(Shared during musaf on Yom Kippur)
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this upcoming section is maybe not everyone’s favorite part of Yom Kippur davening. Especially for someone like me, who looks away during gory scenes in movies, the poem about the ten martyrs - in Hebrew known as Eleh Ezkarah, ‘These I Remember’ - is a really hard section to stomach, especially on an empty stomach. In fact, when I was asking around for ideas for this dvar torah - I asked some friends, a teacher of mine, my grandmother - they all had the same reaction: why do you have to give a dvar torah about the ten martyrs? Why specifically this section? (Well, one, because the Yom Kippur committee asked me to, but two) I think especially because this is something that’s so hard for us to connect to, it’s worth us taking a second look and perhaps reframing it.
Instead of focusing on how these great leaders were murdered, we can focus on how they lived - their qualities, the way they brought Torah to the world, the legacies they leave behind. We can’t understand why a loss is so tragic unless we understand what was lost. So let’s take Rabbi Akiva for example - one of the most well known of the martyrs, and possibly the Talmud’s greatest scholar. Many of you may know about his humble beginnings as an uneducated shepherd. The story goes that one day, at the age of 40, he happened upon a hollowed out stone. Rabbi Akiva looked up and noticed water dripping, right above the place where the rock was hollowed out. In that moment he realized that if over years and years even water could hollow out a stone, surely Torah could make an impression on his heart. At the age of 40, Rabbi Akiva started learning Torah, and slowly but surely became the leading scholar of his generation.
This story got me thinking about another lifelong learner we recently lost - Shimon Peres (z”l). Last week I had the privilege of attending Adas Israel’s memorial service for him, and hearing Vice President Joe Biden and former secretary of state Madeline Albright share their memories of Peres and the legacy he’s left us. (Check out the video on CSPAN's website.) One thing that Albright shared stuck with me, so I’ll share it with you. She said, “When some get older, they do not think it’s possible to learn something new. Others, however look upon it as an opportunity. I know I do, and that Shimon did as well.” She continued: “In honor of his 93rd birthday he joined snapchat, which means I still have a few years before I must follow suit. He never doubted his own capacity to learn and grow, and as a result he remained utterly optimistic until the very end.”
Though these great leaders may no longer be with us in this world, we have the ability to carry on their legacy through our actions and the way we choose to live our lives. After herself quoting Pirkei Avot, Albright said, “And while Shimon Peres did not finish the task, his passing does not free us from the obligation to pursue the hard work of peace.”
So if you, like I do, find Eleh Ezkarah challenging, try instead taking this opportunity to think about the traits, the middot, of these great sages and other greats we have lost, and how we can carry them on in our lives this next year. This way, we’ll ensure that they will truly be remembered.
Wishing you all a gmar chatima tova.
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