Praying with Sinners

How do we relate to Jews with whom we vehemently disagree? What happens when Jews engage in despicable behavior? Are they still part of the community? Do we welcome them to Shul? How about those Neturei Karta scoundrels, who show up to protest Israel and support Iran? Or maybe you saw the images of Chabad students putting tefillin on a pro-Hamas protestor on October 7.

On the one hand, the Talmud (Sanhedrin 44a) teaches: “Af al pi she-chata Yisrael hu - Though a Jew may sin, a Jew he remains.” On the other hand, Jews supporting our enemies is a violation of basic loyalty to the Jewish people.

As infuriating as some Jews are, once a year, everyone is welcome. Before we begin Kol Nidrei, we declare: “Anu matirin l’hitpaleil im ha-avaraynim – We have permission to pray with the transgressors among us.”

What does this expression mean? Where does it come from? What does it teach us?

Inviting the sinner to pray is based on a teaching of Rabbi Shimon Chasida in Keritot (6b) that the prayers of a public fast day require the participation of “posh’ei Yisrael,” the sinners of Israel. The source for such inclusion is the spice called chelbanah, galbanum, which was an ingredient in the ketoret, incense. It had a terrible scent, but it was included – and essential – to the mix. So, too, the participation of sinners is critical in creating community in times of grave importance.

On Yom Kippur, every single confession is in the plural. We acknowledge that there are sins in our community even though we did not commit them, and there are sinners in the community. We begin Yom Kippur aspiring for achdut, unity.

There has been a lot of talk about Jewish unity. For most of 2023, there was a lack of unity as Israel was roiled by the dispute around reforming the judicial system. For the last 12 months, since October 7, the pendulum shifted towards more unity as Jews around the world came together to fight our common enemies. The expression “Yachad nenatzeiach – Together, we will be victorious!” was everywhere, and it seemed to be working. Most recently, it seems like we have reverted to old habits of disagreements. Unity isn’t easy.

Even our enemies understand the power and fragility of Jewish unity.

Sapir Cohen endured 55 days of brutal Hamas captivity before being released on November 30. Her partner, Alex (Sasha) Trufanov, remains held by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Sapir shared a gripping account of her experience in an interview with Israel Hayom, including how she actually spoke with Yahya Sinwar. She recounted an exchange with one of her captors:

"During my captivity, one of my captors called me to watch Al-Jazeera when they were showing footage of the Hostages Square. I saw tens of thousands of Israelis united in purpose, and it filled me with hope. The captor smiled, interlocked his fingers into two fists, and said, 'When all the Jews are like this, it's strong, strong, strong. We'll wait a bit, there will be chaos among you.' It was then that I understood they are acutely aware of our vulnerabilities and know that our greatest threat comes from within.”

Even Hamas recognizes we are stronger together. Sapir continued:

"This is why we don't need to share the same opinions, but rather respect each other, practice tolerance, and remember that we're all one family. We cannot afford to be indifferent to human life, and we must do everything in our power to bring back Sasha and the remaining hostages. We can't allow them to be out of sight and out of mind. If we choose the wrong path, we risk facing even greater tragedies. While there's talk of dismantling Hamas, we seem to be moving towards dismantling the unity of Israel itself."

“Anu matirin l’hitpaleil im ha-avaraynim – We have permission to pray with the transgressors among us.”

This Yom Kippur, the Tzohar organization is Israel, is emphasizing and promoting Jewish unity. They are arranging for hundreds of services throughout Israel that are open to Jews of all backgrounds and levels of observance. They are encouraging all Jews to add prayers for the unity of the Jewish people before Kol Nidrei and before Neilah. You can learn more about the effort and see the prayers HERE.

We know that Jews are a fractious, diverse people. At the same time, what better time than Yom Kippur to hope, pray, and aspire that there is still much more than unites almost all of us than divides us. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks said:

“Everything about Yom Kippur teaches us the absolute indivisible unity of the Jewish people. On the holiest day of the year, on the holiest spot on earth, the holiest man among the people – the High Priest – would do what? He would atone for himself, and then for his family, and then for the entire congregation of Israel. There were absolutely no divisions. The most righteous still needed to be forgiven. And the least righteous still were able to be forgiven. On Yom Kippur there is complete equality between Jews and complete unity between Jews.”

It is true, but what can we do to make it true?

We can commit to Jewish unity and do our best to act in ways that bring Jews together in united purpose. This Yom Kippur, we can also daven for more Jewish unity. Here is a prayer for unity composed by Rabbi Yosef Zvi Rimon:

“May God who blessed our ancestors, bless and watch over each and every one of the people of Israel. May God instill in our hearts the goodwill to see everything with a kind eye, great love for each and every one from Israel, and may we be granted powerful unity and complete redemption speedily in our days. And let us say: Amen.”

This Yom Kippur, as we take steps to make ourselves and our relationship with God and others better, let’s not give up on that elusive superpower called achdut. Jewish unity might be something beyond our reach, but that doesn’t mean we stop trying.