For a video of this sermon, click HERE
Dear Friends,
Over the past several months, NASA has
been publishing remarkable images from the James F. Webb Telescope that was
launched on December 21st, 2021.
They have opened new windows into the mystery of the Universe that are
astounding. Here a just a few of the images
that have been recently published:
The clarity and beauty of these
photographs is stunning. We are now able
to see details and vistas of the stars that give us new perspectives as to the
origins and meaning of life. What a time
in which to live!
Actually – since this is Kol Nidre – I
need to confess something. Three of these images are from the Webb
telescope. The last one is not.
It’s a piece of Chorizo - Spanish salami - that was posted by a
French astronomer named Étienne Klein, director of France's Alternative
Energies and Atomic Energy Commission.
He shared the purported James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) image on July
31 – claiming that it was a “…[p]hoto of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to
the Sun, located 4.2 light years from us.”
Tens of thousands of people saw the image and were delighted by its
clarity. When the hoax was discovered, the condemnation was immediate and
intense. While Klein asserted that it
was a joke in good clean fun, many others were angered. In response, Klein
wrote: “According to contemporary cosmology, no object related to Spanish
charcuterie exists anywhere else other than on Earth.” He then went on to say
that this was a cautionary tale: He
tweeted: “Let us learn to be wary of
arguments from authority as much as of the spontaneous eloquence of certain
images.” In other words, just because
someone with a fancy title says something, it doesn’t mean it is true – until
proven as such.
I actually think it’s hilarious – but,
then again, I’m no physicist…. But there
is a deeper significance to this prank than simply replacing star dust with
cold cuts. The fact is, it is becoming increasingly difficult to believe our
eyes in the face of the constant barrage of attempts to manipulate and distort
the truth that we are facing. How many times, over the course of the past
several years, have we watched as power-hungry parasites have twisted the truth
in order to justify their narcissistic, paranoid and hate-filled agendas? From Vaccine skeptics to science deniers;
From anti-Semites who call Zionism racism, to Vladimir Putin’s obscene attempts
to justify his megalomaniacal designs on Ukraine; from election deniers who
support the rioters and seditionists that attacked our capital on January 6th;
from those whose actions have denied women the right to control their own
bodies, to those who strive to maintain a status quo based on racism and
oppression - truth is increasingly threatened by self-righteous individuals who
believe that their understanding of truth must be imposed on everyone
else.
Tonight, on this holiest night of the
year, I want to talk about Truth.
In the beginning of this service, as
we listened to the ancient and hauntingly beautiful melody of Kol Nidre
–chanted by our beloved Cantor Sacks - our tradition teaches that we stood
before God – our souls bared, our deepest secrets on display. This day: from
sundown tonight until sunset tomorrow, is all about the truths of our lives.
All pretense is gone. All barriers are broken. We examine our life’s story and
resolve to correct the mistakes, missteps and regrets that we have brought with
us into this New Year.
Looking at those images from the Webb
Telescope, (Chorizo notwithstanding), it’s important to understand that what we
are saw in those photographs travelled billions of light years until it reached
us. The images that filled our screens seem close enough to touch – but that is
an illusion. What we saw is ancient light that travelled an incomprehensible
distance before arriving in our field of vision. These incredible vistas, in all probability,
no longer exist– at least not in the form that we have observed. But they are a
part of our reality right now. Our lives are on a trajectory. As Joni Mitchell
wrote, “We’re captive on the carousel of time. We can’t return, we can only look
behind from where we came…[i]”.
Our past is our greatest teacher – if we are open to exploring its lessons.
Orson Wells was reported to have said:
“If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your
story.” Think about that for a
second. Our lives are in constant motion. We each have our own trajectory
filled with
Triumph,
Tragedy, Frustration, Education, Joy, Sorrow, Insights, Disappointments.
We are not static – we are constantly
changing, evolving, and moving on and into the next stages of our timeline.
These High Holy Days are all about
stepping back and acknowledging where we are in the process of becoming
- as we both write and live out our own stories. For too many of us, we want to
hit the “pause” button when we feel that the current moment in which we are
living has become the ultimate fulfillment of all that we wish for. One year
ago, on October 10th, Sue and I stood under the chuppah with our
daughter, Elana and son-in-law, Greg as they pledged their hearts and lives to
one another at their wedding. The next
day, we had to pack up and pay the bills… We wanted to stop time and revel in
the power and beauty of that moment under the chuppah. But of course, as much as we’d like to remain
static, rewind, or skip ahead to the future, we cannot. As long as we live, we change, we grow, we
rise and fall, we fulfill, and we fail – all on our own time.
