As we gather on this most sacred of nights on the Jewish calendar, having just listened to the familiar and plaintive chanting of the Kol Nidre, we begin to focus our thoughts on the nature of the day. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, it is about rediscovering our best selves, it is about connecting with God, it is about strengthening our bonds to the Jewish community. It's about looking beyond ourselves to see how we can affect change in the world -- particularly in the lives of other people.
Tomorrow when the haftarah is chanted, we will hear the compelling words of the Prophet Isaiah:

"(1) Cry with a full throat, without restraint, raise your voice like a shofar; and show My people their transgressions, and the House of Jacob their sins.
(2) To be sure, they seek me daily, and delight to know My ways; as a nation that does what is right, and has not abandoned the ordinances of their God; they ask Me for the right way; they desire that God should be near. (3) "Why, when we fasted, did You not see? When we afflicted our souls, did You pay no heed?" Behold, on the day of your fast you pursue your business, and oppress all your laborers! (4) Because, you fast in strife and contention, and you strike with the fist of wickedness; your fasting today is not such as to make your voice heard on high. (5) Is such the fast that I desire? A day for people to starve their bodies? Is it bowing the head like a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? (6) No, this is the fast that I desire: to unlock the chains of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke. (7) It is to share your bread with the hungry, and to bring the poor, who are cast out, to your house; when you see the naked, that you clothe them; and do not ignore your own flesh.
(8) Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring forth speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. (Ch. 58)

Isaiah's message is that Yom Kippur is not just about asking for forgiveness by fasting and praying; but forgiveness is earned when we reach out to help those in need. There are so many things we could be doing to improve the world that it can be overwhelming. We can feel paralyzed to inaction by the sheer scope of needs to be met. But Pirkei Avot reminds us,

Rabbi Tarfon taught: You are not obliged to finish the task, but neither are you free to neglect it. (2:21)

So where do we begin? The Rabbinical Assembly's Social Justice Commission this year focused on the issues of slavery and Human Trafficking, something that does not feel particularly close to our lives, but is a serious problem even today. President Obama has an Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships on which the Jewish community was represented by the RA's Executive VP, Julie Schonfeld. She shared with us that last spring the Council issued a report entitled, "Building Partnerships to Eradicate Modern-Day Slavery". It revealed that an estimated 21-27 million people are trapped in some form of servitude, two-thirds into sex slavery. Human trafficking is a $32 billion per year endeavor; that is a lot of motivation for unscrupulous people to take advantage of others. Human slavery takes place here in America and even to members of the Jewish community. So what can we do? First, and foremost, we can educate ourselves. Rabbi Schonfeld reminded us that when the rabbis of the Talmud were debating whether study or action were more important, that they concluded study was because study leads to action. You can find the report on line. It shares,
• A child in Southeast Asia who was forced to dive for fish since he was 5 years old and beaten over the head with oars if he surfaced too quickly.
• A woman in Texas who was forced into prostitution by a group of men who targeted single mothers through their children's daycare.
• A boy in East Asia who became a child soldier because he could not come up with a $14 bribe to pay off the police and was sold by them.
• A woman in the Middle East who, despite frequent beatings, held on to her humanity strongly enough that when she was instructed by her traffickers to beat the children she cared for, she refused. Her traffickers poured boiling water over her head, creating wounds that still festered weeks later.
• A child in Afghanistan who was sold to a family to work as a domestic servant, and when they found him not very useful—at 4 years old—they set him on fire and left him for dead by the side of the road.

The report concludes, Modern-day slavery is one of the greatest human rights atrocities of our time. The scale and cruelty of this crime is truly unimaginable. Trafficking in persons violates the core tenets of every major religion and basic precept of civilized society. And it is morally wrong. As Americans, we are defined by the fundamental belief, as enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, that every life has dignity and every person should be guaranteed "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." As President Lincoln so famously said, "if slavery is not wrong, then nothing is wrong." Very few are aware of the scope and scale of the problem of modern-day slavery, particularly right here in the United States. Now that we know, we cannot look away. Most Americans believe we ended slavery 150 years ago. Like the 18th and 19th century abolitionists before us, we need to raise our collective voices in a clarion call to the American people to become aware and take action.

There is a website slaveryfootprint.org that discloses the presence of slave labor in the goods we routinely purchase. Their goal is to ignite a conversation between consumers and the companies they are drawn to, to make change. They have a survey you can take and then they estimate how slave work for you, I have seven; clearly there is work to be done.

Right here in the NY metropolitan area there is an organization called Damayan, it is the Migrant Workers Association. The term damayan means "to help each other" in Filipino. It is a grassroots organization based in NYC and Jersey City. Too many Filipino woman come to this country seeking a better life and economic opportunity only to have their passports taken, placed as domestics, told they can't go out, can't contact their families; their wages are withheld, sometimes food, sometimes they are abused. It happens right here in NY & NJ.

Rabbi Debra Ornstein has pointed out that today is Shabbat and Shabbat is Zekher li'tzi'at mitzrayim, a reminder of the Exodus from Egypt. How so? Only a free person can set their own calendar, a slave does not get a day off. That's why Moshe's first commandment to the people Israel is "this month shall be for you the first of months..." Shabbat properly understood an emancipation proclamation. If you feel you don't have time for Shabbat, then you are the very person in need of Shabbat. But one who cannot take Shabbat off is not truly free.

Here at Shomrei Torah there are a number of initiatives already underway that can use your support. First, we have the Green Team, our community of environmentally concerned members. In the last year we've changed all the bulbs in the sanctuary to the more energy efficient LED. We've replaced the landfill bound plastic ware that we were using at our Shabbat Kiddish and Oneg Shabbat with real flatware, glass plates, Java Nagila mugs, and my personal favorite pasta stirrers for coffee and tea. This year we will be discussing the possibility of composting and a community garden. If this subject is of interest to you, then tell Team Leader, Lonnie Helfand, that you want to join our Green Team!

Family Promise appears ready to begin hosting homeless families in Passaic County. We have already volunteered to be a host congregation twice in the coming year – once in December and once in June. If you want to shop or cook or visit or sleepover when we will have guests here, then let our FP Volunteer Coordinator, Diane Seltzer; know that you're on board.

Federation Mitzvah Day will take place again on November 3rd. Our Mitzvah Corp, let by Tova Friede, will again being seeking volunteers to help out the Emeritus of Wayne Assisted Living that day. We'd love to have you, your children and your grandchildren with us.

Is there more we could be doing at a congregation? Without a doubt! But the same thing that is true for us as individuals is true for us as a community; there is only so much we can do. And so the most important thing for you and me and Shomrei Torah is to know that we care, to know that we try and make a difference, to know that we do something. If everyone does a little something, then together we can have a real impact upon this imperfect world of ours and equally important we will have an impact upon ourselves. I can be better, you can be better and together we can grow into the people that each of us is meant to be.

May you make a difference to yourself and to the congregation and in the world this year, if only in a small way. Every journey begins with one small step, will you walk with me?

G'mar Hatima Tova/May you be Inscribed for a Good Year and wishing you a Tzom Kal/An Easy Fast!