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Beth Abraham Guide to the Season, the Torah Readings of the Rosh Hashanah, and the Machzor(High Holy Day Prayerbook)A Perspective on Prayer and the Prayerbook p. 3The Choreography of the Prayers p. 5Glossary of Terms for the High Holy Day Seasonand Services p. 6Different New Year Greetings p. 8Overview and Outline of the Services p. 9 Reflections and Questions to Think Aboutfor Rosh Hashanah Torah Readings,and More About Avraham and Sarah p. 16This booklet is not copyrighted. Some items in it are translations created by Rabbi Jon Spira-Savett, and you may share these and use them without restriction. Many things are taken from other sources, including copyrighted sources. Other items are noted as based on a source, or as a revised version of something by another author or in another prayerbook that is under copyright. No permissions were sought for these other sources, so this booklet is for the personal use of congregants, in our services or as study material for yourself. Tefillat Yitzchak:A Perspective on Prayer and the PrayerbookRabbi Jon Spira-SavettOur season of self-examination is focused on the High Holy Days by the liturgy, the words of the prayerbook composed long ago and handed out as a tradition. In the Machzor, the special prayerbook for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we find elaborated the central theme of the season: Teshuvah, returning to a true path, redirecting our lives. Teshuvah involves looking back and looking ahead; it requires us to think not only about ourselves and our actions, but also about ethical ideals and qualities of menschlichkeit that come from beyond us. The ideas of the Machzor form the process of teshuvah: introspection, confession, apology, truthful judgment, compassionate forgiveness. Not everyone finds it possible to concentrate consistently for the many hours on end we spend in prayer. Nor does everyone find it easy to be at home in the language of the Machzor, with its images of a God pronouncing "who shall live and who shall die." Yet the High Holy Days are, more than any other Jewish occasion, times of prayer. Through the setting of prayer, we feel the support of all those beside us, who are also peering into their hearts. Through the rhythms and melodies of prayer, we put ourselves into a reflective mood. And through the text of prayer, we rivet our attention to the importance of teshuvah in our own lives, in the life of the community, and indeed in the life of the world. So how do we find meaning through the specific prayers? What is prayer, really? What could participating in a prayer service do for me? How can I find meaning in prayers written a long time ago, in a style and an idiom that is not familiar? Where can I find a meeting point between my kavvanah, the intentions I bring to the service, and the traditional service itself?I approach prayer and all of Judaism from a starting point of Mussar, the perspective that Judaism is a set of ethical disciplines. Prayer can and should be part of what we do to improve ourselves, to shape how we act in the world.Here are four ways you can orient yourself to prayer generally. Warning: You might think that one angle contradicts another. I see it differently, as four perspectives or lenses on the same thing.Words About God = Godly WordsDespite all the words in the Torah and the Machzor (High Holy Day prayerbook) that describe and quote God, we know that we have no sure knowledge of God. That is what Jewish philosophers have said for centuries. So what are we supposed to do with all those descriptions?Rabbi Harold Schulweis taught a different way of understanding all the descriptions and metaphors about God. He called his approach “predicate theology”, because he argued that the most intelligible thing in a sentence like “God is merciful” is not the subject, but what comes at the end. When we associate an idea with God, we are saying: this is a Godly quality.Each time we encounter a sentence in the prayers that characterizes God, Rabbi Schulweis would instructs us to turn it around. “God heals the sick” becomes: Healing the sick is Godly. So too, upholding those who fall is Godly. Being slow to anger is Godly. Liberating those who are oppressed is Godly. Protecting the Jewish people is Godly.Even when we describe God as a monarch, we are saying: Power should be Godly.In this perspective, the prayer liturgy is not just for us, but about us. Praying is an ethical experience. the words point us toward the qualities of ourselves that are Godly, and the prayers urge us to use those qualities in our lives in the most powerful way possible.Facing God and BowingThink about the staging of the sanctuary. It is meant to be a place of majesty. We bow as though before royalty.It is good for us to bow our heads. Presenting ourselves before God is about humility. I am not the center of the universe. I do not hold all the wisdom that exists. Even collectively, we are not everything the world needs us to be, not yet at least.Tov l’hodot l’Adonai -- It is good to acknowledge a power larger than the “I”. Even if you are not sure if you “believe in God”; even in fact if you are so that you do not -- even as just a role-playing exercise. It can be a relief! It is good for us to have a time when we can surrender the burden of being