As I write these words, the High Holy Days gleam just over the horizon. Soon the Days of Awe will be upon us. Soon, like no other time of the year, we Jews will come together in various synagogues and chavurot, to look sincerely at the footprint we have left behind us during the past year. How deep has that footprint been? Have we stepped lightly or harshly, gently or destructively?
The Rabbis taught that before God prays, God utters this prayer: “May my attribute of compassion overcome my attribute of strict justice.” I tend to think that these are the two poles between which Divinity oscillates: between Kindness and Fairness. Sometimes circumstances call us to respond with kindness, at other times with fairness. It’s
not always easy to know which response is most appropriate. Only God follows a perfect balance of the two. We can just do our best.
During the High Holy Days – if we take them at all seriously – we should ask: “Have I really tried my best to act with kindness when I should? Or with justice when I should? Have I taken the trouble to do so when I know I could have with just a little effort?”
How hard would it have been to call our aging parents two or three times a week, just to let them know we’re thinking about them? How taxing would it have been to turn off the TV and help your child with his or her homework? How draining would it have been to truly listen to your husband or wife describe the stresses of their day? How demanding would it have been to write or call your congressman or woman to complain about the rapes and murders in Darfur and Chad, or the need for comprehensive health care, or the still-lagging imbalance regarding equal pay for equal work?
These, I believe, are the real sins we commit. When we respond casually when another person feels pain or when another needs our advocacy; when we can actually do something yet don’t rise to the occasion.
[HIGH HOLY DAYS | Rabbi Howard Laibson ]
Just What Are Our Sins,
Anyway?
Rabbi Howard Laibson