Yom Kippur: A Fast Too Fast

Dear Beth El,

Shalom.  Never in my life can I remember ending a Yom Kippur not hungry, not thirsty, filled with energy, and wishing the prayer vigil could go on - and on - and on. As I, your surprised rabbi, see another Yom Kippur come and go more quickly, more effortlessly, and more spiritually dynamically (especially during the afternoon Prayer/Worship vigil) with each passing year  ... I can't resist saying the following things.

1. Thank you to everyone who did anything to make it happen.

Scott, Billy, and the Mishkanites for set up and tear town twice in two days. Debi, Wendy, Rowena, Beth, MeeAe, Michelle, April, and Paul  ... and anyone else who pitched into the oneg+kiddush set up, service, and clean up. Yum. Wow. Urp. Lance - for the service outlines and additional readers contact work. Iain, Randy, Billy, Wendy, Scott, & Matt for the worship leading all afternoon. Iain for soundboard management under different and challenging circumstances.

2. Thank G-d for a Yom Kippur so different from the ones with which I grew up!

It is hard to express how amazing - how different - how life-giving and life-changing the shul life we have is, as compared to what I grew up with. My eldest son had the chance, at the time of his Bar Mitzvah, to visit the non-Messianic Bar Mitzvahs of two of his classmates right here in Manhattan's Upper East Side, in the Jewish nexus of the neighborhood ... one before his own ceremony, and one after --- and the bookend experience drove home to him how special, real, dynamic and precious is the spirituality with which he has grown up in Beth El of Manhattan.

Every one of you who is sincerely seeking God, seeking to walk in His will for your life, and seeking to live a right life before God, is contributing to the atmosphere of the community we all are building together ... and one day, it will not be only my children, or a few visitors who partake of its dynamism and reality --- by the grace of G-d, in His time, I believe it will be a significant portion of the House of Israel here in the Capital of Judaism outside Israel - Manhattan's long-unreached Jewish community.

So, we "remain in the City until we are endued with power from On High."Such is HaShem's pleasure for us for the time being.But our "remaining" is not passive.We "remain" like Leonidas and the 300 Spartans "remained" in Thermopylae pass: being the best version of G-d's soldiers/ambassadors we can be.

Kadima. We really mean it. Kadima. Let's go forward.No one has ever succeeded at building and sustaining what we are building and sustaining, where we are building and sustaining it.We hope we are not alone in this ... but see more and more Two Testament Judaism in Manhattan as the years go by.The more, the merrier. (In good order, of course.)

Yesterday's Yom Kippur was a step forward, in this rabbi's view.Never in my life can I remember ending a Yom Kippur not hungry, not thirsty, filled with energy, and wishing the prayer vigil could go on - and on - and on.I spent around 1/2 an hour packing up my guitar equipment after the service, without noticing I had not eaten or drunk yet after the fast ended.I had to be reminded to stop packing and come down to the Kiddush, so full of energy and so void of hunger, and still so full of the spirit of the day's services.

Palmakh Prayer, anyone? :-)Shanah tovah - and sincere thanks again to everyone who helped to make it the amazing day it was.

Shalom.__________________

Rabbi Bruce Cohenwww.bethelnyc.org || www.rabbibrucecohen.org