[Dean's World] Ron Coleman: The Day of Atonement

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Posted by Ron Coleman:
The Day of Atonement
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1159672373.shtml


   On Rosh Hashana, we endeavored to "make it real" to ourselves -- to
   accept psychologically, emotionally, and hopefully ethically -- that
   God is the boss of us. That gets us ready to accept the reality of Yom
   Kippur, for there is no atonement (kaparah) unless one acknowledges
   something bigger than himself.

   That means that if we succeeded on Rosh Hashana, we have the
   foundation of a conversation with God about atonement. By making God
   the boss, we now have the ability to talk about atonement in terms of
   authority -- you have to recognize that you've got to apologize and
   atone, or else. And we can talk about it in terms of substance --
   you've got to realize that merely because you did it and you perhaps
   even enjoyed it doesn't mean you were right. Very un-modern, I know,
   but that's what I'm here for.

   Many more people in this neighborhood have trouble with the second
   part than the first part. A lot of us in Dean's World believe in God,
   but we basically believe he's pretty cool with us as long as we don't
   hurt anyone else. This is the Libertarian concept of God, and it is
   quite convenient, isn't it?

   Not that never hurting anyone is so easy -- it's harder than we think.
   In Jewish sensibility, we say that humiliating your fellow is
   comparable to murder; when you induce a whiter shade of pale in the
   complexion of your victim, it is as if you had shed his very blood. We
   can also hurt someone (and yourself, but that's not our topic right
   here) by engaging in activities that are commonly excused because they
   are consensual. "It's okay if its consensual" is surely the meme of
   our time.

   But in fact even without admitting of God and spiritual truth beyond
   the Golden Rule, many people whose lives have been filled with
   "consensual" activities of dubious moral value look back on them --
   some sooner, others later -- and regret being so casual with their
   bodies and souls and emotions. Maybe not all, maybe not the majority,
   but I mean only to suggest two things: Just as one does not escape
   moral responsibility for buying a drunk a cocktail or assisting a
   suicide, in other areas as well the possibility of harm even of the
   emotional or psychological kind, much less the spiritual, is not
   eliminated by consent. And that the results of choices are more
   complicated than they may seem -- especially at moments of passion.

   And what do I mean by "dubious moral value"? I am not going to sell
   Old Testament morality to you here and now. But as a shorthand test, I
   will suggest this: Without getting too technical or too "religious,"
   we can test the merit of choice before us by asking, will I grow as a
   person from doing this? Will any other person involved similarly
   benefit in the long run? Certainly if I am only using the other person
   for my own purposes, I haven't even passed the test of the Golden
   Rule. If I am just contemplating doing this to have a good time -- not
   a sin! -- is this activity truly free of any cost to my own
   self-image, at least, of what kind of a person I am? Am I doing
   something that could be regretted tomorrow? These are hard questions
   to ask yourself all day. But if we could agree on the value of that
   internal conversation, we would perhaps acknowledge the beginning of a
   formation of a moral framework for growth, I think. We can't pass
   every test every day, and God knows this, but taking our lives more
   seriously and developing the internal tools that enable us to guage
   our choices every day if we do choose to -- well, that has to be a
   good thing, doesn't it?

   Internalizing this would be a huge leap for all of us. It would enable
   us to at least face in the direction of the sainthood that most of us
   already believe we possess. And we are taught that God has no interest
   in the rest of the conversation, that is, the discussion about our
   relationship with Him alone, unless and until we settle accounts "down
   here." It's what we lawyers call a jurisdictional requisite.

   And if we were to achieve this, and to move to the next step --
   acknowledging that there are areas of behavior, even thought, where
   atonement is appropriate, even where they do not involve others at
   all; these are the category of actions between Man and his Creator
   alone -- well, I demur. That seems beyond what can be achieved in one
   blog post, especially by a mere commercial litigator.

   But ready or not, tonight begins the Fast of Yom Kippur. If you are
   Jewish and you want to know the baseline level of observance pursuant
   to ancient Jewish practice, click [1]here. I wish Jewish readers of
   Dean's World a meaningful and easy fast, and I am sure all people of
   good faith join me in wishing and praying that God will make this year
   a lot better for us and the rest of the world than the one we just
   ended.

References

   1. http://www.aish.com/hhyomk/hhyomkdefault/ABCs_of_Yom_Kippur.asp