Shaarei Shamayim

BERESHIT 5771

On this Shabbos—when we begin the reading of the Torah —I have a most important announcement to make. Indeed, it might be the most important statement I have ever made to you. Today I am happy to announce that there is a Gd in this world! 

Now it is no longer a matter of belief. Because of something that took place on Yom Kippur, I now have absolute, positive, unquestionable proof that there is a Gd in this world. Sure, there have been all sorts of theories trying to prove that there is a Gd: cosmological proofs, ontological proofs, teleological proofs…but after all the proofs there were always questions, there were always doubts. It always remained a matter of belief. Not anymore! Now we know for a fact that there is a Gd in this world! And how do we know? Because of the results of a baseball game played by the Washington Nationals and the Philadelphia Phillies on Kol Nidre night—something that was brought to my attention by my colleague and friend Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg.

It was on Kol Nidre night of this year that Jason Marquis was scheduled to pitch for the Nationals. You remember Jason Marquis. He’s from Macon and he used to pitch for the Braves at a minimal $350,000 per year. Now he gets paid about $7½ million a year to pitch for the Washington Nationals. Marquis also happens to be Jewish. And here it was Kol Nidre night—the holiest night of the year. Would he pitch? Should he pitch?

This would not have been much of a question before 1965. It was in 1965 when the opening game of the World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Minnesota Twins took place…and scheduled to pitch that opening game was Sandy Koufax. That year he had won 26 games and struck out 382 batters—breaking the major league record. That year he had pitched a perfect game—the 4^th no-hitter of his career. That year he won the Cy Young Award for the 3^rd consecutive year—unprecedented, landing him the crown as the best pitcher in baseball. That year Sandy Koufax changed the course of American Jewish history. That year the 1^st game of the World Series came out on Yom Kippur day, and Sandy Koufax—a Jew—chose not to pitch. He went to shule instead. 

I kid you not when I say that day in 1965 was a major moment in American Jewish history. That was before Jews had become part of the American mainstream. That was at a time when Jews were still hiding their Jewish identity in order to be accepted. And along came Sandy Koufax—the Jewish kid from Borough Park, Brooklyn—and announced to all the world: “I’m not pitching…I’m Jewish. It’s Yom Kippur, my holy day.” And nothing has ever been the same! 

I give every Bar/Bat Mitzvah a questionnaire where I ask who are their 3 favorite Jewish people. I get answers ranging from Mother Teresa to Mr. Manischewitz. But to this day—outside of listing members of their family—Sandy Koufax is still the most popular answer listed. And so, in October of 2004, when the star Dodger baseball player named Shawn Green, who is also Jewish—what else could he be with a name like “Shawn”—confronted a similar decision when his team was playing for the pennant and the game came out on Yom Kippur, he too, chose not to play. This Kol Nidre night, Jason Marquis—the pitcher for the Washington Nationals and a team that was going no place—chose to play. 

And here is where Gd comes in. The 1^st batter up against Marguis popped out in foul territory. The next batter singled. The next batter walked. The next batter singled. The next batter singled. The next batter singled. The next batter singled. The next batter was hit by a pitch. The next batter singled. The next batter singled. That was it for Marguis…he was pulled from the game in the 1^st inning after giving up 6 runs—thus, showing to all the world that there is a Gd in this world! 

You must admit…it’s as good a proof as any you have heard! I personally, however, would have found it a better proof of Gd’s existence if the Braves would have clinched the Division Championship on Yom Kippur—that really would show that there is a Gd in the world! I guess it would also work now if they just got into the playoffs.

The problem with all this is that we can’t really use as proof of Gd’s existence how good Gd is at being our personal butler—giving us the things we ask for.

The other day, Cheryl showed me an article by Tony Blair, former prime minister of Britain, from last Sunday’s Parade Magazine in which he speaks about how he came to believe in Gd. He writes:

I remember very clearly what would nowadays be called my spiritual awakening, the moment when faith became something personal to me. Until that day, I had been an extremely lucky child. I had a loving family and a comfortable life, and my father was a successful lawyer.
When I was 10, my father, just 40, suffered a severe stroke and was rushed to the hospital. The doctors were uncertain if he would survive. My mother, trying to keep a sense of normality for her children, sent us to school that morning.

To provide comfort to a frightened and bewildered boy, the head teacher, who was ordained, suggested that he and I kneel and pray for my father’s recovery. I knew this was not as straightforward as he thought, and I plucked up the courage to whisper, “I’m afraid my father doesn’t believe in Gd.”

My teacher’s reply was to make a lasting impression on me. “That doesn't matter,” the man said. “Gd believes in him. He loves him without demanding or needing love in return.”

My father ended up making a good recovery after a long rehabilitation. Nearly 50 years later, he remains an atheist. And while I did not become a fully committed and practicing Christian overnight, that conversation with my teacher started the process in which I came to recognize that there is a purpose to our existence beyond ourselves.

Tony Blair points to the crucial process of how one comes to believe in Gd. All the intellectual proofs in the world are not enough for most people to believe in something they can’t see, hear or touch. But when we become touched by Gd. When we personally experience Gd in the world, then faith can move from belief to a knowing—a knowing that Gd believes in us. 

This morning we began the reading of the Torah. It begins: “In the beginning Gd created the heavens and the earth. The earth was unformed and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. V’ruach Elokim m’rachefet al p’ney hamayim, and the spirit of Gd hovered over the face of the waters.” Our sages were fascinated by the description of Gd as being m’rachefet, “hovering” over the world. What does that mean? At the end of the Torah (Deut. 32:11) Moses also describes Gd hovering: K’nesher ya-ir kino al gozalav y’racheyf, “as an eagle arousing its nest, hovering over its young.” Rashi explains that the eagle “does not press heavily upon its children, but hovers above them—touching them and yet not touching them. So too, the Holy One, Blessed be He, does with His children…” touching, yet not touching.

The eagle wants to protect its young so it stays fairly close on top of them. But it is also afraid because it has a great deal of weight, that if it would actually rest on them, it would smother them. It is mother love, but it is careful not to be “smother” love. If you want your children to fly you have to let them do it on their own…even if they are going to fall to the ground. That’s the only way they’re going to learn. And if Gd wanted us to have free choice—to be an image of Gd and chose goodness and compassion—then all He could do with His children was m’rachefet, “hover”…hover but not smother.  

But when Gd touches us—and make no mistake, He touches us all from time to time—we must take note of it and not shrug it off and go on with our lives as if nothing happened. When all is said and done, that is the foundation of belief—opening our eyes and acknowledging how Gd touches us.  So yes Jason Marquis, there is a Gd in the world. Perhaps you’ll think twice before pitching again on Yom Kippur. Amen!

                                      Rabbi Mark Hillel Kunis                

                                      10/2/10