On Rosh HaShanah we celebrated creation
– new beginnings. We said: “Hayom Harat
Olam” – this is the day that the world was created.
On Yom Kippur – we step back from
renewal and focus on our present - while simultaneously embracing the future
with a renewed sense of commitment and intention.
This is the essence of Kol Nidre and
the next 24 hours. Tonight, we are given
the gift of stepping outside of time and exploring our own personal truths.
So as examine the truths of our lives
and the world in which we live we need to acknowledge the fact that the very
concept of Truth has become a threatened commodity.
This year, as part of our preparations
and experience of these Yamim Noraim – these High holy Days – we have
been exploring the meaning and power of truth. Two weeks ago, on Selichot,
we invited the Reverend Canon Broderick Greer – one of the Pastors at Denver’s
Episcopal Cathedral of St. John - to engage in dialogue about the meaning and
import of “Spiritual Truth.” Together, we explored how God’s presence – or
absence - in our lives can help us to frame and comprehend the complexities, curiosities,
and complications that we face alongside the moments of despondency and exaltation
that bookend the ongoing saga of our unfolding life stories. Tomorrow
afternoon, at the beginning of our Yom Kippur Afternoon service, LeeAnn Colacioppo,
the editor of the Denver Post, will join us as we explore how the very concept
of truth is increasingly being challenged. We are bombarded on all sides - daily
- by competing claims of veracity. Objectivity is quickly disappearing as we
draw lines in the sand and refuse to engage with those whose political, religious,
or historical worldview does not fit with our own.
This past summer, I spent some time at
the Rocky Mountain Song School – a 5-day intensive workshop taught by professional
songwriters, performers, and faculty from some of the most prestigious music schools
around the country[ii].
This was my second of what I hope will be a yearly attendance at song-school
and it filled my soul. One of the most powerful aspects of this annual
get-together are the friendships and bonds that I have been able to forge. This
year, I met a man – a littler older than me, but not by much. He was a great
guitarist and songwriter, and we could see that we shared a similar love of the
craft. We jammed together and really hit it off. I asked him what he did when
he wasn’t writing songs.
“I’m a therapist,” he replied.
“What kind of therapy do you do?” I
asked him
“Marriage and Family counseling,” he
replied.
Are you in solo practice or in a
group?” I asked
I work for a large non-profit,” he
said. “Have you ever heard of Focus on
the Family? We are a religious organization that uses Biblical principles to
help families stay healthy.”
I had heard of Focus on
the Family – and I’m sure that many of you have as well. They are a
fundamentalist, Christian organization based in Colorado Springs that is Right
Wing, Conservative, Anti-Gay, and has worked very hard to restrict or terminate
choices around abortion and reproductive freedom. There have been numerous
times, over the past several years, that I have stood on the opposite side of them
at demonstrations, in conference rooms testifying for and against ballot
initiatives and bills that have come before the State Legislature. Truly, I’m
opposed to almost everything that they support[iii].
My first instinct was to shut him down
and walk away. How could I engage with someone whose values were antithetical
to my own?
But I didn’t. Because our interaction
had nothing to do with politics, social justice, or religion. We were just two old guys who loved to play the
guitar and write songs. After a while, I
did ask him some pointed questions about how he might counsel a family who had
a child who came out to their parents as Gay or Trans…I asked what he
would do in situations where someone need abortion care – and, while we
certainly did not agree on many issues, we were able to approach our
differences with mutual respect and admiration – because we saw the humanity in
one another – not just our political or religious differences. This was a
revelation for me – I must confess.
You see, there are two differing
perspectives on truth: Absolutism and Relativism.
Absolutism is a zero-sum game. It
teaches: “ I am right, and you have to be wrong.” And there are
places where absolutism is essential. When opinion conflicts with fact, truth
is indisputable. For example, only one candidate can win an election. And yet, for
those who hold an extreme, absolutist agenda, it is not enough to
present their beliefs or opinions as deeply-felt, it is also essential to impose
these beliefs on others as the only truth – and this is very dangerous.
We see this in theocratic and
autocratic governments like Iran, Afghanistan and Russia. Here in America, a disturbing tide of
Christian Nationalism is rising that wants to tear down the walls of separation
of religion and state. This, in turn, is amplified by media outlets that profit
from creating a bubble of “group-think” that
foments and encourages extremists and conspiracy-theorists – repeating falsehoods
spewed by demagogues that are accepted as gospel by devotees hungry for red
meat. We have already seen the devastating impact on society caused by election
denying propaganda that took place a year and a half ago on January 6th.
