Yom Kippur: One

 In the 1960s, the late Harry Nilsson wrote a very sad song entitled: ‘One’.

Its first stanza read:

‘One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do’

We can survive as single entities but for many of us, it is the company of others that helps to brighten our lives, be it with fellow humans or even pets.  On the surface, at least, having a ‘me party’ isn’t as much fun as spending the evening with two or more friends, is it? Given the choice of an odd or even quantity, which would you prefer?

Keeping this idea in mind, how about celebrating Yom Kippur not for one, but instead two days?

The Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 21a) tells us that:

Rava would regularly sit in observance of the fast of Yom Kippur for two days in case Elul had been declared a thirty-day month and Yom Kippur should be observed on what was observed in Babylonia as the eleventh of Tishrei.  It once happened in accordance with his opinion.  Elul had been declared a thirty-day month, and he was the only one who observed Yom Kippur on the correct day.  It was related that Rav Naḥman had once fasted the entire day of Yom Kippur as usual.  In the evening, toward the end of his fast, a certain man came and said to him, “Tomorrow is the great day, Yom Kippur, in the West, Eretz Yisrael, and it is therefore necessary to fast tomorrow.”

Fortunately for us, the Rabbis didn’t agree with this line of thinking and so this did not become the accepted custom!

I will be the first to admit that although there are legitimate reasons to prefer even numbers, I have a weakness for the number ‘one’, singular in nature as it may be.

I am the only child of an only child (my father had no siblings) and although I love being the father of four, step-father of another four and grandfather of three (nearly four), if left on my own for a few hours, I can always find something to occupy my time, be it reading, writing a drasha or watching one of my favourite films.  To me, one is anything but a lonely number and guess what?  Both Stephnie and my birthdays are on the 1^st of August and December respectively and our chuppah was on the 1^st of Tevet!

In fact, ‘one’ is a very Jewish number and it is inexorably linked to Yom Kippur.

For at the very end of the fast, a single note from the Shofar will signify the completion of the holiest day in our calendar.  One note is all that is needed.

Our prayers focus on the singularity of the one Gd.  During the emotional closing stages (shortly before the blowing of the Shofar), we recite the most famous prayer in our liturgy – “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our Gd, the Lord is One.”

Yom Kippur was the only day in the year when the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies in the Temple.

The fast itself is the only one (of our six) that is mandated in the Torah.

Yet, at times for us, the Jewish nation, ‘one’ was a very lonely number.  We were alone, isolated and facing destruction.  A case in point was the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War, exactly fifty years ago this afternoon (which coincidentally began when the Egyptians started an offensive at 2:00 Israeli time, which was 1:00 over here).   One small nation facing the might of the Egyptian and Syrian armies.

Despite the odds, both half a century ago and further back, we survived and held faith in the one Gd that we believe in.  The very same that we turn our hearts and minds to on this day and pray for peace inside our beloved State of Israel.  That He helps us to find a way to reunite as a unified nation and agree on a resolution to solve the very serious and complex problems facing the country at this moment.

My father, of blessed memory, always said that he was not afraid of what Israel’s enemies could achieve.  He was much more concerned regarding the damage we could do to ourselves as has been demonstrated so many times in our long history.

We can be ‘Am Echad BeLev Echad – One people with a single heart’ if we choose to be and when we come together, as we did recently against Corbyn, we can achieve miracles.  As Abraham Lincoln famously said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

You may recall a few years ago that I connected the five prayers we recite over Yom Kippur to the levels of consciousness that exist within our souls.  For on this holiest of days, not only are we compared to angels but also it is the unique occasion that all souls are judged by Gd, both in heaven and earth.  The Nefesh is the level that connects with our mortal beings, followed by the Ruach, Neshama and Chaya.

The highest level the soul can attain is that of the Yechida, whose root is ‘Echad’ – one- where the soul is bound to Gd Himself.  Literally, it is at ‘one with Hashem’ which is the ultimate connection with Yom Kippur.

One man, Moshe Rabbeinu, was able to fight for our survival.  It is because of his efforts that our ancestors were saved from Gd’s wrath when our greatest Prophet and leader descended from Mount Sinai.  He was holding the second set of Tablets on the very first Yom Kippur and this showed our ancestors that they had been forgiven for the sin of the Golden Calf.

And all these years later, we are a united nation that prays together, irrespective of where we happen to find ourselves in the world on the single day in our calendar that acts a catalyst to bring us together.  We ask Gd, to forgive us, both on a personal level and as a people, united in hope and belief that things can improve.  It demonstrates the power of ‘one’.

