To Be Worthy of Standing Before God

In 1956 a young rabbi visited Robert Frost in his Vermont home. Frost’s visitor, Aharon Lichtenstein, came from a very different world than the non-Jewish poet and would later be celebrated as one of the greatest Jewish scholars in the world. But he was also a scholar of English literature and quoted Frost all his life, going so far as to deliver a shiur, or Torah lecture, entirely inspired by the poet’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” That a rabbi would seek out time with Frost reflects the universal nature of Frost’s poetry and the way his best work can transcend cultural boundaries and touch our souls.

It is, therefore, perhaps not as counterintuitive as one might think for a rabbi to turn to Frost in advance of this Wednesday night, when Yom Kippur begins, as I prepare to recite prayers that have been lovingly said by my ancestors, year after year. Jews, many of whom rarely attend services, will nevertheless turn out on the holiest night of the year, in the knowledge that they are walking a path paved by the past. We will focus on our failures and look forward to the year ahead. Above all, we will ask ourselves:

What makes for a meaningful life? How do I wish to be remembered? What do I want my epitaph to be?