self-sufficient, the burden of needing to know the answer to every question or problem we face.At particular moments when we bend and bow -- at the beginning and end of the Amidah, when the Torah emerges, during Aleinu -- imagine the burdens gathering on your forehead, and then dropping off as you bend. Or close your eyes, and take a moment to be humble, to seek guidance from somewhere else.The Third EyeIn some ways, the community of prayer is an artificial community. We say the same words simultaneously. We sit in rows. We don’t interact in the usual ways (not officially, at least).But in other ways, the community of prayer is more real than any other community. We say important words in each other’s presence. We remind ourselves of our deeper mission. We are aware around us of other people who are praying silently for their needs, who are thinking about teshuvah, personal change and the return to the truest self.There is a mystical tradition in Judaism that we each have a “third eye”, which sees everything as God would see. In particular, the third eye sees every other person as Tzelem Elohim, the image of God. As the very best that each of us can be.So when we are together as a prayer community, try to look at everyone with the third eye. And spend some time knowing that you are being seen by everyone else in the same way, with the third eye.There is a special time in the morning, when the Torah circles the congregation once before it is read and once after. These are the only times when we do not face east toward Jerusalem, but instead we turn to face the Torah as it makes its circuit. When you do this, you will see for a split second each member of the congregation in the same line of vision as the Torah, superimposed on each other. Pay attention to that -- to the image of each of us as an embodiment of wisdom and commitment, or as people newly renewed or taught by the Torah.RepetitionThe prayerbook may seem long, but a lot of it is not complex. The same themes are pervasive and repeated. The perspectives I have suggested in the first three sections are available anytime. We can learn from this that our purposes during this season are also not complicated: to reconcile with ourselves, with our families, with one another, and with the Holy One. The prayer texts and the prayer experience are here as aids, tools, prompts.The prayerbook is repetitive, but that can be liberating. We cannot possibly concentrate fully at every moment. But we don’t need to, because the same words keep coming back. At every turn, there is the prompt of words like love, justice, peace, forgiveness, power. The opportunity to reflect, to look inward, to bow, to see others is here at any time and in every service. Whenever we are ready, we can find nearby what we need.THE "CHOREOGRAPHY" OF THE PRAYERSFeel free to notice and to try out these traditional "moves" for different moments in the service.BowingThe usual way of bowing is to bend the knees, then to lean forward, and then to stand up before reciting the word Adonai, which refers to God. We bow this way for the Barchu prayer, for the first two Baruch Atah Adonai phrases in the Amidah (the “standing prayer”), and for the Aleinu prayer. Sometimes, each "move" goes with a word, and sometimes with a single syllable, in order to make sure we are standing straight up when we say the word Adonai.We do the same bow during the silent Amidah when we say the blessing of gratitude, praising God as "the One whose Name is good, to Whom it is fitting to thank."There is another kind of bow which is either just from the waist if standing, or a bow of the head if sitting. We do this at the beginning of the Modim gratitude prayer in the Amidah, and whenever we respond to someone's blessing when they have an aliyah at the Torah.Only on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, when the Aleinu prayer is said during the middle of Musaf but not at the end of services, it is customary to prostrate oneself fully, face to the floor. Though few in our community seem to do it, other than the prayer leaders, anyone can do it. You may want to move to the aisle to have enough room. It is a very powerful experience.Taking Steps Forward and BackwardBefore beginning and right after finishing the Amidah, we take three steps backward and three steps forward. At the beginning, we move as though we are approaching God by stepping forward (so we need to step back first). At the end, we move as though we are taking leave respectfully (we step forward in order to come back to our place).At the end of the Amidah, we take these steps as we say the sentence that begins Oseh Shalom Bimromav -- "May the One Who makes peace in the heights, make peace upon us and upon all the Jewish people and upon all those who live on earth." Between the steps back and forward, we bow left, right, and forward.ShucklingMany people move back and forth as they recite or read from the prayerbook, for any or all parts of the service. Shuckling is a way of engaging our bodies and our whole being in the service, and of developing a rhythm beyond the words.Fluttering for KedushahDuring the Kedushah prayer, when we say the words Kadosh Kadosh Kadosh ("Holy, holy, holy is Adonai...") we bounce three times on our toes, in imitation of the biblical image of fluttering angels in the presence of God in