Why Do We Throw Our Sins Into the Sea? | 10@9 | 2026.09.08

Good morning. Today is Tuesday, September 8th, 2026. The Torah reading for Rosh Hashanah is interesting. On the second day, we read the famous difficult narrative of Achaidashi. It's called the Binding of Isaac and the connection to Rosh Hashanah is obvious because that is the connection of the shofar. We blow the shofar, to remind us of Avram's willing to sacrifice and because in the narrative there was a ram that has horns, so that connection, we understand that connection, but the first day's Torah reading, which is the passage just before that in Beratius, it's much more difficult to understand why it is being read on Rosh Hashanah, what connection it has, and what's so momentous about it to begin with. So the narrative is as follows. We know that Avram and Sura into old age were not able to have children and Avram takes a second wife, Hagar, and has a son with her whose name is Yishmael. And then finally, Vashem Pukat es Sura Kashar Amar, finally, God remembers Sura and Sura and Avram give birth to a baby boy and that baby boy is Yitzchak. So as Yitzchak starts to grow up, Sura notices that the interaction between Yitzchak and Yitzchak's half-brother, Avram's other son Yishmael, who is several years older, is a very negative thing and Sura sees that having Yishmael in the household is injurious to her son Yitzchak and she tells Avram that he must remove Hagar and her son from their house, from their home, and send her away. Avram reluctantly agrees to do that and sends her away. Hagar and her son get lost in the desert. They're wandering. They are both near death of thirst. An angel of God appears to them and shows them that there is in fact a source of water there. They survive. And the words of the Malach to Hagar, when he sees her, by Yom R'la, this angel says to Hagar, Malach Hagar, what's wrong, Hagar? I'll tell you, don't be afraid. God has heard the voice, the cry of the child as he is. And so don't worry and let me show you there's a source of water and you'll survive. And God was with this child and he grew up and became a powerful person. We know, of course, that this was Yishmael, the son of Hagar. He doesn't seem to have any connection to Rosh Hashanah or really anything momentous for us to read on the first day of Rosh Hashanah until we get to Rashi. Because Rashi comments on these words, when the angel speaks to Hagar and the Malach says to her, don't be afraid. Because God has heard the cry of the child, What do those words mean? As he is there? So Rashi says, Pasha Husham as he is there, Hunidun, in accordance with his actions right now, he is judged by God. He is not being evaluated by God at this moment for the actions that he will do in the future. He's evaluated based on Pasha Husham as he is there now. And that is very significant, Rashi goes on. Because the angels in heaven were arguing with God. Here is the scene playing out. You have this little boy who we know his name is Yishmael. We know that he is going to grow up to be a terrible enemy of the Jewish people. And so the angels say to God, Rebono Shololam, Master of the Universe, this child who is going to grow up and this child's descendants are going to be enemies of the Jewish people and attacking kill the Jewish people. And you're going to save his life now through a miracle of showing that there's water there. Why would you save this child's life based on what's going to happen in the future? But who may she roam? And God responded to these angels and said to them, right now, what are his actions? Tzadek go Russia. Is he righteous? Or is he evil? Well, he's a little boy. He hasn't done anything wrong. Hamulot Tzadek, they said to him right now, is it Tzadek? He's not doing anything wrong. It's when he gets older and it's when his descendants that are going to cause all the problem. Why not? Why not preempt all of the destruction that he's going to cause later? Hamulot Ham, God said to the angels, if you massive shall akhshav, I need Donu. I will evaluate him. I will judge him on the basis of his actions right now. Ba sherhusham, as he is there now. That's the meaning of these words. This phrase by sherhusham means that God is evaluating Yishmael based on his actions at this moment. At this moment, he's worthy of being saved. And therefore, God saves him. In other words, what Rashi is saying explains Rabbi Yelkonen's wife is that whatever sins Yishmael had done earlier that showed Sarah that Yishmael could not remain in their home. And whatever sins would be committed in the future by Yishmael and his descendants, that's not in the present. And therefore, Ba sherhusham right now, he's innocent. Those sins are external to his personality, external to his identity. Yes, when he was a young child, he acted foolishly in ways that were harmful. Yes, when he grows up, he will be a person who will do bad things. But those are external to the essence of who he is right now. You'll notice, by the way, that in our narrative that we read on the first day of Rashi Shanna, his name, Yishmael is not mentioned. The name Yishmael is only mentioned twice in the Torah when he's born, which of course, at that moment he's innocent. He was just born. And later in life, when Avram dies, and Yishmael and Yitzchak come together to bury their father, Avraham, which is understood by our sages to mean a moment of repentance on the