Returning to my original theme, I think that when it comes to appreciating Yom Kippur we can respectfully disagree with Mr Nilsson.  One is certainly not the loneliest number.

It represents purity, unity and resilience.  It is our story.  We are the singular nation that survived despite the odds (pun intended).

We should use the opportunity that Yom Kippur provides us with, to ask for forgiveness from Gd.  On the same day that we received the second set of tablets and thousands of years later nearly faced the prospect of losing Eretz Yisrael, let us consider the power of this very day - the ONE period of 25 hours that will impact the rest of the year.  It all depends on the effort we put into our prayers, irrespective of the language we choose to utilize.

A single word, spoken from the heart is worth more than a hundred uttered thoughtlessly.

Wishing you all a continued meaningful and easy fast on this very special and unique day.  Gmar Chatimah Tovah – may we all be blessed with a wonderful year and one that we will wish to remember for all the best reasons - the one that we have prayed for.

Chag Sameach.

Rosh Hashanah: The Real Shofar

Rabbi Saadia Gaon (892 – 942 CE) was one of the most important and significant philosophers of his age and the Head (which is a translation of the word ‘Gaon’) of the great and influential Yeshiva of Sura in Baghdad.  It was one of the most respected academies in Babylon and throughout the Jewish World.

He lists ten reasons for blowing the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah:

1.    Rosh Hashanah is the anniversary of the creation of the world (through his forming Adam and Eve on this day, which was why the Earth was created) and so we are crowning Gd as the creator of the Universe on this day and the Shofar proclaims Him as sovereign of the Universe.

2.    Rosh Hashanah is the beginning of the Aseret Yemei Teshuvah, the Ten Days of Repentance.  The Shofar is therefore the means by which Gd wants us to hear a last warning to repent before we are finally judged on Yom Kippur, which is the culmination of these days.

3.    A Shofar was sounded on Mount Sinai at Gd’s revelation when He gave us the Torah.  We responded by saying that we would carry out His commandments (Na’aseh Venishmah – ‘we will do and we will listen’)

4.    Our ancient prophets’ warnings and exhortations are likened to the blasts of the Shofar.  As the prophet Ezekiel wrote (chapter 33, 4-5) “He who hears the sound of the shofar and does not take warning, the sword will come and take him away.  His blood will be upon his own head…but he who heeds warning will save his soul.”

5.    The Shofar reminds us of the destruction of the first Temple which took place while the sounds of our enemy’s trumpets were ringing in our ears.  When we hear the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah, we pray that our temple will be rebuilt.

6.    The Shofar, or Ram’s Horn recalls the willingness of Isaac to be sacrificed (there are opinions that the binding of Isaac took place on Rosh Hashanah).  When we hear the Shofar, we ask Gd to forgive us in his merit.  As we know, Abraham sacrificed a ram in his place.

7.    The sound of the Shofar fills our hearts with awe and reverence.  This is appropriate when we are in the presence of Gd, pleading for a positive outcome on Yom HaDin – Judgement Day.

8.    Hearing the Shofar reminds us of the ultimate Day of Judgement which we hope will happen soon.

In In the same vein, it is a portent of the coming of Mashiach when we will experience the ‘ingathering of the exiles’ to the Land of Israel.  We will shortly read the Mussaf prayer where we say, “And it will be on that day that a great Shofar will be sounded and those who were lost in the Land of Ashur…will come and prostrate themselves before the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.”

10. Finally, it is there to remind us of the future resurrection of the dead which will be heralded by the sound of the Shofar.

This comprehensive list sums up some or many of the reasons we have heard over the years for the sounding of the instrument.

From its earliest mention in the Torah, Rosh Hashanah (which is first called by this name in the Mishna) is called ‘Yom Teruah’ in the Torah.  The word ‘Teruah’ specifies the centrality of the Shofar to the Yom Tov.

Hearing the sound of this ancient instrument is therefore the mitzvah appertaining to the festival.  It’s more important than dipping an apple in honey or partaking of honey cake (although, many of us could not envisage Rosh Hashanah without the latter!)

