Welcome to the website of Ohev Sholom -- The National Synagogue.

Some of you might have seen me driving around town in our beloved shul van.  It is a former taxi, a fifteen year old Dodge Caravan, which we juiced up a little.  We retained the taxi sign on top of the car.  Instead of a regular advertisement on the top, we put a picture of a Shofar and wrote, “Come celebrate the Holidays with us.”  Then we put Stars of David all around the car and we wrote the shul name on the car.  We also put a neat slogan on the back of the car: “Join us on the High Way.”

Some people love this car, while others poke fun at it.  Some call it a Jew-mobile and ask me if I am embarrassed to ride around in it. 

Around six weeks ago I left my house one morning to go to shul and I walked outside and the car was gone.  “Impossible,” I said.  Who would steal a car that has a picture of a shofar on it?   Who would steal a car from a synagogue?  But it was really gone.  So we called the police and gave them a detailed, description of our car.

A couple of days later they called back and said that they found the car but they had to impound it.  The thief had stolen our car and used it to rob a bank in Prince George’s county.  The thief had escaped, but he had abandoned the car in a ditch.  Aside from the fact that now the car’s motor no longer works, there is only one thing missing from the car: the picture of the Shofar.  Apparently the thief stole that as well.

On our next car, we won’t put a picture of a Shofar?  We will put a picture of the Ten Commandments and highlight, “Thou Shall Not Steal!”

Look how brazen this thief was.  He stole a car that was so easily identifiable.  He stole in order to rob a bank in broad daylight.   He stole from a synagogue and robbed a bank!  This person is a thief who steals without shame or self-consciousness.

Let’s compare this thief to our own lives.

The truth is that on Yom Kippur we are reminded that we are all thieves.  Indeed, the commandment not to steal is the fundamental imperative of Yom Kippur.  We all need to remember not to steal and sometimes we don’t even realize that we are stealing. 

When we conclude Yom Kippur, during Neilah, we pray, “le-maan nechdal meioshek yadeinu, God, hold us back from committing theft with our hands.”

Rabbi Soloveitchik asked why we especially focus on the sin of theft on Yom Kippur.   Why of all sins is it the sin of theft that is singled out as we close out Yom Kippur?  He explained that every sin that we commit is really a type of theft from God.  When we sin, we are violating our purpose on this earth.  “All of a person’s organs, talents, and capabilities belong to God and are only on loan to man.  The very moment they are misused, man has violated his agreement with Him.   Living a life of sin is an act of theft and extortion.”

This is the reason why giving charity is such an important part of Repentance.  There are a lot of important reasons to give charity, but the greatest reason is because when we give charity we are reminded that the money doesn’t really belong to us—it is God’s and we are His caretakers.  But it is not just money….  Everything that we have in this world is God’s and we are His caretakers.  So when we wander from God’s path, we are really stealing from God. 

There was once a debate amongst the rabbis of the Talmud about what should be the full text of the confession prayer that we recite on Yom Kippur.  Today our confession text is very long, but according to the great Rabbi Yochanan, (Yoma, 87b) all we really need to say is just two words: “Ribbon Haolamim, Master of the Universe.”  The ultimate confession is to acknowledge that God is our Master.  If we do so, then we will be aware of just how misguided many of our actions are.  We will be cognizant that we too are thieves stealing from God while we are supposed to be working for Him.

When we sin, we are really even more misguided then the person who stole our car.  He at least knows stealing is wrong and for whatever reason ignores what he knows to be the right way to act.  On the other hand, we often don’t even know how misguided we are. 

We are oblivious to our own actions.  We often completely miss the directions and the signs that God sends us in this world.

Here we can take another lesson from the thief who stole our van. 

One of the saddest parts of the thief stealing our van is that he is an example of a desperate and misguided man taking the wrong steps with his life. 

God has put us in this world for a reason.  And this thief lost his focus and forgot that reason.

This is true about that thief, but there is a danger about it being true for each of us as well.  We may not be brazenly stealing cars from a synagogue.  But are we slacking off on our job on this planet?  Are we shirking our responsibility in this world?

That is what Yom Kippur is about. It is reminder for us to ask God for His help in not shirking our responsibilities.  We cry to God, “le-maan nechdal meioshek yadeinu, hold us back from committing theft with our hands.”  God, remind us of our responsibilities.

How disappointing that the thief completely ignored all of our brilliant marketing techniques.  If the thief only knew how many hours we consulted with marketing gurus before coming up with the very clever phrase, “Join us on the High Way!”  The Star of David was supposed to remind everyone of Jewish strength.  How could he not get the symbolism of the shofar?  The shofar on the van was a message to repent, to come to synagogue and pray.  Yet, he didn’t hear the shofar, he stole the shofar.

