Rabbi Nisan Andrews: Providing guidance, friendship and the vibrant waters of Torah

by Rabbi Nisan Andrews 

(Calgary) – The highlight of the Yom Kippur service is the moment when the Kohen Gadol enters the Kodesh Hakodashim. There, he not only offers prayers on behalf of the people but also receives inspiration for the year ahead.

What form did this inspiration take? We know that God did not speak to the Kohen Gadol, he was not a prophet receiving prophecy. It must therefore be deduced that his inspiration came from what he saw.

Once a year, the Kohen Gadol entered the Kodesh Hakodashim, and there, situated on top of the Aron Kodesh, were the Keruvim, angels fashioned in the image of a young boy and a young girl, attached to the Ark itself. I like to imagine that the Kohen Gadol would perhaps realize there is one cause that outranks all others: the education and care of our youth.

It is certainly worth considering that despite the Torah strictly forbidding and abhorring carved images, God permitted, even commanded, that two such figures be fashioned to stand in the holiest place in the Temple. The symbolism is quite clear: God wanted Israel to know that Jewish children are our most precious possession. This theme is echoed in a moving statement found in the Midrash on Eicha.

Rabbi Yehuda says, “Come and see how beloved Jewish children are in the eyes of God. For is it not true that when the Sanhedrin was exiled from Jerusalem (at the time of the destruction of the Temple), the Shechinah did not leave the city. Even when the Kohanim were expelled, the Shechinah still remained. But when the children of our people were exiled from Jerusalem, only then did the Shechinah leave, as it says, ‘Her children went into exile before the enemy’ (Eicha 1:5), whereupon ‘And all her glory departed from Zion,’ which refers to the Shechinah.”

The Kohen Gadol might then remember that, traditionally, it is these same Keruvim, armed with flaming swords, who stand guard at the gates of Gan Eden. It is in this context that the Rabbis refer to these angels as Malachei Chabalah. At that moment, the Kohen Gadol could realize that these Malachei Chabalah are not out of place in the Kodesh Hakodashim.

When a child is born, everything is a possibility, but nothing is guaranteed. Leave a child to their own devices without guidance, and they will take up the sword and become destructive. But if you place the child over the Aron Kodesh and initiate them in the ways of the Torah, the Shechinah itself resides upon them. The consequences of misguided parental responsibility are highlighted in a Talmudic passage that chillingly echoes the situation of many of our youth today.

Rabbi Chiya bar Abba says in the name of Rabbi Yochanan, “It can be compared to a father who had a son. He bathed him, put cologne on him, and gave him food and drink. He then filled his wallet with money, tied it around his neck, and placed him right in front of a house of sin. How, in such a situation, can the child not sin?”

It is no accident or coincidence that Yom Kippur is the Yahrzeit of Rabbi Akiva, one of our greatest Rabbis, who was martyred for refusing to stop teaching Torah. It was he who explained that Jewish education is to our people what water is to fish, the very source of our existence.

Having youth and education as the focal points of the day may explain an interesting ritual performed on Yom Kippur, as described in the Mishna.

Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel said, “Israel had no days as festive as Tu B’Av and Yom Kippur, for on those days the young girls of Jerusalem would go out in white, borrowed garments—so as not to embarrass anyone who had none. The young girls of Jerusalem would go out and dance in the vineyards. And what did they say? ‘Young boy, do not just look at beauty; look at family.'”

Taken at its most basic level, this Mishna indicates that Jewish children were encouraged to meet one another on Yom Kippur. It was not considered a frivolous exercise on such a solemn day. The Rabbis were acutely aware that there is only one issue as important as what we teach our children, and that is who their friends are. A Jewish child, taught by the most gifted teacher, who doesn’t mix with other Jewish children, is a Jewish child at risk.

May we, like the Kohen Gadol of old, be inspired by this Holy Day to rededicate ourselves to the supreme religious duty of raising our children in the traditions and practices of our people. We should work to ensure that our synagogues and schools remains a place where our youth find guidance, friendship, and the vibrant waters of Torah.

I wish you and your families a G’mar Chatima Tova and a sweet, healthy New Year.

Rabbi Nisan Andrews is Rabbi at House of Jacob Mikveh Israel in Calgary.