You may legitimately enquire as to why, if this is so important, we do not blow the Shofar on Shabbat and I am happy to answer separately, but this constitutes a different Drasha entirely!On 29^th September 2016, Rabbi Sacks, of blessed memory, wrote an extremely prescient article for the Wall Street Journal titled ‘Rosh Hashanah and the Robots’.

https://www.rabbisacks.org/archive/rosh-hashana-and-the-robots-wsj/

He predicted the impact of AI (Artificial Intelligence) by quoting the documentary filmmaker James Barrett who, in 2013, ten years ago warned “of the rise of artificial intelligence - that is robots that are-all around smarter than humans.” in his book ‘Our Final Invention’.  Mr Barrett argued that “for the first time, humans will face a competitor that can outthink them at every stage and that the Earth may be nearing the end of the human era.”  I note that there is an updated edition of the book that came out a few months ago (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Our-Final-Invention-Artificial Intelligence/dp/1529434629/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2F6UAL4US1B36&keywords=our+final+invention+james+barrat&qid=1694344417&sprefix=our+final+invention%2Caps%2C253&sr=8-1).  Rabbi Sacks then quoted another source, Robert Ford, who in 2015 wrote a book on a similar theme entitled, ‘The Rise of the Robots - Technology and the Threat of Mass Unemployment’ where he stated the following:

‘Humanity has hardly begun to realize how far humans will be displaced from the world of work.  Robots have so far only taken over relatively mindless tasks, such as some of those in manufacturing.  Soon more professions will be hit.  Driverless cars and trucks will put millions out of work, while innovations like medicine without doctors will kill opportunities for even the most highly skilled workers.  Fewer and fewer humans will be needed to run the world, and they will have enormous power over the rest.’

It does not take a great deal of imagination to relate these predictions to our current times.  Although we have mercifully not reached the dire and terrifying spectacle of fully driverless cars or having Android doctors treating patients, the recent technological developments in the use of Artificial Intelligence are very concerning.

Recently, we have witnessed an AI created deepfake video advertisement on social media to try to convince us that Martin Lewis OBE, who has dedicated his life to assisting us to save money, is promoting an app associated with Elon Musk.  Both the computer-generated image and voice of Mr Lewis are fake and their intent is to scam people out of a great deal of money.

In a similar vein, Hollywood’s film production has virtually ground to a halt as screenwriters, actors and other industry professionals are striking as a result of their grave concerns regarding the use of AI to create screenplays or even films that they have not been involved with.  This in addition to other grievances regarding their low pay.

For many years, synthesizers have replicated the sound of instruments on recordings, and it is becoming increasingly more challenging to recognise whether the sound has been formed by a human or a machine.  Without even realising it, we have invited Artificial Intelligence into our homes, through the ubiquitous presence of devices such as Google Nest or Amazon Alexa (not to forget, Siri on iPhones).  As wonderful as these devices are, if we think about it, how much do we question the information they provide us with or the information they are gathering about us?

It appears that we are allowing technology to take over our lives to the extent that we are in danger of sidelining the importance of sound.  The type created by human beings, formed in our breath and projected via our lips.

With the advent of AI, we could believe that everything we hear or see is real.  It is so accurate and at the same time, persuasive.  The man in the advertisement looks like Martin Lewis and sounds like him.  How could it not be him?  We trust his advice.  Would he lie to us?

 The genuine sound of the shofar cuts through the mists of time.  Every year, from the first day of Ellul, through to Rosh Hashanah (omitting the eve of the Festival) and then, to mark the end of the Fast, it speaks to us, for all of the reasons that Rav Saadia Gaon listed.  We can choose the one that means the most to each of us or, if you wish, pick all ten.  The one thing that they have in common is the emphasis of how genuine the sound is and how important it is for us to hear it from an instrument which dates back beyond the origins of our faith.

The concerns regarding AI touch us at the deepest level of our conscious being.  On a positive note, the examples I gave of Martin Lewis’ concerns and those on the picket lines, remind us of our wish to use the technology in a responsible and productive manner.  All of the people I quoted are not calling for the abolition of such technology.  We all recognise that the metaphorical genie has been ‘released from the bottle’.  They are simply demanding that it be controlled and that, at the end of the day, what matters is the continued presence of real sound.  Words written by real screenwriters and scenes shot using living, breathing actors and actresses.

Real intelligence teaches us the limits of artificial intelligence.

There are many mitzvot associated with the blowing and hearing of the Shofar but in a nutshell, it comes down to one factor.  You can only fulfil the Biblically ordained commandment if the familiar sound you hear, the same one that was heard at Sinai, in all its iterations, is the product of a human breath.

Let us pray that next year, we will hear the Shofar sounding to announce either the arrival of Mashiach (reason #9) or the ingathering of our exiles (#8).

Wishing you and your families a truly genuine Shanah Tovah – a year of good health, peace and prosperity.  May we only hear good news from real people!

Amen.