What Should the Rabbi Talk About This Rosh Hashanah
Politics or Purpose?
The Great High Holiday Sermon Debate
Every year as Rosh Hashanah approaches, rabbis face a challenge almost as difficult as preparing the sermon itself:
What should we talk about?
Should the High Holiday pulpit address the headlines of the day: politics, Israel, antisemitism, elections, division and the state of the world?
Or should these precious moments be reserved for something deeper: faith, teshuvah, family, Jewish identity and the purpose of our lives?
So, in the spirit of the famous Latke versus Hamantaschen debate, I decided to debate the issue with the one person who argues with me most effectively:
Myself.
Meet Rabbi Politic and Rabbi Purpose.
Rabbi Politic Makes His Case
RABBI POLITIC:
Let’s be realistic. People don’t walk into shul disconnected from the world. They are carrying the headlines with them.
Israel. Antisemitism. Elections. Crime. The economy. Political division. The future of America.
People are worried, sometimes frightened and often angry.
Surely the rabbi has to say something!
RABBI PURPOSE:
Of course. The only problem is that half the congregation wants you to say one thing and the other half wants exactly the opposite.
RABBI POLITIC:
So half will be angry?
RABBI PURPOSE:
No. The other half will be angry that you didn’t go far enough.
And besides, people can get politics twenty four hours a day. They have television, radio, podcasts, social media and endless commentary.
Rosh Hashanah offers something much rarer
A chance to look inward.
Politics asks, “What’s wrong with them?”
Teshuvah asks, “What can I change in me?”
But Can Judaism Ignore the Headlines?
RABBI POLITIC:
Wait a minute. Judaism doesn’t tell us to ignore the world.
When Israel is threatened, shouldn’t we speak?
When antisemitism rises, shouldn’t we speak?
When society loses its moral compass, shouldn’t Torah have something to say?
RABBI PURPOSE:
Absolutely.
And this is where the Rebbe’s guidance becomes so important.
The Rebbe constantly addressed the events of the world. But he rarely allowed the discussion to end with analysis.
He transformed events into action.
When there was darkness, the response was to add light.
When Jewish identity was threatened, strengthen Jewish pride.
When there was division, increase Ahavas Yisrael.
When there was danger, increase Torah, tefillah, tzedakah and mitzvos.
The question was not merely:
“What happened?”
The real question was:
“What are we going to do about it?”
Who Is Really Running Your Life?
That may be the real message of Rosh Hashanah.
We spend enormous amounts of time asking:
Who is running the country?
Rosh Hashanah asks something more personal:
Who is running my life?
Is it anger? Ego? Fear? Resentment? Politics? My phone? Social media?
Or is there room for Hashem?
RABBI POLITIC:
You had to bring my phone into this?
RABBI PURPOSE:
Even the phone needs teshuvah.
RABBI POLITIC:
Mine is already on silent.
RABBI PURPOSE:
Good. Now we have to work on the owner.
And the Winner Is…
So who wins the Great High Holiday Debate?
Politics? Purpose?
Perhaps the answer is:
Action.
A High Holiday sermon can begin in Washington. It can travel through Jerusalem. It can enter the deepest teachings of Torah, Chassidus and mystical thought.
But eventually it has to arrive at one destination:
You.
What will ‘you’ do differently this year?
One more mitzvah. One more prayer. One more act of tzedakah. One more Torah class.
One person to forgive. One person to call. One more expression of Jewish pride.
Because the greatest High Holiday sermon is not necessarily the one delivered from the pulpit.
It is the sermon we live after we walk out the door.
So perhaps the choice isn’t really politics ‘or’ purpose.
We can speak about the world, but only if it leads us to ask what Hashem expects from us.
We can discuss the darkness, but only if we are prepared to light another candle.
We can worry about the Jewish future, but only if we are prepared to become active participants in building it.
That, I believe, captures the Rebbe’s approach: don’t merely analyze the world. Transform it through another mitzvah and another act of goodness.
May the coming year be one of health, nachas, parnassah, peace, unity, security for our brothers and sisters in Eretz Yisrael, and greater Jewish pride everywhere.
And may the greatest headline of the new year finally be:
Moshiach is here. Peace has come to the world.
Kesivah Vachasimah Tovah.
