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| Parashat Hashavua |
| Yom Kipur 5771 |
By authority of the Heavenly Court and by the authority of this earthly congregation… we hereby declare that it is permitted to pray with those who have transgressed
Rabbi Gil Nativ15.9.10
“By authority of the Heavenly Court and by the authority of this earthly congregation… we hereby declare that it is permitted to pray with those who have transgressed” . This is the pre Kol Nedrei announcement . This announcement raises a few questions. Who are the transgressed that received a permit to enter synagogue and who is the earthly congregation that the permission refers to? Some researchers claim that the criminals are the Marranos who were forced to convert to Christianity and some researchers abolish this theory and claim that this announcement is more ancient and it was made in order to allow Jews who were excommunicated by the community and could participate in prayer services only on Kol Nedrei night.
Standards change from generation to generation and from one location to another. Are all the drivers driving on highways at the allowed speed? My impression is that 90% of drivers, me included, do not. By law I am a transgressor, but the society I live in does not see a driver who speeds as a criminal – not a criminal that should be given permission to pray in a congregation on Kol Nedrei night.
A married woman who does not cover her hair was seen in the Mishna and Talmud period as a criminal, and in the Haredi society today they are transgressors. According to the Talmud this even justifies divorce. In Iran today a woman who walks in a public place without covering her head can be arrested.
In the Torah and Qur’an there is a death penalty for a homosexual act. In 19th century England Oscar Wilde was sent to prison for an act like this. In our Western society today two men are allowed to live as a married couple and receive the rights of a married couple.
It is natural for parents to protect their children and for a man to protect his wife, and nevertheless we make laws to protect women from men’s violence and children from their parental violence.
We do not know what the future will bring. The fine that the Chinese society imposes on couples with more then two children seems to us draconian, but it is a real possibility that in all the cultured and civilized countries of the world parents who have two children will be forced by law to be sterilized, and maybe the law will force them to send one of the children to a planet in space.
The concepts of transgression as the appreciation of good behavior depend on the values of the observant. We all have double standards. For us and our family and for others. This quote shows it: A woman who has a married son and a married daughter claims that the daughter is more successful than the son: “My daughter married a real gentleman: every morning before he goes to work he brings her a cup of coffee, but my son married a lazy and exploiting woman. This spoiled woman expects my son, who works so hard, to bring her coffee in bed every morning…”
Our Sages said that a man sees all the faults except his own. It is a Halachic ruling that came to prevent a falsification of a subjective judgment but it also comes to say that it is hard for a human being to see his/hers faults and much easier to see it in others. Yom Kippur invites each and everyone of us to look in the mirror and say a real Vidui, not only the one that is written in the prayer book, but one from the heart.
Gmar Hatima Tova
Rabbi Gil Nativ15.9.10
“By authority of the Heavenly Court and by the authority of this earthly congregation… we hereby declare that it is permitted to pray with those who have transgressed” . This is the pre Kol Nedrei announcement . This announcement raises a few questions. Who are the transgressed that received a permit to enter synagogue and who is the earthly congregation that the permission refers to? Some researchers claim that the criminals are the Marranos who were forced to convert to Christianity and some researchers abolish this theory and claim that this announcement is more ancient and it was made in order to allow Jews who were excommunicated by the community and could participate in prayer services only on Kol Nedrei night.
Standards change from generation to generation and from one location to another. Are all the drivers driving on highways at the allowed speed? My impression is that 90% of drivers, me included, do not. By law I am a transgressor, but the society I live in does not see a driver who speeds as a criminal – not a criminal that should be given permission to pray in a congregation on Kol Nedrei night.
A married woman who does not cover her hair was seen in the Mishna and Talmud period as a criminal, and in the Haredi society today they are transgressors. According to the Talmud this even justifies divorce. In Iran today a woman who walks in a public place without covering her head can be arrested.
In the Torah and Qur’an there is a death penalty for a homosexual act. In 19th century England Oscar Wilde was sent to prison for an act like this. In our Western society today two men are allowed to live as a married couple and receive the rights of a married couple.
It is natural for parents to protect their children and for a man to protect his wife, and nevertheless we make laws to protect women from men’s violence and children from their parental violence.
We do not know what the future will bring. The fine that the Chinese society imposes on couples with more then two children seems to us draconian, but it is a real possibility that in all the cultured and civilized countries of the world parents who have two children will be forced by law to be sterilized, and maybe the law will force them to send one of the children to a planet in space.
The concepts of transgression as the appreciation of good behavior depend on the values of the observant. We all have double standards. For us and our family and for others. This quote shows it: A woman who has a married son and a married daughter claims that the daughter is more successful than the son: “My daughter married a real gentleman: every morning before he goes to work he brings her a cup of coffee, but my son married a lazy and exploiting woman. This spoiled woman expects my son, who works so hard, to bring her coffee in bed every morning…”
Our Sages said that a man sees all the faults except his own. It is a Halachic ruling that came to prevent a falsification of a subjective judgment but it also comes to say that it is hard for a human being to see his/hers faults and much easier to see it in others. Yom Kippur invites each and everyone of us to look in the mirror and say a real Vidui, not only the one that is written in the prayer book, but one from the heart.
Gmar Hatima Tova
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