torah sermons166 serm yk5

							                      The Significance of a Yom Kippur Birthday
                                  Yom Kippur, 5769
                                   Shmuel Herzfeld


On October 9, 1974, it was not Yom Kippur but Simchat Torah. The day before Simchat
Torah, on Shemini Atzeret, my mother went into labor. My parents left three children
under the watch of my grandmother and left for the hospital. Since my parents lived in
Staten Island, and her doctor worked out of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, my
parents had to travel by car to Manhattan. When they arrived at the doctor’s office, my
mother was told that she should go home because she was not yet ready to give birth.
But since it was yontiff, my parents did not want to travel again. So instead they walked
to my grandmother’s apartment on 48th and Lexington. But when they got there they
realized that there was no food in her apartment, so the next morning they walked to my
other set of grandparents on 85th and Columbus. All the while, there was a baby inside
my mother trying to come out in order to celebrate yontiff. When they finally got to 85th
and Columbus, my mother said she was ready to give birth, so my parents turned around
and walked through Central park to Lennox Hill Hospital at 77th and Park. There my
mother went into active labor and at long last, one hour after yontiff ended, my mother
gave birth to…well, me.

Since today is also October 9, I thought I would share with everyone that it is my
birthday today. I don’t know about you, but Birthdays were a lot more fun when I was
younger. Then I was excited about growing older. Now when I have a birthday, a part of
me realizes how little time I have left.

What a blessing to have a Birthday on Yom Kippur! Not only do I get to spend the
whole day doing something I love with most of my friends, but I also get to spend the
entire day in contemplation of my future and my actions.

On one level Yom Kippur reminds us of our own mortality. When we read Unetane
Tokef, we are reminded that we don’t know what the coming year will bring. Mi yichyeh
u-mi yamut, who amongst us will live and who will die? Who amongst us will celebrate
another birthday and who will not? On one level having a Birthday on Yom Kippur is a
definite reminder that I should make sure to appreciate this Birthday.

All this is true, but I want to talk about another meaning for my Birthday this year.

When we think of a Birthday we often think of a party. And the truth is that there is a
long and sacred history of throwing parties on Yom Kippur. In our Mussaf service, we
recite the following line which is directly based upon a Mishnah in Yoma: “Yom tov
hayah oseh Kohen Gadol lekhol ohavav ke-shenichnas beshalom veyatzah beshalom beli
fegah. The High Priest would make a party for all his loved ones when he entered the
Sanctuary in peace and left in peace without injury.”




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At the conclusion of Yom Kippur, after the Kohen Gadol left the Holy of Holies, he
threw a party for all of his friends. Why would he do this?

There are two reasons for this party. The first reason he threw a party was very simply the
fact that he survived Yom Kippur. There was enormous pressure on the Kohen Gadol
every Yom Kippur. When he entered the Holy of Holies, he literally put his life on the
line. If he made a mistake in the service, if he had a bad thought, or if he was simply
unworthy, he could instantly be struck dead from heaven.

Lest anyone think that this is an exaggeration, this is what the Talmud says about the
Kohen Gadol’s rate of survival: “The Second Temple stood for 420 years, ve-shimshu
bo yoter mi-shelosh meot Kohanim, and more than 300 served as High Priest over that
period. Take out forty years in which Shimon the Tzaddik was the High Priest and
deduct another 80 years in which Yochanan the Kohen Gadol served, and ten more years
that Elazar b. Charson served.” That leaves 300 priests over 290 years. “Kol echad ve-
echad lo hotzi shenato, none of them lived out their year in office.” (Yoma, 9a.)

So, on a personal level the Kohen Gadol was very grateful that he simply survived. He
had gone into the Holy of Holies and come out alive. Just the fact that he survived was a
good reason to celebrate.

But if that is all he was celebrating then our joy might not be as great. And we know the
joy was great, not just for the Kohen individually, but also for the community as a whole.

So a second reason for the rejoicing was that he and everyone else was happy that they
had all been forgiven. The excitement and the beauty of the day combined with the
atonement that God gave them was cause for celebration and so everyone celebrated.
There was also tremendous pride and honor in the successful service of the day. The
people were grateful that they had witnessed a Kohen Gadol perform the service of Yom
Kippur properly.

But, perhaps the greatest test of the Kohen Gadol did not come on Yom Kippur itself, but
right after Yom Kippur. This can best be explained through a story from the Talmud
found in Yoma, 71b.

