told that the way of things is still erev and boker, still confusion, still the mix of light and dark that control the rhythms of the world? In making erev and boker the controlling factors and in then mandating that erev both begin and end Yom Kippur, G-d is both taking a risk and issuing an appeal. It is a direct appeal to us, saying that He needs us. G-d is telling us, in dramatic fashion, that the nature of reality in this world is that chaos continues to exist. With all that went into bringing order out of chaos during creation, there are still many kinds of chaos and evil that are still with us. Even good people make immoral choices as do evil individuals. There are uncontrollable natural forces such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and illness. Even the limitations of the particular situation that each of us is born into creates pain and perhaps evil for every individual. We are commanded to react by attempting to bring order out of chaos and good out of evil. But this is an ongoing, everlasting process. It does not end. It is the central task of our lives. G-d uses Himself as the prototype to teach us this challenge. Just as He brings light and darkness out of chaos, but still measures time in terms of mixtures of light and dark and not by pure day and night, so too the nature of this world is its continuing imperfection. If we cannot accept that reality, then we will never be able to deal with this world appropriately. We will encounter this in dramatic fashion when, tomorrow, we read of the ten tragic martyrs of the Talmudic period. When Rabbi Ishmael is being tortured to death, the angels say, "Such Torah, and such a reward?". G-d's response is, "It is a decree from before me. Accept it!" In effect, G-d says, "If you can't accept that a mess still exists, if you can't accept that there is still evil and moral disorder in the world despite efforts
even on my part to change it, then you cannot accept what this world is about. As a result, I will return the world to ultimate confusion and ultimate disorder as it was in the beginning when there was no clear evil, but there was also no clear good." It is this message of needing our constant and continuing efforts that G-d wants us to hear as we enter and leave Yom Kippur. Therefore, the day is to begin and end at erev. By structuring Yom Kippur in this way, G-d is taking a very big risk. G-d is in effect saying, "As you are to be judged, you are also to judge My world." Obviously, that can be a formula for doubt and rejection. But G-d has enough faith in us to trust that we will come to a different conclusion. In asking us to judge the world and its moral confusion, G-d appears to tell us that He constantly needs us to help him try to put an end to as much of these difficulties as possible. Rather than seeing Yom Kippur only as a day on which G-d judges us, we should see this as a day in which there is mutual recognition that there is still work to be done, that twilight is still the dominant factor, and that we must bring light out of the dark. This changes Yom Kippur from an adversarial competition to a cooperative project that involves both G-d and ourselves. G-d calls on us to improve ourselves while offering the world's shortcomings as a venue to work together for mutual improvement. There is a famous Levi Yitzchak of Bardichev story that has many variations and that often appears in various Jewish publications at this time of year. Levi Yitzchak is purported to have stood in his synagogue and prayed as follows: "G-d, it is true that the Jews have not been very good this year; they have lied, they have stolen, they haven't kept the sabbath, they've eaten non-kosher. But You, too, G-d, have not been so great either. You allowed illness, You allowed poverty, You allowed the Cossacks to rampage and visit horrors upon Your people. So," said Levi Yitzchak, "let's call it square and allow everyone to have a good year." In my analysis, Levi Yitzchak did not go far enough. G-d's structuring the day to begin and end as it does is not a statement that accounts are square. There is much that is wrong in this world, and G-d appears to be saying that we must both agree that we have more to do. We must improve the shortcomings in our functioning and work with G-d on improving that which is wrong with the world. In that way we can have a good year. Our best opportunity for success in that endeavor is to use this longest day of Yom Kippur in the way that G-d intended for us. It is twilight now, and tomorrow it will twilight again. Between this time and then, we have a chance to end the darkness and to bring pure light out of the chaos for ourselves and for the entire world. Let us begin that task now. Have a good new year.