Blessing, Loving Kindness and Freeing Captives: Yom Kippur 5786
For on this day atonement shall be made for you to purify you of all your sins; you shall be pure before the Eternal (Leviticus 16:30).
The Hebrew root meaning of kappara-atonement refers to a protective cover. Kappara is the effort to repair the breakdown in the world caused by our actions, beyond the compensation that is part of the process of repentance and forgiveness. Kappara is a ritual process that functions on a heavenly level. On earth, there is no reason to think such atonement possible. There are many things that cannot be repaired. Yet, here we are. It is Yom Kippur and we are asking for atonement.
How can we achieve atonement in the world without the Temple?
The path towards an answer begins with a return to a story told about the Temple:
Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha, the High Priest reported:
Once, I entered the Holy of Holies to offer incense, and I saw Akatriel Ya, the Eternal of Hosts, seated upon a high and exalted throne.
He said to me: Ishmael, My son, ברכני bless Me.
I said to Him: “May it be Your will that Your mercy overcome Your anger, may Your mercy prevail over Your [other] attributes, may You act toward Your children with the attribute of mercy, and may You enter before them beyond the letter of the law.”
[God] nodded His head. (Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 7a)
Rabbi Ishmael responded to the request for a blessing with a prayer, one that expresses awareness that ritual alone is insufficient to achieve atonement. It also points to the need for balance between justice and mercy for ensuring our continued existence. Without merciful judgement that goes beyond the letter of the law, we might not survive and get another chance to pursue justice.
But did Rabbi Ishmael give a blessing? How can a child bless a parent?
How can person, even a high priest, bless God?
The answer depends on how we understand the word “ברך bless.” Of the many layers of meaning that have been loaded on it in Jewish tradition, I’ll focus on the biblical level.
During creation, God blesses the creatures God has made, “Be fruitful and multiply.” Later, when God and Abram first meet, God promises: “I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you” (Genesis 12:2-3). In Genesis Rabba (39:11) Rabbi Berechya (note his name) explained “God said, ‘Until now, I needed to bless my world, but from now on, I will bless those who you bless.” In other words, God blesses Abram, then gives him, and his descendants (us!), the responsibility of the sharing God’s bounty with others.
Indeed, people can bless other people, and be beneficent with the resources, tangible and intangible, at their disposal. But how can a person bless God?
The difficulty in identifying something that people can give God, and opposition to the idea that God might be in the position of a passive recipient, led many commentators to contend that “ברך” has multiple meanings. People can offer God nothing but praise and thanksgiving.[1]
Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch (Germany, 1808-1888) objected strongly to that position:
If a person man is active in blessing God, then God must be blessed in a passive sense, receiving a blessing from a person, one cannot get away from it. And why should we try to get away from it? At the moment that God made the fulfillment of God’s Will on earth dependent on the free decision of humans, God said to them, “Bless me!” Promote my goals, keep My commandments, do My will; bless my work because completion of it on earth depends on you” (commentary on Genesis 9:26).[2]
Indeed, there is a resource that people can provide for God and thereby bless God: The ability to actively engage this world.
Hirsch’s younger colleague, Rabbi David Zvi Hoffman, notes that the key verse for understanding how people can bless God is, “And now, O Israel, what does the Eternal your God demand of you? Only this: to revere the Eternal your God, to walk only in God’s paths, to love God, and to serve the Eternal your God with all your heart and soul” (Deuteronomy 10:12). The verse combines inner traits, reverence and love, with action, “walking in God’s ways.” (Al Hatefillah)
According to the Talmud (Sotah 14a), walking in God’s ways is exemplified by dressing the naked, visiting the sick and burying the dead. These are acts that God did for the Adam and Eve (after they sinned), Abraham, and Moses but now leaves for us.
Indeed, we can bless God through our actions in this world.
Hoffman also emphasizes: “The blessing expresses not only an ambition but also a commitment.” When we recite a blessing or respond to Barekhu–Let us bless” we undertake to act with loving kindness to each other.
How does this relate to my initial question on achieving atonement in the world without the Temple?
One early answer to that question came immediately after the destruction when Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai was walking in Jerusalem with Rabbi Joshua. Upon seeing the Temple in ruins, Rabbi Joshua cried: “Oy, the Temple that atoned for the sins of Israel has been destroyed!” Rabban Yoḥanan comforted him saying, “Do not be dismayed. We have another form of atonement that is its equal, deeds of gemillut ḥasadim–loving kindness, as it is written: For I desire mercy and not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6) (Avot D’Rabbi Natan A, 4:5).
Rabbi Yoḥanan’s declaration was revolutionary.
The prophets had berated the people for trusting on the Temple and sacrificial ritual for salvation even times of war, but theirs was not the dominant opinion while the Temple stood. After the destruction, Rabbi Yoḥanan, who led the people’s rehabilitation, adopted a position that challenged the previous consensus. In this spirit, and in order to stress the importance of gemillut ḥasadim in the process of atonement, the Rabbis chose to read a Haftarah from Isaiah on Yom Kippur:
Is not this the fast I (God) want? Free people from all who cruelly oppresses them, let the oppressed go free, break every chain, share your food with the hungry, take the homeless into your home. Clothe the naked when you see him. Do not ignore a needy relative” (Is. 58:6-7).
This task is much more difficult. After all, there are clear procedures for fasting and ritual. Although challenging, they are defined and limited in time. People’s legitimate needs are enormous, diverse and endless. And there is also a fear of cheating. The Rabbis were aware of these difficulties and rabbinic literature preserves many discussions about setting priorities and the degree of inquiry required before transferring charitable funds to the needy. For example, on Bava Batra 9a, Rav Huna and Rav Yehuda argue about what is worse for a person, the pain of hunger or the humiliation of inadequate clothing. Each uses the verse from Isaiah quoted above to support arguments based on logic. In the many Talmudic discussions, the difficulty of “getting it right” never exempts us from the obligation to be present with people in times of trouble and lend a hand to those in need.
In conclusion, I would like to consider a prior point in the discussion ranking human suffering, on the previous page of the Talmud.
What is the source of the Sages’ claim that redeeming captives is a great mitzva? It is Jeremiah 15:2 concerning exile: “Thus said the Eternal: ‘those destined for death, [shall go] to death; those destined for the sword, to the sword; those destined for famine, to famine; those destined for captivity, to captivity.” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: “Each successive punishment in this verse is more severe than the previous one. The sword is worse than death [by plague] and famine is worse than the sword, but captivity is the worst of all, because it includes them all.”
When we studied this page with Rabbi Lionel Levy in late 2022, I never imagined how close the death, sword and hunger of captivity would be to our lives and hearts. Today, I consider the redemption of captives, the return of all the hostages, as an act of gemillut ḥasadim that Israeli society must accomplish; it is the key to the atonement that will enable the beginning of rehabilitation.
May it be a year of gemillut ḥasadim and redeeming captives, a year of peace at home and abroad.
Kehillat Hod veHadar, 2025
[1] This is why some prayerbooks translate “Baruch” as “praised” and Lev Shalem leaves it untranslated.
[2] Note that he is commenting on Noah, meaning his words could be taken to apply to all of humanity.
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