The Sketchbook
Rosh Hashanah Morning 5763
Rabbi Joseph R. Black
Congregation Albert, Albuquerque, NM
My Dear Friends,
We have just concluded reading one of the most perplexing and challenging portions of the Torah – the Akedah – the binding of Isaac. As always, whenever I study this parasha I am gripped by the intensity, the power and the difficulties inherent in this story of God’s testing Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son. Each year, at Rosh Ha-Shanah, I try to find a new context by which to try to come to terms with this narrative.
This year, I want to focus on the opening words of our text:
“And it came to pass after these things, that God tested Abraham…..”
“…God Tested Abraham...”
Our tradition teaches that God tested Abraham 10 times to see if he was worthy
enough to become the father of the people of Israel. The medieval commentator,
Rabbi Moshe ben Nahman – known as the Ramban or Nahmanides, points out that an
omniscient God should not need to devise a test to determine Abraham’s fitness
or devotion. If this is the case, then what is the meaning of this story?
Rabbi Sidney Greenberg writes that perhaps a different way to view the Akedah and, indeed, all of the tests that Abraham had to endure, is in the context of perspective. Perhaps the test that Abraham faced was coming, not from God, but from within himself. Now, I have to admit that this does not help us to come to grips with the many moral, theological and ethical challenges posed by the Akedah narrative, but it does potentially open up for us some insights into the complexity of the character of our patriarch as he and his son walked on that lonely mountain.
Rabbi Greenberg writes:
“We are all tested. We are always tested. Whether we are aware of it or not, life constantly springs little quizzes on us. Every day is examination day…… The doctor confronting his patient is having his dedication tested. The lawyer consulting with his client is having his integrity tested. The preacher preparing his sermon is having his honesty tested. The teacher preparing her lesson is having her devotion tested. The businessman on the telephone, the carpenter building a shed, the mechanic under the car, the painter on the scaffold – each is having his character tested.”
- Sidney Greenberg, Taken from Moments of Transcendence. Dov Peretz Elkins, ed. Jason Aaronson – publisher. pp.52-3 – Excerpted from Greenberg’s book, Say Yes To Life, 1982 – Crown Publishers.
In other words, there are tests that all of us face, all of the time – every moment of every day. But unlike school, there are no final exams.
As we go through our daily lives we constantly make choices about the way that we interact with others and conduct our daily affairs. Sometimes the tests are very simple:
Sometimes, the tests are more difficult:
Last night I spoke about how the events of the past year tested us. There is no doubt that we have paid a terrible price as we watched cherished icons and myths disappear into a haze of violence, mistrust and criminal behavior.
In addition to the tragedy of September 11th, we also witnessed the unraveling of entire corporations -- done in, not by external terrorists, but by the greed and corruption of men and women from within who were entrusted with the leadership of their organizations and who abused that trust.
The amount of greed and corruption that we have witnessed from within corporate America over the past year has been staggering. In addition to the Billions of Dollars that have been squandered and stolen, these corporate criminals have destroyed the foundation of trust upon which our economy relies and must possess in order to survive.
How could such a thing happen? How could so much corruption occur under our noses and only now is it being uncovered?
The answer, I believe, is quite simple. Too many of us have lost track of the fact that we are being tested every day, all the time. Ours is a society that values results over reason, profit over potential and winning over everything else. As a result, when people come face to face with the prospect of failure – they don’t know what to do.
I truly believe that it some people think that it is worse to fail than to cheat.
A story is told of a young Irishman named Murphy who applied for an engineering position at a firm based in Dublin. An American applied for the same job and both applicants, having the same qualifications, were asked to take a test by the Department manager.
Upon completion of the test both men only missed one of the questions. The manager went to Murphy and said, "Thank you for your interest, but we’ve decided to give the American the job."
Said Murphy: "And why would you be doing that? We both got 9 questions correct. This being Ireland and me being Irish I should get the job!"
The manager replied: "We have made our decision not on the correct answers, but on the question you missed."
Murphy: "And just how would one incorrect answer be better than the other?"
Manager: "Simple. The American put down on question # 5, ‘I don’t know.’ You put down ‘Neither do I.’
Cheating has become epidemic on High School and College campuses around the country. If you want to know prevalent it is, all you have to do is this simple test: Go to any internet search engine and type in the words “term papers for sale” or, quite simply, “cheating.” You will find hundreds of sites designed to sell term papers and dissertations to students. Interestingly enough, there are also many sites set up for teachers to detect and catch cheaters. My guess is that the same companies that sell the term papers also tell the teachers how to catch the cheaters. Think about that for a moment….. Cheating and fighting cheating has become big business.
