going home ... to yerushalayim: Reb Neuberger: Yom HaKippurim

09 October 2024

Reb Neuberger: Yom HaKippurim

THE WILD HORSE

A horse gallops across the endless plains, its mane flying in the wind. No human hand has ever touched him. Hour after hour he runs. No one challenges him; no corral can contain him. But the eye of Hashem is watching.

Then, Hashem places a two-legged creature upon the horse’s back. The creature tries desperately to stay in place. As the ground flashes past his eyes, he clutches the mane, desperately afraid of being thrown down and crushed underfoot.

The animal tries to throw the intruder off. He darts left and right, but the rider holds on with all his strength. On and on they travel, over the endless plain, through day and night, storm and sunlight, the horse unable to throw the rider and the rider unable to control the horse.

This, my friends, is a portrait of mankind – you and me! -- as we gallop through life on the back of the Yetzer ha Ra, the mighty being to whom we are attached during our stay in this material world. If we are able to control this mighty creature, we are heroes. But it is the work of a lifetime.

My friends, you have probably heard my story. From childhood, I felt that my life was out of control as I galloped across the plains of life, unable to control the mighty steed. Finally, after decades, I realized that there is a G-d Who controls this world – even the mighty horse! -- and that He placed me on this stallion so that I should cry to Him for help!

Please hear these amazing words from a non-Jew: “If I still have the will to continue to live, it is only because I believe that, just like in the past, three thousand years ago, you Jews saved humanity, wild mankind, via your Torah, so too I believe and hope that, even nowadays, you, the Jewish Nation, will be successful again, to enlighten and to heal the beasts of cruelty in our midst and save the world from total destruction.” (Rabbi Shlomo Lorincz, quoting U. S. President Harry S. Truman)

All of Creation sings a song whose harmony was heard in the Garden of Eden. Here is what the horse sings: “Like the eyes of servants unto their masters, like the eyes of a maid unto her mistress, so are our eyes unto Hashem … so that He will favor us….” (Perek Shirah; Tehillim 123) Perek Shirah tells us that the horse was actually created to be tamed, so that mankind could harness its strength for the benefit of all creation.

The horse does not suffer when it is broken in; its master rewards it. So too, when we submit ourselves to Hashem’s control, He will take care of us and reward us. To break a horse is hard work; it does not bow easily before man. And so it is with us; we do not bow easily. But Hashem’s service is good for us. As King David writes, “Hashem does not desire the strength of a horse …. Hashem favors those who fear Him!” It is our avoda to harness the great power of our Yetzer so that we may serve Hashem with strength.

Please listen to these amazing words of the Chazon Ish to one of his students: “Strengthen yourself, my dear one, strengthen yourself, and envelop yourself with the fortitude to engross yourself in Torah, for it is for that purpose you were created. With just a little more [effort] you will be able to come to grips with your yetzer hara. Then his defeat will be total, and he will no longer bother you. Just overcome him today and he will be your faithful servant for all time.” (In Their Shadow, Volume I)

Before Yom Kippur, it is traditional to recite Tefillah Zakkah. Here is a partial quote: “Hashem, my G-d, it is revealed and known to You that, despite all my errors and iniquities, I did not intend to … rebel against You. I have merely followed the counsel of my Evil Inclination which continuously spreads a net at my feet to ensnare me. But I am poor and destitute, a worm and not a man. My strength is insufficient to stand up against it… Therefore, in Your … mercy, You gave us one day a year, a great and holy day … to repent before You (in order to) purify us from all our errors….”

It is written that Moshiach will come, “righteous and victorious … a humble man riding upon a donkey ….” (Zechariah 9:9) The Redeemer himself, who will usher in the Kingdom of Hashem, will tame the horse so that it will become our servant, like a donkey. In other words, the redemption of the world will actually come about through mankind controlling our animal instincts and transforming the world into the place of peace and harmony which Hashem intended.

If you look at the Kever of Shmuel ha Novi from our street in Yerushalayim in the early morning light, you will see the most amazing sight, because you see exactly what looks like a man on a donkey at the top of the hill. And Shmuel ha Novi is the Prophet who anointed Dovid King of Israel. May the successor of Shmuel ha Novi soon come to anoint Moshiach the son of Dovid!

May this Yom Kippur empower us to tame the wild horse, and may we transform the entire world with our Torah so that we soon hear the Shofar Gadol which will usher in the Age of Redemption, when Hashem will be One and His Name One! As the Novi says, “A wind lifted me and I heard behind me the sound of a great noise: ‘Blessed is the glory of Hashem from His place.’” (Yechezkel 3:12) Hashem’s power is unlimited.

Gmar Chassima Tova!