But, oh how we ignore God’s marketing and messages to us!  God sends us messages the whole year as well.  But with so much noise in our lives we often miss His message.

This is the central warning of Yom Kippur.  God is reminding us: “Listen to me.  Don’t steal.  You have a job on this earth.  Do your job.”

Think about the story of Jonah which we read as Yom Kippur comes to a close. 

Vayehi devar Hashem el Yonah, God spoke to Jonah.  He told him what to do.  He told Jonah, “Go to Ninveh and call out to them.”  But Jonah doesn’t want to listen to God.  Jonah has his own plan.  He knows best.  So instead Jonah runs in the opposite direction.  He runs to a ship.  And God makes a storm on the ship.  It was such an unusual storm that everyone on the ship knew that the storm contained a message for them; everyone that is except for Jonah.  In the middle of the storm, Jonah goes below deck and goes to sleep.

How many of us are going to sleep in the middle of a call from God?

The captain of the ship finds Jonah asleep in the middle of the storm and he shouts out to him, “Mah lekhah nirdam, kum kerah el elokeichah, why are you sleeping?  Get up!  Call out to your God.”

Unfortunately, we are too often like Jonah.  We often don’t see what is right in front of our eyes.  We turn away like Jonah.  We ignore the calls, the signs, and the messages. Instead we get angry at someone else for stealing, when really we are the ones who have gone off course.  As we say in our confession, ta-inu, we have wandered.

But God has mercy upon His children, even though we are thieves.  He sends us signs and notes which call to us.  We call them coincidences.  But they are signs from Hashem to stay on the path.

Let me give you an example of a story that some people call a coincidence. 

Just last week we were standing on the street, handing out honey and free High Holiday tickets, and wishing everyone a Sweet New Year.  Contrary to popular belief, this is not a glorious job.   It is hard work and sometimes we see very little reward.  We can stand there for two hours and not find anyone interested.  And I will admit that I have even thought of abandoning this line of work. 

But then just this past week, a “coincidence” happened which reminded me that I have a job to do.  I offered some honey to a woman as she was walking out of the Metro station.  She shook her head, and said, “No, thank you.”  She looked like she was in a rush to get somewhere important.  But then, just moments later she walked back and asked an innocent question, “Are you guys with a synagogue?”  “Why, yes, we are,” I said.  “Are you offering discounted High Holiday tickets?”  I said, “Of course.”  She asked, “How many do you have?”  I said, “How many do you need?”  She said, “None for me.  However, it just so happens that I am a reporter doing a story on the topic of discounted High Holiday tickets and I just so happened to pass you.”  I said, “Who do you write for?  She said, “The New York Times.  Do you mind if I call you?”  I said, “The New York Times!  Let me give you my cell phone.”

Whether or not she ultimately does a story on our meeting is not the point.  The point is that if we keep plugging away, then, just like that, we can get our message out to thousands of people. 

That was an example of a reminder to stay on the same road.  But little things like this also happen to remind us that we have a job to do and we shouldn’t take too much time off from our job.

Things like this happen to us every day—at least they happen to me every day.  One time recently, I was waiting all day to watch a Monday Night football game.  Now it was the month of Elul and I really should be studying Torah and doing mitzvoth.  I shouldn’t be staying up late at night watching sports when I have so much work to do and such little time.  But my New York Jets were playing and I really miss them from when I lived in New York. 

So I was all set to watch the game.  But then lo and behold, on a perfectly beautiful night, a blackout happened right when the game started and affected only the ten blocks around my home.  Wouldn’t you know that the blackout basically lasted the whole game? 

Maybe, just maybe, I was being taught that the best way for me to prepare for Rosh Hashanah was not by watching a football game.  Maybe I was being told to stop wasting my time.  Who knows?  All I know is that the signs keep coming in and I keep praying for God to keep me on the path.

Then comes along the ultimate sign of all.  It is a sign whose message is not hard to figure out.  It is a big, bright neon sign called: Yom Kippur.  On this special day we realize that God is calling out to us again.  This time He is clearing the path and allowing us to listen.  And this time we do listen.  This time we remember that nothing is ours and our sole mission is to serve God.  This time we admit that we have wandered.  This time get it.  This time we are not thieves.  On this day we are all holy.

On this day we all declare, “le-maan nechdal meioshek yadeinu, God, hold us back from committing theft with our hands.” 

We all become holy by recognizing that God alone is our Master. And if we do that every day of the year then we will no longer live as thieves and we will no longer ignore God’s call.

So let us begin our holy day by reciting together the two essential words of this beautiful day.

Please repeat after me: Ribon Haolamim, Master of the Universe. 

Master of the Universe, this Yom Kippur we will serve You.