A Yom Kippur Dilemma

By JONATHAN SPIRA-SAVETT

The following ethical dilemma is taken from Earl Schwartz's book Moral Development: A Practical Guide for Jewish Teachers. During a break in the day's services gather a group, read the dilemma, and discuss it. Anyone can be the discussion leader, or you can take turns asking each other follow-up questions:

DILEMMA:

It is Yom Kippur and you are one of the ushers in the synagogue. The rabbi has impressed upon you the importance of your role in maintaining the dignity and decorum of the service. You take your role and responsibility very seriously.

The person chanting the Haftarah during Shacharit comes to this passage:

"Why when we fasted did You not see?

When we starved our bodies, did You pay no heed?"

Because on your fast day you see to your business and oppress all your laborers!

...Is such the fast I desire, a day for men to starve their bodies?

Is it bowing the head like a bulrush

And lying in sackcloth and ashes?

Do you call that a fast, a day when the Lord is favorable?

No, this is the fast I desire:

To unlock the fetters of wickedness

And untie the cords of the yoke

To let the oppressed go free;

To break off every yoke.

It is to share your bread with the hungry,

And to bring the homeless poor into your house

When you see the naked to clothe him

And not to ignore your own kin.

--Isaiah 58:3,5-7

An unfamiliar person stands up and calls out: "Didn't you hear what the Haftarah said? We can't continue this service when three quarters of the world's people are hungry and oppressed! I refuse to allow this service to continue until we respond to the message of the Haftarah."

A commotion begins among the congregants. Many appear frightened and upset. The rabbi calmly steps to the microphone and says, "Will the ushers please restore order so that service may continue."

To those answering (a):

* What would be the result of your refusing to act? Would you be responsible for those results?

* What obligations do you have toward the rabbi? Toward the person who stood up? Toward the rest of the congregation?

To those answering (b):

* What would be the goal of stopping and responding to the Haftarah right now? Does it matter?

* When would it be time to end the "interruption" and continue the service?

* What would happen to the congregation if people stopped services like this all the time?

To those answering (c):

* Would it make a difference if you knew there was a hungry person in the congregation this very moment? If you knew this but no one else did?

* Would it make a difference if the speaker was the president of the congregation? The richest member? The poorest?

* Isn't Yom Kippur about making a commitment to change? If not now, when?

For an in-depth exploration of similar issues, read "Priest and Prophet"--found in Loen Simon (ed.), Selected Essays of Ahad Ha-'Am.