Dear Friends,
A little, playful story which links Simchat Torah, this Shabbat, with Yom Kippur, which we just marked a week and a half ago:
A Jew who never found time to study was rejoicing exuberantly and dancing and drinking on Simchat Torah. He sang and danced joyfully, fully observing the festival of Simchat Torah.
The Rabbi could not fathom this sudden enthusiasm for the Torah from this man who never showed up at synagogue all year long. He asked the man, “My friend, I study Torah all year and I have reason to be joyful on this festival. Have you studied Torah all year that you should now celebrate so ardently?”
The exhilarated Jew responded, “Rabbi, on Yom Kippur I beat my breast and asked forgiveness for the sin of bribery. Am I guilty of that sin? No! Why then should I confess to a sin of which I am blameless? The reason is obvious. ‘It is taught that all Jews are responsible for one another.’ If I am culpable for the sins of others, why shouldn’t I also participate in their rejoicing?”
Indeed! We do share the moments of life, the joys and sorrows, and so too we can vicariously deserve the blessings of one another. Just as it takes one person to blow the shofar so that everyone else may hear it, so too the merit of Torah study may be a shared virtue.
Of course, it is best if everyone learn, study and gain knowledge and wisdom of their own, but sometimes it is not reasonable. Not everyone can be the scholar, just as not everyone can be the salesperson, or the billionaire, or sometimes the mom or the dad. Circumstances intervene, and that is a powerful teaching of Jewish life. We live simultaneously in both our grounded realities – our sore knees and our corrective lenses – as well as our aspirations – our hopes and dreams and possibilities. No life is complete without all of its elements.
Hence, we thank the unstudious Jew for dancing on Simchat Torah, and adding a brilliant teaching of both shared responsibility and shared opportunity. Let’s find fulfillment in both!
Shabbat Shalom and Hag Sameach,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
A little, playful story which links Simchat Torah, this Shabbat, with Yom Kippur, which we just marked a week and a half ago:
A Jew who never found time to study was rejoicing exuberantly and dancing and drinking on Simchat Torah. He sang and danced joyfully, fully observing the festival of Simchat Torah.
The Rabbi could not fathom this sudden enthusiasm for the Torah from this man who never showed up at synagogue all year long. He asked the man, “My friend, I study Torah all year and I have reason to be joyful on this festival. Have you studied Torah all year that you should now celebrate so ardently?”
The exhilarated Jew responded, “Rabbi, on Yom Kippur I beat my breast and asked forgiveness for the sin of bribery. Am I guilty of that sin? No! Why then should I confess to a sin of which I am blameless? The reason is obvious. ‘It is taught that all Jews are responsible for one another.’ If I am culpable for the sins of others, why shouldn’t I also participate in their rejoicing?”
Indeed! We do share the moments of life, the joys and sorrows, and so too we can vicariously deserve the blessings of one another. Just as it takes one person to blow the shofar so that everyone else may hear it, so too the merit of Torah study may be a shared virtue.
Of course, it is best if everyone learn, study and gain knowledge and wisdom of their own, but sometimes it is not reasonable. Not everyone can be the scholar, just as not everyone can be the salesperson, or the billionaire, or sometimes the mom or the dad. Circumstances intervene, and that is a powerful teaching of Jewish life. We live simultaneously in both our grounded realities – our sore knees and our corrective lenses – as well as our aspirations – our hopes and dreams and possibilities. No life is complete without all of its elements.
Hence, we thank the unstudious Jew for dancing on Simchat Torah, and adding a brilliant teaching of both shared responsibility and shared opportunity. Let’s find fulfillment in both!
Shabbat Shalom and Hag Sameach,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn