IT'S YOM KIPPUR TOMORROW

Tomorrow is Yom Kippur and Shavuot, Chanukah and Purim, Tomorrow is the Mishna, Talmud, Midrash, Zohar and Chumash. Tomorrow is the Siddur, the Haggadah, and the Psalms from King David. Tomorrow is the first second, and third temple wrapped in one, Tomorrow is Isaiah and Jeremiah, Moses and Miriam, Maimonides and Nachmanides, Rabbi Akivah, and Rav Kook Tomorrow is King Solomon, King David the Baal Shemtov, and the Messiah. Tomorrow is my Rebbe. Tomorow is your Rebbe. Tomorrow is Shalom Aleichem, Mah Nishmah, Gutt Yom tov, Chag Sameach, Shabbat Shalom, and Shana Tovah. Tomorrow is Borscht, latkes, chicken soup ,(MANNA??) Bagels and cream Cheese, (low-fat of course), Tzimmes, lokshen Kugel, Knaidlach, and Challah Tomorrow we celebrate Yiddihskeit, menshlichkeit, nareshkeit, and any other Keits I may have overlooked. Tomorrow we are Schlemiels and Shlumps, Schlimazels and Shmendricks. Tomorrow “I don’t like the way you look, ARE YOU EATING “? Tomorrow we go to the Mikvah. Tomorrow we sing Hava Nagila, Oseh Shalom, The Niggun Of Reb Michel of Zlotchov, and KOL HAOLOM KULO GESHER TZAR MEOD, (the whole world is a very narrow bridge) but its not a big deal since Reb Nachman reminds us that the “IKKAR” (most important thing) is “LO LEPHACHED KLAll”!!! , That we have nothing to fear at all”. Tomorrow Reb Zushe reminds us that the most important thing to remember when we come to heaven is that they WONT ask us why we were not like Abraham or Moses, but they will call us out if were weren’t R Zushe, if we weren’t ourselves. Tomorrow we sit in the sukkah and get soaked, eat herring, have a drop of Schnapps, and say Lchaim. Tomorrow is the most important day on the Jewish calendar Tomorrow is the reason we even have a Jewish calendar. Tomorrow we will read the portion of Yitro. In it we read about G-d giving the Torah to the Jewish people. Everything that transpired from creation, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel,Noah and Family Ark and all, from Abraham Isaac and Jacob Sarah Rivkah Rachel and Leah, to Joseph and pharaoh, slavery and redemption, sea splitting etc. Was all synchronized to be a lead up to this epic historic moment. As a result, every subsequent meaningful Jewish moment, every statement, all the wisdom, all the ups downs, holidays, sayings, foods, jokes, groups, as well as every great leader, can all be traced to that singular definitive moment, when Heaven met earth and G-d formally drafted us to be ambassadors of Holiness, and enlisted us to be co light Shiners in the greatest spiritual adventure ever known to mankind. What we observe and don't observe, what we believe in or don’t, whether we consider ourselves orthodox reform conservative, or whether we are orthoformative, atheistic, Chassidic, agnostic, Sephardic or Askenazic, affiliated, or not, reconstructionist, deconstructionist, non denomenational, pre or post denominational, neochasidic or otherwise, all of who we are, and how we identify, can be tracked back directly or indirectly to what was conveyed at the Foot of Sinai. When we read about the giving of the Torah tomorrow and we Stand and listen to the Ten Commandments being read, we have all the right ingredients for a powerful Jewish experience, one In which we can close our eyes, open our hearts and souls, to meditate and reflect, and drift to our inner space of gratitude. Why not make a holiday out of this Shabbat? I m not quite sure, perhaps it would compete with Shavuot, the holiday in which Mattan Torah (giving of the Torah) actually happened. Or its because sometimes by making a bigger deal about something, we run the risk of overlooking its key message, and its best to acknowledge it in a more private, inward, low key, heartfelt Kavanah filled fashion. Either way there is an immense energy hovering there and we can leverage it into a deep and moving moment of sacredness and transformation. Tomorrow we will celebrate our Chuppah! Mazal Tov, and Shabbat Shalom