A Yom Kippur Call to Action

“Why, when we fasted, did You not see? When we starved our bodies, did You pay no heed?” — Isaiah 58:3

On Yom Kippur, we hear something from the bimah that ought to send shockwaves through us: that our fasting might be meaningless, undesired by God. The Haftorah selected for Yom Kippur Shaharit is a passage from the end of Isaiah, which depicts a crowd of people eager to connect with the Divine, committed to God’s laws and fervent in their fasting and prayers. Yet their supplications fall on deaf ears: “‘Why, when we fasted, did You not see? When we starved our bodies, did You pay no heed?’” they ask (Isaiah 58:3). Those of us sitting in synagogue on Yom Kippur, a day suffused with the hope that the gates of prayer are still open, no doubt share the same question. What else must we do to make our prayers heard?

Isaiah’s response points out the hypocrisy of the people’s fast days against the backdrop of their ethical failings. They call out to God in supplication, yet continue in their wicked ways of exploitation and oppression. This is not the religious behavior that God asks for, the prophet says. “No, this is the fast I desire: To unlock 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 take the wretched poor into your home; When you see the naked, to clothe him, And not to ignore your own kin” (Isaiah 58:6-7). The message is a powerful call to social action: as long as oppression runs throughout our cities, our fasts will ring hollow. 

The shock of hearing this message on Yom Kippur, running so counter to what we usually think is the ethos of the day, is enough to jolt us out of our seats. Let us feed the hungry, house the homeless, clothe the naked! But these holy missions are often difficult: Where do I begin? Who do I work with? When can I make the time? The obstacles are many, and plenty of good people never get started down the path to service. 

For this reason, the Haftorah starts with the exhortation to blaze that trail for ourselves and others: Solu, solu! Pave the way! As a way of bringing that call to life, we chose this name for our sacred project because we believe in creating that pathway for regular people in Chicago to engage in social action and foster a culture of service. And it all begins with reaching out to our neighbors in our local communities, creating a strong relationship through service and bringing diverse groups of people together to make an impact on the world.