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22

The 'Little' Faults
Deserve Our Attention

T

he first word of this Sab-
bath's prophetic portion is
"shuvah" which means "re-
turn." This word gives
this Sabbath, between Rosh
Hashanah and Yom Kippur, its
special name —Shabbat Shuvan
— the Sabbath of Return. The
spirit of this season is conveyed
by the words of the prophet
Hosea: "Return, 0 Israel, to the
Lord, your God ..." (Hosea 14:2)
During this season of Chesh-
bon Ha-Nefesh, or spiritual reck-
oning, we discuss the serious
problems of our time — the griev-
ous evils that sully and mar hu-
man existence. But when we
think about large problems and
vast perspectives, we often ignore
the minor deficiencies, the petty
weaknesses, and the small trans-
gressions to which our conscience
has been immunized and of
which we no longer take much
advice.
I believe that we have strength
enough to resist the large temp-
tations. I don't think that we
would ever rob a bank or run
away with the funds that belong
to another or allow our hostility
to drive us to a violence or mur-
der. We have, with some measure
of success, resisted these crimi-
nal impulses. But what about the
small temptations, the little eva-
sions, the petty hypocrisies, the
overlooked duplicities which de-
stroy character.
Consider the matter of religion.
Jews don't seek to overthrow re-
ligion as was the case in the ear-
lier generation of Enlightenment.
I rarely encounter, in today's
world, a Jewish atheist. Such em-
phatic denial is no longer consid-
ered proper. Religion doesn't
depart from our lives by some
great explosion, by massive re-
jection, Instead, it is lost by a
steady, small leakage. People al-
low weeks to pass without a reli-
gious thought or a spiritual act
and they come to the synagogue
at this Season of Awe, spiritual-
ly depleted.
People do not lose their faith
by repudiating it in one moment.
They allow it to evaporate, day-
by-day, reserving religion only for
high dramatic moments, remov-
ing their daily lives from the do-
main of its influence. By limiting
religion to three days of the year,
they diminish the strength and
sap the vitality of Judaism.
In like manner do we allow
this process to erode character.
We tell someone to answer the
phone and say, "We're out," when

Irwin Groner is senior rabbi of Con-
gregation Shaarey Zedek.

we don't want to be annoyed. We
call this a "white lie," for, after all,
it doesn't really hurt anybody.
But in the process, we weaken
our resistance to untruth, for the
significant feature of a half-truth
is that it's a half-lie. Thus we ad-
just ourselves to the legitimacy
of lying.
One day a call is made for us
for an urgent communal need,
and we satisfy ourselves with less
than we can give, with less than
we can do. We have a great array
of excuses, alibis and rational-
izations. "Are others giving more
or doing more? Besides, I have so
many other obligations." We
soothe ourselves by these eva-
sions, and we blunt our sensitiv-
ity.
We are promised atonement
during this season. The prophet
Isaiah declares: "Im Yihyu
chataeichem Kashanim Kashe-
leg Yalbinu, Though your sins be
scarlet, they will become as white
as snow." We will provide atone-

Shabbat Vayelech:
Deuteronomy
131:1-30
Hosea 14:2-10
Michah 7:18-20
Joel 2:15-27.

ment for our grievous sins of
omission and commission.
Though our sins be like scarlet,
crimson with rebellion and lust,
proclaiming our shame, they will
be forgiven.
At this season, I worry about
the sins that are not scarlet, but
gray. They are not vivid, nor do
they stand out in bright stripes
and sensational colors. These
tired sins of inertia, timidity, care-
lessness and laziness are dull and
drab. Not being conscious of their
pernicious effect, we are not like-
ly to feel remorse or to seek for-
giveness for them.
I once read a prayer composed
by a jungle explorer who said: "0
Lord, deliver me from the gnats.
I can take care of the elephants."
I believe that we can manage fair-
ly well with the elephants in the
jungle of our lives. We can con-
trol those impulses that might oc-
casionally lead us to anti-social
behavior. But what about the lit-
tle gnats of evasion, resentment
and anger? We are too civilized
to fight with those who evoke our
displeasure, but we do nurse a
grudge rather well. We hold on
to our vindictiveness lest we lose