Relativism, on the other hand, teaches:
“My truth upholds my world-view, but does not contradict yours.”
While, on paper, this sounds wonderful, it too has problems. Sometimes we need
to hold on to absolute truths. As Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously once said:
“You may be entitled to your own opinions, but you're not entitled to
your own facts.[iv]” If one person’s belief system threatens the health,
safety and sometimes, even the stability of society, there cannot be a level
playing field. For example, here in Colorado, we know all too well the
devastation that has been caused by the proliferation of firearms. Too many
innocent lives have been lost at the hands of disturbed individuals whose
personal demons told them to kill innocent men, women, and children. The idolatry
inherent in the wild-west, cowboy culture promoted by the gun lobby is a plague
upon our nation – we see it in the blood that runs in our schools and on our streets.
At the same time, there is a
place for relativism – especially when it comes to faith. When I was just
beginning in my rabbinate, I came across a concept inherent to interfaith
dialogue called “parallel truths.” This teaches that two deeply held, but
seemingly contradictory beliefs can exist side by side and truth and
objectivity are not necessarily in conflict with one another. If I say, for
example: “Shwayder Camp is the best summer camp in the nation,” am I
lying? It depends. If I measure my statement by purely objective
standards, then there are probably many who could prove me wrong by looking at
multiple standards of comparison. On the other hand, if my statement is based
on my personal Truth (with a capital “T”), then it is not a false
statement. Similarly, when I state that
my faith is what is True to me – it does not mean that your faith
is not True to you. So long as there is no attempt to enforce a
particular belief on others, then everyone is entitled to their own beliefs – their
own truth.
There's a Midrash that teaches that
the word for “Truth” in Hebrew is emet.
He was left with two letters, mem and
tav – which spells out the word, “met” – which means death. When
truth is perverted, it can literally spell the death of society.
Our differing perceptions of truth are
contributing to an environment of toxicity. How many of us have family members,
friends, and neighbors that we have shut out of our lives because of an
inability to agree with or even discuss anything without getting into heated political
arguments? We need to learn how to accept our disagreements – even our
differing understandings of truth - if we are to be able to live together.
In the Talmud two great schools of
thought, Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai provide us with a model of
tolerance even when we disagree. In the history of rabbinic debate, they almost
never agreed with each other. The split between them was so deep that,
according to the Talmud, "the Torah became like two Torahs [when they would
debate its meaning][v]".
But our tradition ascribes merit to both schools. They followed two key principles when they argued. Even though they almost always disagreed with each
other , the students of Beit Shammai and the
students of Beit Hillel ate in each other’s homes and their children married
each other.[vi].
They did not let disputes in one area prevent them from living
together in community. When it came to determining who was right, we know that
the law usually followed Beit Hillel because the students of Beit Hillel would
begin their argument by teaching both their own position and that of
Beit Shammai, in fact they would teach the opinion of Beit Shammai first[vii].
Our task, on this day of truth
telling, is to try to follow the examples of Beit Hillel and Beit
Shammai as we forge a pathway that incorporates both the beautiful and the
painful truths of our lives. Now is the time to address the feelings of
disconnection that we feel with others and try to find common ground. Life is
too short to allow our disagreements to separate us from the ones we live
amongst and love.
And so, once again on this holiest
night of the year I challenge you to find the truths that you can share with
the most important people in your lives:
· Tell the people you love that you love
them.
· Reach out to those who need you.
· Ask for help from those who want
nothing more than to be there for you.
· Make amends with those who have hurt
you – and to those whom you have hurt as well.
I know that there are times when
forgiveness and reconciliation are not possible – when chasms have been
created by callousness and, even worse, by abuse. Sometimes Absolutism cannot
be overcome. Not every action can be
forgiven and not everyone can forgive. And yet, whenever possible, we must try
to forgive those who come to us in true repentance – and even those who can’t
or won’t. Holding on to grudges takes up
too much of our time. There are more
important things to do in life. This is the ultimate truth we must embrace on
this Kol Nidre Eve.
May our search for truth bring us
closer to one another.
G’mar Chatimah Tovah.
[ii]
For more information about Planet bluegrass’s song school, click here: https://bluegrass.com/song-school
[iii]
For more information about Focus on The Family – start here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_on_the_Family
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_on_the_Family
[iv] 1984
July 16, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Moynihan: If it’s fixed, don’t break it by Daniel
Patrick Moynihan, Page 9A, Column 1, Cleveland, Ohio.
[v] Talmud,
Sanhedrin 88b
[vi] Mishnah
Yevamot 1:4
[vii]
Talmud - Eruvin 13b:10-11
No comments:
Post a Comment