A service in honor of Yom Kippur

Normally on Mondays, I like to post the sermon from the previous day's worship.  However, this last week we did not have a sermon!  Instead, we read and prayed and sung together liturgy from Park Synagogue's Yom Kippur service.  I have the privilege of singing in the High Holy Day choir and thus, even as a gentile, have a bit of insight into the vast spirituality contained in the service.  (For more of a primer, check out this introduction by Rabbi Jonathan Kraus.)  Thus, I wanted to bring a little taste of that moving religious experience to our congregation.  However, I'm not comfortable reprinting the prayers in this forum as I am sure their are copyright implications.  Instead, here are a few bits of information to give you a feel.


The Yom Kippur service comes to us from the sixteenth chapter of Leviticus.  As part of the Torah, this is of course revered scripture that is shared by Jews and Christians.  However, we at times fail to appreciate the depth of spirituality in our Hebrew Bible (which is often referred to as the Old Testament).  


The actual Yom Kippur services at Park Synagogue take place over 2 days and last for approximately 13 hours.  We had about 20 minutes!  So we spent the bulk of the time going over what I consider to be the spiritual high point of the service- the confession of the sins that take place during the Avodah service.  I do want to include two quotes from the prayer book ( The New Mahzor for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Pg. 637) to give you a sense of its meaning:

The Avodah

For our ancestors in ancient days, the Temple in Jerusalem was the symbol of God’s presence.  In the Temple sacrifices were offered daily on behalf of the entire nation.  On the Sabbath and Festivals, special sacrifices marked the holiness of the day.  Thus did the Temple bear testimony to Israel’s consecration to God.
The Temple has long since been destroyed; yet, the remembrance of it lives on in the heart of our people.  
When we recall the ancient Temple, we link ourselves to our past; we sense again that we are part of one people, dedicated to the service of God and God’s Torah of righteousness and truth.
Today our worship is one of prayer and praise.  But when we think of the piety of our ancestors, who from their meager supply of cattle and grain, offered their best possessions in the service of God, we feel called upon to devote not only our words but also our substance to God’s service.
Milton Steinberg (adapted) 

The Ritual of Confession

On Yom Kippur, the sacrificial rites in the ancient Temple, highlighted by the ritual confession, were conducted by the High Priest.   On this day, and on it alone, he entered the Holy of Holies, entry to which was denied to all others.  On this day he made confession three times, humbling himself before God and seeking forgiveness for his own sins and those of his household, for the sins of the priestly order, and for the sins of the entire House of Israel.
Ario S. Hyams (adapted)

Thus, we prayed together our confessions on behalf of ourselves and the entire community.  As was explained to me by one of my Jewish friends, when they make their confession on Yom Kippur, it is a confession as a community.  Thus, not every single thing confessed needs to apply directly to you to confess it.  You are confessing with the community, and certainly someone in the community has transgressed in that particular way.  So also is the community confessing to you as it is quite likely at least one of the confessions applies to you.



The heart of the confession is the Ashamnu which we prayed and sang together.  The English translation of the text is as follows (pg. 649):

We have trespassed; we have dealt treacherously;we have robbed; we have spoken slander;we have acted perversely; we have done wrong;we have acted presumptuously; we have done violence;we have practiced deceit; we have counseled evil;we have spoken falsehood; we have scoffed;we have revolted; we have blasphemed;we have rebelled; we have committed iniquity; we have transgressed; we have oppressed; we have been stiff-necked; we have acted wickedly;we  have dealt corruptly; we have committed abomination;we have gone astray; we have led others astray.

After concluding our confessions, we read a text of reassurance for the forgiveness of our sins- 

When repentance and change seem too hard,
We draw strength from the Divine promise;
For on the road to true repentance,
We are met by God’s love and compassion.

Following the service, I read from the tenth chapter of Hebrews where Jesus is depicted as the high priest making the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of the community.  I think we can both affirm that forgiveness is ultimately mediated by Jesus Christ without invalidating the rituals of confession embraced by both the Jewish and Christian faiths.  We still need to take the time to ask for forgiveness- even if that forgiveness is freely offered.

Since I cannot reproduce the entire service here, I asked several members of the congregation to write up their own thoughts following what was a very different service.  I hope you will appreciate their lightly edited reflections as they are posted this week.  It will be great to see the diversity of the responses!

Shalom!

Pastor Jared