Rabbi Daniel Siegel – Head of Jewish Life

Divine vessels

On יום כיפור/Yom Kippur, Jews, around the world, chant what is one of the most well-known and beloved פיוטים/piyyutim (a piyyut is a Jewish liturgical poem):

כי הנה כחומר ביד היוצר…כן אנחנו בידך 
As clay in the hand of the potter, so are we in Your hands

In singing these words, we are meant to recall the origin of this simile as found in the book of ירמיה/Jeremiah:

הנה כחומר ביד היוצר כן אתם בידי בית ישראל
As clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in My hand O House of Israel

Yet, even as this פיטן/paytan wished that we would recall these words of ירמיה/ Jeremiah, so did he want us to focus upon his recasting of this prophet’s message. Immediately before these words of God, “As clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in My hand O House of Israel”, ירמיה/Jeremiah, who, at the behest of God, is sitting and observing a potter at his wheel, says: “The potter destroyed the vessel of clay which he was forming in his hand and he made a different vessel more in accordance with his liking”. 

With these words of ירמיה/Jeremiah conspicuously absent in the פיוט/piyyut we sing, we join this paytan in dismissing Jeremiah’s description of our impending destruction, a faulty vessel to be replaced by another. Instead, noting we are “clay in the hands of the Potter”, we insist, in the words of the פיטן/paytan, that our Creator “look to the Covenant” (לברית הבט).

Human potters strive for perfection, the master Potter sees promise in the imperfect. While a human potter would discard us as a replaceable object, in the hands of the Divine potter each of us are to be seen as unique subjects, with our flaws making us ever more so. Though we do not always match the image conceived by our Creator, on יום כיפור/Yom Kippur we declare to our God that it is only together, through covenant and partnership, that we can approach the potter’s wheel anew. 

A Talmudic Story

Rabbi Sheshet was blind. Once all the people went out to see the king, and Rabbi Sheshet went with them. While walking, a person came up to Rabbi Sheshet and said: “Whole pitchers go to the river, but to where do the broken one’s go”? Rabbi Sheshet replied: “You do not see what I see”. The first troop of the king’s men passed by and a shout arose. “The king is coming”, said this person”. “He is not”, replied Rabbi Sheshet. A second troop passed by and when a shout arose, this person said: “Now, the king is coming”. Rabbi Sheshet replied: “The king is not coming”. A third troop passed by and there was silence. Rabbi Sheshet said: “Now, indeed, the king is coming”. And, when the king appeared, the person asked Rabbi Sheshet: “How did you know this?” To which Rabbi Sheshet replied “For the earthly king is similar to the heavenly king…”

It is the “imperfect” and the “broken”, our tradition teaches us, that most fully experience and receive God. The “whole pitcher” who would reject Rabbi Sheshet for his “defect” is himself lacking, unable to discern royal presence let alone divine presence within our world. Far from being discarded as a “broken vessel” each of us, in our imperfections, are drawn closer to God. 

Rabbi Alexandri said: If an ordinary person makes use of a broken vessel, it is a shameful thing to him. But, the Holy One Blessed Be He makes use of only broken vessels.

As we join our fellow Jews this יום כיפור/Yom Kippur in chanting the פיוט/piyyut of “The Potter’s Clay”, may we remember that our enduring strength lies in our brokenness. In recognising our imperfections, we may become the vehicles for restoring the divine light in our world. As we strive to renew ourselves as partners in a living covenant, may each of us more fully become that divine vessel that we alone can be.

בברכת גמר חטימה טובה/Bevirkat gemar chatimah tovah

May we all enjoy a new year of enriching exploration and discovery, personal growth and fulfillment.