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April 11, 1953

I Would Like to Be Religious But... (1953)

Shemini
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Antiseptic Religion (1967)

We read this morning of the strange rite of the Parah Adumah, the ashes of the red heifer which were used to purify one who had contracted levitical impurity by contact with a dead body, but which ceremony at the same time defiles the priest in charge of the act of purification. Parah Adumah has thus always been accepted as a mystery, a hukah or incomprehensible law that defies reason in its paradoxicality. It is therefore an annual reminder that important as reason is in the life of religion, it is not the totality of religion. If man understood all that religion and God demand of him, he would not need Divine revelation; indeed, man would displace God as the center of life, and all authentic religion would thus come to an end.Parah Adumah therefore, tells us that intelligent as man is, and as much as he must endeavor at all times to exercise that intelligence, his intellect nonetheless remains limited. God, as Creator and Source of all intelligence, transcends human intellect. Life conceived only in terms of reason or logic is shallow. It is even monstrous, like a man with an oversized head and an undersized heart.The idea that pure reason is a sufficient guide for man through life is sophomoric; it is an index of intellectual adolescence. One might even describe it with that worst of modern epithets: it is non-modern, medieval. Modern science emerged only when it denied the omnipotence of reason, when it cut itself off from the tyranny of pure reason. Natural science does not at all come to its conclusion on the basis of logic, but on the basis of empirical evidence: testing, experimenting, investigating. Indeed, one of the greatest theories of modern physics, concerning the nature of light, embodies a logical contradiction, it violates the principle of reason that a thing cannot be two opposites at the same time.This does not mean to say that science affirms faith and religion. It does mean that shallow rationalism is a thing of the past. The Rabbis told us tha…
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Yizkor in Retrospect: Residual Religion or Incipient Paganism? (1953)

According to Conservative estimates, the continuous performances of Yizkor Services conducted here this past week drew crowds numbering from eight to nine thousand. This Rabbi, heretofore uninitiated into the vagaries of this Yizkor-centered religion of the masses, was astounded beyond words by these multitudes. Whatever one might say about this phenomenon – and we shall have plenty to say about it in a few moments – it is quite an experience, and one which sets into motion the wheels of thought. No one can really understand the religious tempermant of American Jewry until he has witnessed this spectacle.Let me tell you of two remarks which were made to me during these services by two individuals who rank high in the echelons of the Officialdom of this Synagogue. One was "You see Rabbi, despite all your complaining about Yizkor, where else would these people go? . The second remark was: ״Rabbi, it makes my heart feel good to see so many people giving honor to their parent:. When these remarks were made to me I promised a sermon as an answer. Hence, this talk on what I believe to be an objective analysis of the American Yizkor Cult.I think that there are three pleasant aspects to this matter of a three-day-a-year-religion. First, the fact that the ״Yizkor Crowds”, by their contributions, help maintain our worthiest religious institution. I have no quarrel with this argument? and) quite to the contrary^ I wish that this show of charity were increased a hundred-fold • The second argument advanced in favor of the Yizkor-Crpwds is, that by this act of memorializing their parents they show their respect and abide by the commandment KABgD ES aVICHA VS’SS IMEChA This too reflects favorably upon the Yizkor—sayers, although, -parhapa it should constantly be kept in mini that it is vastly more important to honor purentsjwhiLe they are yet alive than afterwards. A kind word in a mother’s or father’s ears is infinitely more valueable than the most magnificent tombstone over th…
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As If Things Weren't Bad Enough (1972)

Our Sidra begins by describing events in the Tabernacle on the first day when it actually was used for the service; or, if we include the שבעת ימי המילואים (the seven days of the consecration of the priests), the eighth day. ויהי ביום השמיני, “and it was on the eighth day.” The Rabbis were extravagant in describing the significance of that day. תניא: אותו היום היתה השמחה לפני הקב”ה כיום שנבראו בו שמים וארץ. “That day (when the priests first began their ministrations) was an occasion of such great joy before the Holy One, that it was equal to His joy on the day that heaven and earth were created.” The textual reasons for this equivalence between the day of Creation and the day of ministry at the Tabernacle are the similarity of expressions in the two verses of ויהי ביום השמיני, and (with regard to creation) ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום אחד, “and it was evening and it was morning, the first day.” Now, while we may have some kind of textual excuse for drawing this analogy, the question yet remains what the Rabbis really meant by comparing the first day of the Tabernacle to the day of creation. One of our commentaries offers an answer that is full of insight and of the greatest importance to us. He refers to the Midrash which states that עיקר שכינה בתחתונים היתה, God originally intended that His Shechinah (presence) dwell here on earth. However, when man sins, His Shechinah rises to an ever higher heaven. Thus, when Adam sinned, the Shechinah left the earth and ascended to the first heaven. When Cain killed his brother, the Shechinah rose to the second heaven. In the generation of Enosh, the Shechinah was banished to the third heaven; in the generation of the Flood, to the fourth; in the generation of the Tower, to the fifth. The events of Sodom caused the Shechinah to ascend to the sixth heaven. And finally, the persecution at Egypt banished the Shechinah to the seventh or the highest of the heavens. In order to rectify this situation, עמדו שבעה צדיקים והורידם לארץ, seven ri…
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