Forgiveness in the Jewish High Holy Days
Though I am not a Jew I have gained an appreciation for the Jewish religious season that we have just now completed. For a Jew, there is no time of the year more important than the High Holy Days (HHDs)– beginning at the blowing of the shophar at Rosh Hashanah (Sept 13) and culminating in the grand party of Sukkoth (Sept 15-Oct 3).
It seems to me that at the very heart and soul of the HHDs is God’s awareness that we humans just can’t get along—not with each other, not with Him. The Jew annually comes relationally dysfunctional and ideally leaves the HHDs in shalom with God, with spouses, friends, even enemies. I wonder if this celebration is one of the reasons that the Jewish people have maintained such a strong unity as a people even in the midst of such severe persecution. I think so.
Here is how I (admittedly a gentile) see the HHDs going down. Rosh Hashanah is the due diligence exercise. The Jew has 10 days to catalogue everything they did wrong in the last 12 months—and to make them right. This is the time for serious heart-work. This is the season of apologies, reparation and hopefully forgiveness. What’s the rush? At Yom Kippur, everyone stands in front of God to be tried for all of their thoughts words and deeds. If there are no unresolved issues, God proclaims them ‘righteous’. If there are unresolved issues, God declares them ‘wicked’ (technically meaning that they are community killers!).
Well this is genius! Look, lets face it—who among us, Jew or Gentile would be declared by the all-knowing God completely ‘right’? I don’t suspect that God grades on a curve like my 10th grade physics teacher. So this is the great humiliating ‘equalizer’. Everybody is declared – “Community killer”. It is my personal experience that people in ugly relationships readily see the ‘other’ as being ‘community killer’. But rarely do they see themselves as ‘community killer’ as well (in spite of the obvious anger, hatred, even vengeance!).
But then something remarkable happens. Everybody helplessly sits back – all declared failures and watch as God Himself pays for all of their crimes—at a great cost. He underwrites the ‘straightening’ of what the participants had bent. Then the High Priest waves his hands and declares, ‘Let this be forgiveness to you!’ Wow!
Now the Jew has 10 days to absorb the holy drama. For in 10 days—Sukkoth happens. At Sukkoth, all Jews party as one in shalom! We have the expression, to ‘kiss and make up’. This is a much larger version of that.
Isn’t this stunning? Every year, every Jew focuses on the healing of relationships. Every year, every Jew is declared a failure in their ability to love others. Every year they get a HHD re-do, underwritten and purchased by God.
I like it! It strikes me that this at the very heart of our weekly High Holy ‘Day’. We God-followers- too - come willingly, relationally dysfunctional, needy with great expectation to our Lord’s Table—His Yom Kippur and Sukkoth combined. Our hope is that we can access the power of God by faith to heal us and our community weekly—so that we can this week go and love ‘others’. It is better good news than we ever thought!