There was once a Kohen Gadol who finished the service on Yom Kippur and when he
left the Temple, the adoring congregation came flocking to him. They were all
surrounding him and escorting him to his party. But then the people saw two scholars
named, Shemayah and Avtalyon.

Shemaya and Avtalyon were not Kohanim, but they were beloved by the people. They
could not be Kohanim since they were descendants of converts. But we know that
Shemayah and Avtalyon were great Torah scholars. They were considered to be the
founders of derash, exegesis. We also know that they were the teachers of the great
Hillel. And we learn, from Josephus, that they defied King Herod and refused to swear
an oath of allegiance to him. So they were creative, brave, and brilliant teachers.



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As soon as the people saw Shemayah and Avtalyon, the people ran away from the Kohen
Gadol. Instead of escorting the Kohen Gadol to his party, they started escorting
Shemayah and Avtalyon. The Kohen Gadol then turned to Shemayah and Avtalyon and
said in a derisive manner that alluded to their non-Jewish ancestry: “Yesun benei
ammamin lishlam, let the descendants of the nations come in peace.” To which
Shemayah and Avtalyon replied, “Yesun benei ammamin lishlamdeavdin uvdah
deaharon, velo yeisi bar aharon lishlam delo avid uvdah de-aharon. The descendants of
the nations that do the work of Aaron the High priest are better than the descendants of
Aaron that do not do the work of Aaron.”

Let’s understand this story. The Kohen Gadol was dismissive of the Shemayah and
Avtalyon because he said: “You’re not Kohanim. And you didn’t do anything today.
Why are the people running to you?”

But in saying that he made a grave mistake! With all the celebration came great danger.
The Kohen Gadol thought that they were celebrating him; he thought that the party was
for him. What a mistake! In reality, they were not celebrating him personally but what
he represented.

We say in the Mussaf: “Kohen Gadol omed u-mesharet, doro ra-u ve-samachu, as the
High Priest stood and served, the people stood and watched and rejoiced.”

The Kohen Gadol thought that since he did something and the people rejoiced that they
were rejoicing over him and for. But he was very wrong. They weren’t rejoicing for
him. They were rejoicing over the fact that God was bringing His splendor down upon
the earth.

This is what Shemayah and Avtalyon were saying to him. You personally are nothing. It
is only what you do that counts and means anything. The people are only following you
because of what you represent, but when they saw that we were a greater representation
of what they were looking for, they followed us.

A good analogy is the birth of a baby. When a baby is born, everyone is excited and
joyous. Everyone starts smiling at the baby. But the baby personally, as an individual,
has done nothing to deserve this attention. It is only what the baby stands for that is so
special.

The truth is that Judaism doesn’t celebrate birthdays. Other religions do celebrate
birthdays. But we don’t. (Ok, we have birthday parties in America, but that is not a
religious duty.) The reason is because when the baby is born he or she has not done
anything. We know almost none of the birthdates of our great rabbis. What we celebrate
instead are deaths, anniversaries of deaths—yahrtzeits. On yahrtzeits we believe that the
Neshama is judged by the actions of his descendants. We believe it is a cause for
celebration because the Neshama is coming closer to Hashem and ascending higher.




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And we celebrate yahrtzeits because it gives us a chance to look back at the life of our
loved one and see what they accomplished, and learn from their deeds.

The truth is that none of us will really be remembered personally. If anything, any
memory of us will only be about what we represent. That is how we can make a
difference in the world.

At Yizkor it is a time to remember two things. First, we remember our loved ones
personally. We remember how they spoke, how they smelled, and how they looked. We
remember laughing with them and crying with them. And we remember davening with
them and celebrating yontiff with them. But secondly, we also remember what they
stood for and what they represent and how much we miss that and need that in our lives.
We remind ourselves to use their lives as a guide for ours.

If we are truly honest with ourselves we will realize that we represent is so much more
important. How many generations will remember us personally? How many will
remember how we spoke or how we smelled? But if we live our life in the path of
Hashem then many, many generations will remember what we represent and what we
symbolize. If we remember what our loved ones represented, then our loved ones will
remember what we represent as well.

Now is the time to commit; to think about what our loved ones represent to each of us.
And then we must commit ourselves to do what we want our loved ones to remember
about us. And that is truly something worth celebrating.




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