part of Yishmael, to work together with his half-brother Yitzchak to bury their father, Avram. Those are the only two times his name is mentioned. In our passage that we read on the first day of Rashi Shanna, his name is not mentioned. The boy, the youth, because that's not the same person. This is the message of the Torah reading of the first day of Rashi Shanna. That sins can be external to our essence, do not necessarily determine our identity. We can separate ourselves from them. And this is the ceremony of Tashlich. Tashlich is a ceremony that we fulfill on the afternoon of Rashi Shanna this year, because Rashi Shanna, the first day is on Shabbos. We delay Tashlich until the second day, because in order to do Tashlich properly, we go to a place of flowing water, and we are to bring a moxar with us that has the prayers. By the way, this ceremony is very, very much misunderstood. It's not about throwing away sins. Pieces of bread have nothing to do with it. It is to go to a body of water and to recite the words from the prophet Mika. Who is a merciful God like you, the prophet says? No say, You forgive iniquity and you pass over transgression for the remnants of your people. You will not retain your anger forever, because you want to do kindness with us. You will again show us mercy. You will show us mercy. Subdu cover up, hide our sins. And metaphorically cast our sins into the depths of the water. Metaphorically look at us as people whose sins are on the outside, as if they're on our shoulder. And metaphorically cast them off. In other words, don't look at them as if they are our essence, but look at them as if they could be cast off. They're not being cast off. You're not throwing any sins of the water. Your pieces of bread are not carrying any sins. There's no such thing. It's a metaphor. It's a metaphor for our nature. It's a metaphor for our essence. Our essence is pure because whatever sins we've committed, they're external to us. They were. I made a mistake. I was tempted. I was whatever the reason. And I'm accountable for them. I have to fix them. I have to repent, but they are not me. This is something that only God can judge. A human court is not allowed to take such reasoning into its consideration in a human court. Only God would be able to see what our true nature is and that the actions that we perform, they're external to our nature. We come before God on Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur, and we have sinned. We have made mistakes. And if we're thinking about that, a feeling of despair sets in. I've ruined myself. I've sullied myself this past year. How can I possibly change? How can I possibly improve? And then on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, we read the story of Yishmal without mentioning his name to tell us that the things that Yishmal did earlier that were bad and the things that Yishmal did later that were bad, they were terrible. They were terrible. They were serious. And Yishmal suffered because of them. He was sent into exile as a result of them, but they weren't him. They didn't identify him. It was as if they were a jacket that he was wearing on top of himself that he was able to discard, that God was able to see B'ashir Husham. It's surface level. It can be discarded. I look at how he is now. This is his essence, B'ashir Husham. Every morning we say a prayer. Elakai, my God. Nishamash anasatibitahuri. The soul that you have placed within me is pure. My essence is pure. My soul is pure. Yes, I can mess up. I can make mistakes. I can do things I'm ashamed of and I have to be accountable for and I have to try to fix. Yes. But Nishamash anasatibitahuri. But my essence, what is my deepest identity? My Nishamah, my soul, that's pure. This is the most fundamental statement of a Jewish view of human nature. We rely on this concept, B'ashir Husham, for our lives. We make mistakes. We have to correct them. We're held accountable for them, but they don't define us because of this concept, B'ashir Husham. And that's Tashla. We go to a body of water and we say to these words, God, look at us please today on Rosh Hashanah, the way you looked at your Shmael, that young child in the Torah reading on the first day, where you said God and you challenged and pushed back the argument of the angels and you said, no, B'ashir Husham, right now, God, right now I'm trying my best right now. Evaluate me now. I made mistakes in the past, but please look at them. I will try to look at them. You God, try to look at them as if they could metaphorically be cast off my shoulder and thrown into the depths. Mikhail Kamolchuk, who is a God of mercy like you? You don't cast us into the sea, God forbid. You cast metaphorically. You cast our sins. We can be separated from them. They can be exas baggage. Tashluch is not superstitious. It's not an irrational ritual. There's nothing special about that bread. It's not even recommended that we use that. It's rather a major aspect of Rosh Hashanah and it should be a joyous event. Because it reminds us that each one of us is a Nishama Tahora, a pure soul. That is our essence. That is our identity. And therefore, we pray that each one of us is evaluated by God on Rosh Hashanah, just as the boy was by Shahr Hushan, as we are at this moment. Our sins are not ourselves. My friends, I wish you a great day and I look forward to seeing you soon in person. Thank you very much.