Students who learn to cheat in school go on to cheat in business.
Why is their so much cheating? Because we are afraid to make mistakes! We equate making a mistake with failure, and failure is perceived as a weakness. As a result “Win” – at any expense! has become the mantra of our generation.
So how do we begin to fix all this?
First we need to learn for ourselves, and then teach our children, that to make a mistake does not mean you’ve failed. Mistakes are inevitable, and when seen in the proper perspective they can be understood as a necessary step in our growth. When we err our character is not necessarily bruised!
I had a wonderful experience the other night when Sue and I went to Parents night at Elana’s school. Her art teacher explained how each student had the opportunity to create a sketchbook of their own drawings. There were only two rules for use of these sketchbooks.
What a wonderful concept – it goes far beyond art lessons.
If life is all about little tests – every day, then some times we will make mistakes. We don’t always get 100%. We fail. We need to fail sometimes. WE need to accept and learn from our failures and mistakes.
One of the main reasons that we are here this morning is to acknowledge the fact that we are all tested – and we all have made mistakes at points in our lives.
But, our tradition also provides us with a mechanism to deal with and learn from our mistakes.
Just a little while ago, at the end of the Unetaneh Tokef Prayer where we prayed the ancient and chilling words: “Who shall live and who shall die….” we read the following:
"U’teshuvah, U’tefillah, U’tzeddakah ma-a-vi-rim et roa ha g’zerah.”
And Repentance, Prayer and Charity, temper God’s severe decree.
These three concepts – central to what these 10 days are all about – teach us how to understand and accept the daily tests, the successes and the failures we experience.
The High Holy Days teach us how to manage our mistakes and failures. These holy days teach us that failure is important - because it teaches us how to repent. Teshuvah - repentance - is the way to get beyond the sticking point. In the Torah, Jacob cheats Esau and 20 years later he goes to meet him with gifts and apologies. Teshuvah means turning - re-turning to a place where we can begin again. That is what these holidays are all about. God does not demand perfection. If God did, then there would be no need for Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur because in a world where perfection is mandated - there could be no repentance - all would be in black and white. We, however, live in a world with varying shades of grey.
But it is not easy to confront our failures and shortcomings. It is often very lonely and frightening. Because of this we have Tefillah – prayer. Prayer certainly is not a cure - but it is a method of transforming ourselves and our lives. It provides us with a way of reaching out and connecting to something greater than ourselves. Prayer tells us to slow down - to look around us, to appreciate the world that God has given us. Prayer/Tefillah moves us outside the realm of our failures by forcing us to come together and admit that there are things that we lack in our lives.
The real questions of prayer are not:"Can I pray?" or Should I pray?", but rather, "What should I pray for?" and How will I know if my prayers have been answered?"
The answers to these questions are strangely simple. "What should we pray for?" I'll tell you. Pray for a sense of gratitude. Pray that you might be grateful for all of the good that happens to you. And while you're at it, pray that others might do the same too.
You'll know that your prayers have been answered when you feel a sense of satisfaction - of gratitude for who you are - not what you have; What you can do , not what you own. You'll know that your prayers have been answered when, instead of hiding from your failures, you cheer on others’ successes.
In gratitude there is little room for envy. In gratitude we can extend ourselves beyond the material into the spiritual. In gratitude there is no room or need for cheating or embezzlement– because gratitude is a by product of honest appreciation for the gifts and goodness that we see in the world around us.
When we are grateful we can appreciate the successes we have known. It does not mean that we have to rid ourselves of ambition. Gratitude means putting things into their proper perspective - what more can we ask?
And finally, we come to Tzeddakah. Tzeddakah is not merely “charity”. It is best understood as acts of righteousness – of working to perfect this all too imperfect world in which we live.
Tzeddakah is essential for coming to understand the meaning and purpose of the tests that we undergo every day.
My friends, I began this morning talking about how Abraham was tested throughout his life. In truth, Abraham is every one of us. We are all tested. We all make mistakes. We all fail sometimes and we all succeed sometimes. This is the essence of life. This is the essence of these holy days.
May the New Year, 5763 be for all of us a year of success. But may we learn from the mistakes that we will make. May we see life as a series of tests that we confront every day. May we grow in wisdom, in love and in peace.
You know, come to think of it. Maybe instead of receiving a prayer book when you walked into the sanctuary this morning – we should have given everyone a sketchbook and a crayon – and instead giving this sermon I should have told you 2 things:
Happy drawing.
Shabbat Shalom. Shanah Tovah.