2024 Rosh Hashanah Evening

The Kotzker Rebbe taught: The day that you were born was the day that the Holy One, blessed be, decided that the world could no longer exist without you.

I want us to try and visualize this teaching … using a deck of cards.

I’m going to take this deck and shuffle it seven times, as that is how many it takes to fully randomize a standard 52 card deck. The total number of possible shuffles of this deck is 52 factorial (52 times 51 times 50 times 49 … and so on), which comes to an 8 followed by sixty-seven zeroes.

The number of possible shuffles is so large, that it is practically guaranteed that in the entire course of history, no other deck of cards has ever looked exactly like this one. And, it is also essentially guaranteed that no shuffled deck of cards will ever look exactly like this one. The same is true for any deck shuffled in the future.

Even if every person on Earth shuffled a deck of cards every second since the beginning of the universe, 13.8 billion years ago, the probability of having a duplicate shuffle would be 1 in a number so high that we don’t even have a name for it. There are more possible shuffles than the number of atoms on Earth.

There is something that can match the sheer uniqueness of this particular deck of cards … You.

Neil deGrasse Tyson similarly contemplates the likelihood of you being alive.

How many people could be born? How many total humans are possible? That number is astronomically large. Most people that could exist will never even be born … you are alive against stupendous odds. And whatever your lot is in life, you are alive.

Tyson concludes, You are as special a living entity as there ever was.

When I think about my unique shuffle, or the incredible odds-defying circumstances that brought me to be alive, I’m struck by a profound sense of wonder and gratitude.

Abraham Joshua Heschel famously described this feeling as radical amazement – a state of awe at the improbable nature of our very being.

After witnessing God enact the 10 plagues, one after another, the Israelites experienced the culminating and magnificent spectacle that was the parting of the Red Sea. And once they had safely walked through the parted waters of the sea, they went to Mount Sinai. They were standing there, about to hear God’s voice giving the 10 Commandments. I think it’s fair to suggest that our ancestors likely experienced radical amazement.

And what about us? Surely all of us have had awe-inspiring experiences throughout our lives. I hope that even in the difficulty of this past year, each of us can remember at least one moment of radical amazement.

I like to call these kinds of experiences Mount Sinai moments.

Radical amazement doesn’t require that everything be perfect, when there is nothing wrong. Because the truth is, something is always imperfect. As that crowd of 600,000 Israelites were making their way through the desert toward Mount Sinai, they surely faced challenges. Sand in their feet caused painful blisters. The sun beating down led to dehydration. Families struggled to keep track of their belongings and children in the sea of people.

Radical amazement doesn’t happen when all the cosmic tumblers click into place, it happens when we shift our focus, looking ahead to Mount Sinai, and not back to Egypt.

Thinking about the literal Mount Sinai moment … it’s been depicted in countless books and films, but imagine what it would be like to actually experience it. Memorable, terrifying, and life-changing, right?! Surely they lived the rest of their lives in an almost permanent state of gratitude and wonder. Right?

Well … not exactly.

They complained about the lack of water at Marah. They didn’t like the food. Then, at Rephidim, they complained about water again. More complaining at Taberah. Then they didn’t have enough meat. They complained about Moses and God. They complained so much, that when Moses was on Mount Sinai, they built the golden calf.

In fact, following the Exodus from Egypt, the Israelites actually ask to go back to Egypt. Not once, not twice, but on four different occasions.

Put simply, even after everything they experienced, their feeling radical amazement didn’t last long.

Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur are our Mount Sinai moments. We gain perspective on our lives, value our friendships and family, promise to do better, and promise to be better. Even amidst the tensions of our modern day world, with rising antisemitism and incredible political discord, we are hopeful for a new year of blessing and life. In ten days when we observe Yom Kippur, we will read and observe the Torah portion’s command to Tivchar Chaim - choose life. The radical amazement will continue.

But then the gates of Repentance close, and after we enjoy a wonderful Break Fast (sponsored by the Women of CCI), we will fall back to our old routines. As these initial days of 5785 become weeks and then months, the sharpness of our radical amazement can easily erode into the normalcy of routine and old habits … And soon, we are complaining about the lack of water. These are our Egypt moments.

During holy moments like tonight, we feel radical amazement, and commit to notice it more, to do such and such more, and then … we’re back in Egypt.

Why?!

Look at this shuffled deck of cards again. The real challenge isn’t that we don’t know that life is a miracle. The challenge is that we fail to imprint that understanding onto our lives each and every day. It’s not that the miracle isn’t there. It’s simply that we don’t see it. A favorite quote of mine from the movie Grand Canyon, A miracle is only a miracle if you see it as a miracle.

We need to see with Mount Sinai eyes and not with Egypt eyes.

Rabbi, this all sounds wonderful, but the world isn’t always filled with miracles. Sometimes it’s filled with pain and suffering.

One year ago, Hamas killed more than 1200 Israelis and kidnapped hundreds more. Less than 48 hours ago, Iran sent hundreds of missiles to Israel, exacerbating an already impossible situation.

Radical amazement is not about ignoring these realities. But we must find pockets of wonder and joy even in darkness, in the courage of first responders, in the resilience of communities coming together, in the many messages of friendship and love from our interfaith partners. Radical amazement is our catalyst for engaging in deeds of justice and Tikkun Olam.

After almost sacrificing his son Isaac, Abraham looks up and sees a ram. While he is recovering from his circumcision, Abraham lifts his eyes and sees three visitors. Lot lifts his eyes and sees the Jordan Valley. Joshua lifts his eyes and notices a divine being. Judaism constantly reminds us to look up, to see what we hadn’t seen before.

When the Israelites are underneath Mount Sinai, God reveals the first of the 10 Commandments:

• I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.¹

This verse is the frame through which we see and understand not only the subsequent nine commandments, but the entire system of Jewish life.

I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt

Throughout the Torah, and more than 15 times after giving the commandments, God reminds them that God freed them from slavery.

These reminders and rejoinders weren’t just for our ancestors. God is calling out to us: Look up! Experience the radical amazement of being alive.

I want to challenge all of us to do something on Friday morning, the day after Rosh Hashanah. After waking up, try to “look up” - remember that God brought you from Egypt. Remember that the world can not exist without you. Perhaps this will be the frame for your words and actions.

If you can do this, not just today during the holiness and Mount-Sinai-ness of the High Holidays, but every day … we will experience radical amazement.

Lift your eyes, see the wonders around you … see the wonders within you! Live each day as if you’ve just walked through the parted sea. Because you have.

Footnotes

1. Exodus 20:2 ↩