D'Var Torah Yom Kippur - 5764
By Rabbi Baruch Lederman
Mah hu rachum, af ata rachum... Just as He merciful, so shall you be
merciful...
- Talmud expounding on the Yom Kippur liturgy
The Yom Kippur liturgy teaches us that we were created in the image of Hashem
(G-d) and are bidden to emulate His ways. Just as Hashem is merciful,
gracious, generous and forgiving, so should we be.
=
Rabbi Shmuel Salant, Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, was constantly besieged by
people for rulings or personal advice. His family suggested that he set hours
to receive the public so that he could get some rest. Rabbi Salant refused,
"I can't agree to that in view of the fact that we are obligated to emulate
the attributes of God. God does not limit Himself to having special hours
when He can be reached, as we attest to in the Grace after meals, 'You
constantly sustain us, every day, at all times, and at all hours.' "
=
There is a tale of two friends walking through the desert. During some point
of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in
the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything,
wrote in the sand: TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.
They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a
bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started
drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near
drowning, he wrote on a stone: TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE.
The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "Earlier, you
wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?" The other friend
replied "When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of
forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us,
we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."
=
I went to Yeshiva with a wonderful friend named Mark Marshall. He
told this true story at his father's funeral:
Bud Marshall kept a small box in his bedroom where he kept several
important & sentimental mementos including the medals he had earned for his
service in WWII. These medals were very precious to him, particularly the
Purple Heart and the Medal for Bravery at Okinawa. He had been exposed to
grave danger there and he valiantly persevered and prevailed.
The medals conferred on him by his country, meant a great deal to him. His
eight year old son Mark, used to sneak into his father's room, pry open the
box, and play with the medals, even though he wasn't supposed to. After all,
Mark was proud of the medals and proud of his father for courageously earning
them.
One day Mark showed them to his friend Brian and they played together with
the medals. A few days later Mark snuck into the room, opened the box and was
horrified to discover that the medals were gone. He was baffled and afraid to
tell his father.
The next day in school, he saw Brian was going around to all the kids,
showing them the medals and telling them that his own father had earned those
medals. Mark was furious and confounded. He went right to his father, told
him the whole story, and asked him what to do, "I'm bigger than Brian, I can
go beat him up and get back your medals. Should I do that?"
Mr. Marshall put his arm around Mark and said, "Brian lost his father when he
was two years old. The reason he's doing this is because he wishes he had a
father. You're lucky, you have a father. Let him keep the medals."
DVAR TORAH: Yom Kippur
“K’rachaim
av al banim, kain Tirachem aleinu...” Like the mercy of a father on
children, may You (G-d) have mercy upon us...
[Liturgy]
A little girl and her
father were crossing a flimsy bridge. The father was kind of scared so
he asked his little daughter: "Sweetheart, please hold my hand so that
you don't fall into the river."
The little
girl said, "No, Dad. You hold my hand."
"What's
the difference?" asked the puzzled father.
"There is
a big difference," replied the little girl. "Dad, if I hold your hand
and something happens to me, chances are that I may let your hand go.
But, if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens,
you will never let my hand go."
On Yom
Kippur we must remember that Hashem (G-d) loves us with an infinite love
and is waiting to hear our prayers and give us what we need. Even if our
sins are black as night, Hashem is waiting with open arms to lovingly
receive us, just as a parent will always yearn for a child to return.
May we
pour our hearts out to Hashem on Yom Kippur with purity and deep
sincerity. May Hashem grant us a happy, healthy and sweet new year.