9.16.2022
Department of Corrections:
If you read my piece last week about the Catholic priest who had to resign his position because of a (seemingly minor) liturgical error, you would have read an uninformed assessment of the theological implications of said error. As I noted in the piece, “I am no expert on Catholic theology.” Turns out that’s true. Our own Sister Celia Deutsch contacted me after reading that piece to explain that the issue of “damnation” (with regard to this baptism issue) is a lot more complicated than my Hollywood-informed take on it. As Celia states, “The linking of a proper form of baptism and the alternative of damnation [reflects] un-nuanced and uninformed thinking even [among] some right-wing Catholics. It also, unfortunately, matches stereotypes of Roman Catholics and their religious commitments.”
As Celia also wrote, “The linking of baptism and salvation is messy theologically.” In other words, it is by no means a straight line from the one (or the lack of the one) to the other. And while this is not the place to explore a deeper understanding of Roman Catholic theology, it does afford a different opportunity: as we enter the last week of Elul, it allows me to apologize for a careless mistake and to ask forgiveness from all of our Roman Catholic friends who may have taken offense. As we prepare to enter into the High Holy Days, this is, frankly, a gift.
Speaking of Elul and gifts, permit me to share another video with you. This is a song written and performed by the Israeli actor, singer, and songwriter Shuli Rand (perhaps you saw him in the wonderful 2005 film Ushpizin). Rand was raised in a religious Zionist home, left religion and became a celebrated actor, but ultimately returned to his religious roots, eventually becoming a Breslover Chasid.
In this song (it’s in Hebrew – translation below), called Elul/Between the Sacred and the Profane, he combines imagery from the High Holy Days, the theme of repentance, words from the extraordinary Unetaneh Tokef poem in the High Holy Day Musaf service, echoes of Talmudic lore, wisdom of Rebbi Nachman of Breslov, and a philosophical reflection on existence, all in the context of “Elul.” I’ve watched it a dozen times. I find it captivating.
There’s much to discuss in this song. Who’s he talking to at the gate? Why does Rebbi Nachman teach “waiting?” And what is the “in-between” space that he lives in at the end of the song. This last question is something I hope to dig into in my remarks on Rosh Hashana. Think of this as a teaser. If you can follow the translation (if you need it) while you watch the video, so much the better – the video is beautifully shot and he’s wonderful to watch.
Let’s all keep our Elul work going!
Shabbat shalom um’vorach – a peaceful and blessed Shabbat
Rabbi Sam Levine
Video is here:
Elul/Bein Kodesh l’Chol (Elul/Between the Sacred and the Profane)
-Shuli Rand
Elul, Elul, Elul
Elul, Elul, Elul
The king is in the field, in Elul
Even fish in the sea are shaking, in Elul
I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine, in Elul
Elul, Elul, Elul
Then the great shofar will sound
And you will hear a thin sound of silence
And angels will hasten
And a force and trembling shall take hold
Who will live and who will die
Who is at the end and who is not at the end
Some in water and some in fire
And who in the plague, in the plague
Elul, Elul, Elul
Elul, Elul, Elul
So I saw that I had to do something with myself because half of Elul had already passed
And all I’m doing is singing sing “Elul, Elul, Elul”
So I ran to the same place and when I arrived the gate was closed
So I knocked on it and no one answered and I got a little upset
I said, “now you’re out for lunch?”
I knocked and no one answered, I knocked and no one answered
I said, “I will not move from here until I am forgiven, I have come to be cleansed”
I knocked, and when the sun went down I suddenly heard someone say, “who’s there?”
I said, “me”
They said “who’s ‘me’?”
I said, “my name is Shalom Yosef ben Yaakov Pinchas”
He says, “oh Shuli!
Say ‘Shuli, the Singing Rebbe!’
Why have you come? We’ve been waiting for you all year, we haven’t seen you, and now you’ve come to purify yourself?”
I told him, “yes friend, and you should do it fast
Because the cart is moving, it’s not stopping,
And let us make some correction, some repentance before rolling us into the pit”
They told me “it’s not like that, it’s not like that
I really like your songs, really, you strengthen me
But there are no insider connections here
No one opens the gate”
I said “what should I do?”
He told me, “you are a student of Rabbi Nachman of Breslav, right?”
I told him, “yes”
He says, “well, what does Rabbi Nachman of Breslav say?
[He says], ‘The one who comes to purify? they tell him:
wait.’”
And he disappeared
I said, “I’m not moving from here until they open for me”
So I’m waiting
Between darkness and light, I wait
Between heat and cold, I wait
Between closures, I wait
Between fractures, I wait
waiting
Without drinking without eating, waiting
Between holy and profane, waiting
Elul, Elul, Elul
Between holy and profane I live
With the truth raging in me
With a thousand habits
With all the scars on my face
I go out again to disperse the words
Between reality and madness everything comes back to me
There in the place from which I came there is no peace
And this journey is heavy and a little too big for me
I need to grow from this and then, enough!
Grow from it and enough
Between holy and profane I live
With the truth raging in me
With a thousand habits
With all the fear on my shoulders
I go out again to disperse the words
Between reality and madness everything comes back to me
There in the place from which I came there is no peace
And this journey is heavy and a little big on me
I need to grow from this and enough
Grow from it and enough
Please take care of me
Just so my feet do not fail, my God
Between reality and madness everything comes back to me
There in the place from which I came there is no peace
And this journey is heavy and a little big on me
I need to grow from this, and let that be enough
Grow from it, and enough