[Note: The following is adapted from a talk that the late
Dayan Grosnass once gave on Yom Kippur, just before
Ne'ilah.]
Vayomru eilov, "Hagido noh lonu . . . ma melachtecho,
umei'ayin tovo, mo artzecho, ve'ei mize am oto?" Vayomer
aleihem, "Ivri onochi, ve'es Hashem Elokei haShomayim ani
yorei, asher oso es hayom ve'es hayabosho" (Yonah 1,8).
And they said to him, "Tell us, please, due to whom is
this evil upon us? What is your work and from whence do you
come? What is your land and from which people are you?" And
he told them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear Hashem, the L-rd of
the Shomayim, Who made the sea and the land."
Many reasons have been given for the
selection of the Book of Yonah as the haftorah of Yom
Kippur afternoon. The story itself seems, on the face of it,
to have little bearing on the great fast which is now drawing
to a close.
Yet our text, from the opening chapter of the book, is itself
a sufficient reason for reading the book with utmost
thoroughness on Yom Kippur day. Yonah's fellow passengers, on
the storm-tossed ship, put a series of questions to him. What
is your work? Where do you come from? Which is your country?
Which people do you belong to?
These questions have been put many times to the Jew, since
the distant days when Yonah fled to Tarshish. In succeeding
generations, the wandering Jew has been the question mark
among the people of the world. Where does he come from, this
wanderer? How does he occupy himself? What sort of people are
these, who have obstinately refused to assimilate themselves,
or to lose their identity? How have they managed to survive
their homelessness and exile, while great empires have
decayed and gone?
And right through the ages, the Jew has given Yonah's answer:
"Ivri onochi -- I am a Hebrew." Do you wish to know
anything else about me? I can tell it all to you in one
phrase: "Es Elokei haShomayim ani yorei -- I fear
Hashem the L-rd of Heaven." There is the answer to all the
questions that may be put.
What is the occupation of the Jew? -- The fear of G-d.
What enables the Jew to survive? -- The fear of G-d.
What has given him courage in the face of adversity and
strength in the midst of homelessness? -- The fear of G-d.
That has been the classic Jewish statement since the very
beginnings of Jewish History. To be able to say "Ivri
Onochi -- I am a Hebrew." "I am a Jew at heart," is
incomplete and meaningless, unless he can also say "Es
Elokei haShomayim ani yorei -- I fear the Lord G-d of
Heaven."
But when he can truthfully say both, when the Jew can claim
that he translates his ancestry, and his identification with
his people's lot into terms of fear of G-d, then the Jew is
eternal and imperishable. When the Jew can say, "I express my
love of G-d in reverence for his Torah"; when the Jew can
say, "I accept the will of G-d with thanksgiving and with
sacrifice" -- when the Jew can truthfully say these things,
he echoes Yonah's thoughts and makes himself
indestructible.
We all know the renowned words of the Shema which we
recite so regularly that perhaps we forget their meaning.
"Ve'ohavto es Hashem Elokecho bechol levovecho uvechol
nafshecho uvechol me'odecho -- And thou shalt love the L-
rd thy G-d with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with
all thy strength."
We all know those words: Do we also know that they mean that
we must offer to G-d the service of our souls; afilu
noteil es nafshecho -- even though it may involve the
supreme sacrifice; that we must give to G-d all our strength
even though it involves all our material possessions ----
ve'ohavto es Hashem Elokecho veyoreiso mei'elokecho
and thou shalt love the Lord thy G-d and fear Him. When the
Jew fulfills these commands, when the Jew can claim that he
lives by them, then he repeats in his conduct and in his
standards the answer that Yonah gave in the haftorah
that we read on Yom Kippur.
Now dear friends, do you see the connection between Yonah's
book and the closing hours of Yom Kippur? Soon the great day
is over, soon we return to our houses, to our businesses, to
our recreations. Only a few short moments of the Holy Day
remain, in which we may fit ourselves to resume our normal
activities, in a world which persistently puts its questions
to us. What are you? What do you stand for? Why do you remain
apart?
Yom Kippur is designed to equip us for a twelve month period
with the answer to these questions; to implant in us the
renewed fear of G-d, so that we may answer as Yonah did; to
inspire us with a renewed love of our people, so that the
words "I am a Hebrew" will come proudly and gladly to our
lips; to imbue us with a determination to cleave to the ways
of G-d, so that all who see us may recognize in our standards
and lives the Jew whom G-d elected as the instrument of his
divine will.
Yom Kippur is given for these sacred purposes. A few moments
of it are still left to us in which to prepare ourselves for
the struggle and effort of the year ahead. Let us use it,
dear friends, to furnish ourselves with the answers to all
the questions, which friends or enemies alike, may put to
us:
Ivri onochi -- Let us practice loyalty to our people
in all the circumstances which the New Year may hold in
store.
Ivri onochi -- Let us feel a proper pride in the
glories of our people's history, and in the magnificence of
our people's achievements.
Ivri onochi -- Let us make a worthy contribution to
our people's destiny.
And identifying ourselves in this way, with all that the
Torah stands for, let us say with Yonah of old: Es Elokei
haShomayim ani yorei -- Ivri onochi.
Let us fear G-d in our thoughts, and in our actions.
Let righteousness mark all that we do, and honor adorn all
that we say.
Let the name of G-d be sanctified in the eyes of man by the
living witness of our conduct and demeanor.
Let our Shabbos testify to Him as Creator.
Let our kashrus give testimony to him as the Provider
of all good.
Let our tzitzis, tefillin, mezuzas declare His
praise.
Let our yomim tovim proclaim His Being.
Let our family life give evidence of the purity of His
will.
Let our study of Torah confirm His revelation.
Let us live by these standards in the New Year, and let us,
by our example, inspire others with the will to imitate us.
P'sach lonu sha'ar, be'eis ne'ilas sha'ar.
As this sacred holy day closes and disappears, dear friends,
let us pray the last prayer of Yom Kippur. Let us pray with
all our heart, with all our souls, with all our might, and
with every fiber of our being and G-d Almighty will hear our
prayers.
Thus shall we render ourselves worthy of the speedy and
abundant fulfillment of our prayers, that the G-d in whom we
place our trust will open wide the gates of Heaven and grant
to us, from his goodly treasure house, blessing peace and
salvation, redemption and all good speedily and in near
time.
Amen.
