September 17, 2010 | 10 Tishrei 5771

The Kotzker Rebbe, Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, was one of our most quotable rabbis. He shared wisdom in brief statements. Someone here surely knows this song – Kol Haolam Kulo…Those were the Kotzker’s words.

The entire world is a narrow bridge, and the most important thing is never to fear. The Kotzker shared any number of pearls of wisdom. But on this night perhaps 150 years ago he shared a particularly perplexing pearl.

As he looked out at his congregation, Rabbi Menachem Mendel cried out – “Masks, where are your faces?!” “Masks, where are your faces?” – What a puzzling thing to say especially on Yom Kippur! Wasn’t the rebbe’s question better suited to Purim? Isn’t Yom Kippur a time when pretenses are set aside and everything that might obscure a person’s genuine essence is stripped away?

The Kotzer Rebbe didn’t know English or Latin but his wisdom reflected a keen understanding of human nature as it is revealed in these languages.

The English word “person” is derived from the Latin word for “persona.” That word means a mask made to conform with the voice of an actor. So the words “person” and “mask” are related…something that the Rebbe intuitively knew when he confronted his congregation on Yom Kippur. “Masks, where are your faces?”

What was Rabbi Menachem Mendel saying? The Rebbe knew that it was natural for people to obscure their true identity. It wasn’t necessarily a conscious act. To mask identity was simply being a “person.” So the Kotzker Rebbe stood before his congregation on this night and said, in effect, “Stop.  Pay attention to your nature.”

On this day when you stand before the Almighty, the compassionate One – Reveal your true face! Show who and what you genuinely are!

I’m not certain what the rabbi expected. I don’t know if he expected his followers to become fully transparent. I don’t know if he expected them to confront the nature of their lives and give expression only to their true essence. But of this I am certain – Rabbi Menachem Mendel was asking people to take at least one step in those directions. He wanted them to begin a reparative process.

For some it would entail a journey of self-discovery. For others it would involve an uncomfortable self-confrontation. And for everyone, the revelation of one’s true face could only begin with self-reflection.

That is what I ask of you this evening. To hear the Rebbe’s words – “Masks, where are your faces?” I mean really hear…and as a result, to begin a period of self-reflection…an exercise that will encourage you to reveal your genuine face far more often than your mask obscures it.

How might you seek to do so? Begin by shutting out the noise. “Noise” is anything that keeps us from discovering or rediscovering our faces. For example, there are those seemingly constant machines in our lives – the radio, the television, the computer and internet. All of these have value. But too much of any one of them is unhealthy. Sometimes we just need to be alone – To reflect, to think and to decide a course of action.

Many of us are uncomfortable with alone time. We equate being alone with feeling lonely. But revealing our face and sharing it with others begins with being alone and with a readiness, if necessary, to struggle with the gap between the  who that I project and the who that I really am. I may need to confront the gap between my apparent priorities and what I think they ought to be. One often effective way to begin that task is to read something that stimulates thought and reflection and then write the conclusions that emerge.

Well, I can’t encourage you to write down your thoughts during the next day. But I do encourage you to use this unique day that has only just begun for thought, reflection, discovery or rediscovery.

Tomorrow:

Set aside the UGA-Arkansas game. You can watch the highlights tomorrow evening. For us Yellow Jacket fans – yes, us too!  The North Carolina game can wait! And for all of us who can unite in support of our beloved Braves and their pursuit of the division crown – c’mon, they’re playing the Mets!  Relax!

This is the day that proclaims – Set aside the noise!

If you would be encouraged in this journey by reading an appropriate book or article while you sit here tomorrow, I say, “Do it!” Reading that piece and beginning that journey will represent your most heartfelt and effective prayer of the day.

Finally, when our service breaks tomorrow afternoon, every single person will have an opportunity during the next four hours to begin the process of revealing your face.

As many of you know from experience, standing before the open Ark on this bimah on Yom Kippur is a unique moment. You can be alone in the presence of God. It is a safe place where you can share your heart’s yearnings. It is a most uplifting place at which to begin or renew a discovery of your authentic self. I hope you will use that moment tomorrow.

Let’s be honest.  We’ll never completely rid ourselves of our masks. We will never reach a point after which we will only reveal our faces, our genuine selves. As flesh and blood, we are flawed. And sometimes those masks we wear do protect us. Nonetheless all of us ought to strive to reveal our faces much more than we generally do.

A bit later this evening we will offer a prayer – “Kee hinay kachomer b’yad hayotzer” – “We are like clay in the hand of the potter…”

Our tradition would have us believe that God is more present tonight and tomorrow than at any other time. Yet the Holy One can shape our directions well beyond this day if we remain aware of the divine presence.

And so we pray: Be with us, God, as we seek to be with You. Let the recognition of Your presence among us shape and mold our lives so that we may gain the confidence to remove our masks and reveal the ennobling faces with which You have endowed us.

Amen.