הַכֹּל צָפוּי, וְהָרְשׁוּת נְתוּנָה, וּבְטוֹב הָעוֹלָם נִדּוֹן. וְהַכֹּל לְפִי רֹב הַמַּעֲשֶׂה
[Rabbi Akiva would say] Everything has been fore-ordained and/but free will has been given. And the world is judged in goodness, and all [are judged] by the majority of their deeds. Pirkei Avot 3:15
Judaism is a religion that embraces paradoxes - and the Sages of the Mishnah and Talmud the most of all. In the statement above, Rabbi Akiva states two (for him) tautological truths - God is all-knowing, and therefore every action that will happen had been foreseen, and therefore, foreordained. Human beings have free will and can make their own decisions. The first is part of Akiva’s understanding of the God who created the universe, who would not have done so without knowing the result of that action. Yet, that same God gives us mitzvot to follow. There is no point in giving reward for following those mitzvot, for acting for the good in the world, if we do not have the choice to do good or not. The conjunction between these phrases in pirkei avot is a vav, which we often translate as the English word “and”, but there is much more nuance in that prefix, which can also mean “but”. Contained in that letter is the paradox - is there a contradiction in there being both fate and free will?
We like to think that we can make the decisions in our own lives. On the Monday before Yom Kippur, I reached out to my colleagues. I had what I thought was a virus, and was running a fever. I reminisced about the “good,old days” when a fever of 105 was insufficient to keep a clergy member from the bimah, hallucinations or no. When I was fever free as of Monday evening (24 hours before Kol Nidrei), I breathed a sigh of relief. Even though I was not feeling well, I could choose to lead services, and be there with my congregation. A few hours later, fate stepped in, and the PCR test, which my wise wife, Michelle, insisted that I take, came up positive for COVID. I was going to be observing Yom Kippur services from home.
Mostly, this letter is a thank you - to Cantor Sharlein, who barely blinked as she ended up having to deal with a lot more than she usually does (which is already a great deal) on one of the longest days of the clergy year. Special thanks to Rabbi Mary Zamore, who had volunteered to help out when I might have had a fever, was relieved when I said I did not, and then stepped in again at 9pm - less than 24 hours before the first service. Thank you to our Temple leadership - who stepped up to cover what they could, who provided Michelle and I support (as she got sick two days later), and who took care of themselves through COVID infection as well. Finally, thank you to all the members of Temple Sholom, who took everything in stride, supported our Cantor and fill-in Rabbi, and made sure that we could complete the ten days of repentance as a congregational family.
It was an odd thing to watch the services that I had expected to lead, from my dining room, on line. (However,I think I did a better job flipping the slides than I do when I am standing on the bimah, and often get carried away by the Cantor’s voice and prayer. It was very difficult not to unmute and boom out from the Temple sound system.) I miss seeing many of you, whom I only get to see a few times a year. It was so encouraging to see a crowd of over 200 congregants on Rosh haShanah morning - probably our largest gathering since the onset of the pandemic. I had hoped that we would increase as the HolyDays proceeded.
“Mann tracht, un Gott lacht”, as they say in Yiddish - “People plan, and God laughs.” We act with free will, but sometimes things are out of our hands. There is no better lesson for our High HolyDays. We must act as if we can make the world a better place, even as it seems that we can have no effect on the great whole. Akiva reminds us - in the end, the world is judged in goodness, and our job is to, more often than not, do what is right.
Rabbi Abraham