heaven.Facing the TorahWhen the Torah is going around the Sanctuary before and after it is read, we turn our bodies to face the Torah rather than facing east.Moving Lips and Vocal ChordsTry saying prayers quietly but audibly to yourself, rather than silently. Say words in English, or say a couple of words of Hebrew that might be familiar. It is a similar idea as shuckling, a way to engage the body and the whole of your person in the service. The very same words can mean something different when you read them with the eyes or with the lips. GLOSSARY OF TERMS FOR THE HIGH HOLY DAY SEASON AND SERVICESThese are Hebrew words you will hear used often or encounterin the prayerbook. "Ch" always means the guttural "h" sound, as in "Chanuka."Yamim Nora’im ?????? ????????? -- "Days of Awe, Reverence". Yamin Noraim can refer specifically to the ten days from Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur, or can include the preceding month when we prepare ourselves through cheshbon nefesh and prayer.Teshuvah ??????? -- literally, "return". We return to our true souls, to the right path, to God and to one another. Teshuvah is the word that is often translated as "repentance."Cheshbon HaNefesh ???????? ??????? -- "self-accounting" or "reflecting on the soul". This is an important dimension of teshuvah. It is the Jewish term for introspection and taking careful stock of our actions and our relationships.Elul ????? -- the name of the month in the Jewish calendar that precedes Rosh Hashanah. Elul is the period particularly devoted to Teshuvah and Cheshbon HaNefesh. One interpretation explains the name of the month as an acronym for the biblical phrase “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine” Ani L’dodi V’dodi Li ????? ???????? ???????? ???. In other words, Elul is the time when our soul finds God or its true nature once again.Tishrei ??????? -- pronounced “Tish-ray”, this is the Hebrew name of the month that begins with Rosh Hashanah. It is both the culmination of the Yamim Nora’im and the month that continues with the festivals of Sukkot and Simchat Torah, celebrating bounty and the conclusion of the Torah reading cycle. We sometimes refer to “the Tishrei holy days” as a group. Machzor ???????? -- the name of the special holy day prayerbook. The Hebrew literally means "cycle." The regular prayerbook is called the Siddur ??????, the "ordering" or "arranging" of the prayers.Kippur ?????? -- the word usually translated as "atonement". Kippur refers to cleansing from the residue that our wrong actions leave on ourselves and on the community. "Atonement" is an English word, made up of the words "at one" -- coming together.Chet ????? -- the word usually translated as "sin." In biblical Hebrew, chet has the connotation of an arrow that has missed its target and hit something else.S’licha ???????? -- "forgiveness". Some of the prayers are referred to as S'lichot, prayers about forgiveness. In modern Hebrew, s'licha means "excuse me, pardon me."Viddui ?????? -- "confession". In general, Judaism values verbal confession of our wrongs, to one another and before God. Yom Kippur incorporates Viddui recitations that mention wrongs for every letter of the Hebrew alphabet.Amidah ???????? -- the standing prayer, which we say individually at our own pace. In our congregation, we wait for each individual to finish before we continue together. People say the words of the traditional Amidah in the prayerbook, their own prayers, or a combination.Mi-sheberach ?????????? -- "May the One Who Blessed", the first words of the prayer for healing that we say at one point during the Torah reading. We refer to the whole prayer by that name. Kaddish Yatom ?????? ????? -- the Mourners' Kaddish, a prayer recited by people in the first year of mourning a close relative or on the anniversary of the death. In our congregation, anyone who wishes may stand in support, or may recite the Kaddish along with those in mourning.Torah ?????? -- specifically, the first five books of the Bible, which are written in the Torah scroll. Torah is also a general word for all the teachings of Judaism throughout time.Talmud ??????? -- the collection of discussions that made up the first phase of the "oral tradition", discussing both laws and ideas, through about the sixth century of the Common Era. When we talk about "The Rabbis", we mean specifically the rabbis mentioned in the Talmud.Midrash ??????? -- an interpretation or story that suggests or illuminates possible meanings of the Torah. “The Midrash” also refers to the oldest books that have Midrash in them, from the era of the Talmud.Some traditional ways to great peopleduring this season:Shana Tova ????? ?????? -- A Good YearShana Tova U-me-tuka ????? ?????? ???????? --A Good and Sweet YearThere is a custom of eating apples and honey to signify this wish!L’shana Tova Ti-ka-tay-voo ??????? ?????? ???????? -- May You Be Written For a Good YearThis greeting draws from a poetic image depicting God writing down our destinies for the new year in a “Book of Life.”G’mar Chatimah Tova ????? ???????? ?????? – A Good Final SealingThis greeting, specifically for Yom Kippur, picks up on that same image, particularly the notion that our destiny is sealed in the book on Yom Kippur.“An easy and meaningful fast”Overview and Outline of ServicesSHACHARIT -- ROSH HASHANAH MORNING SERVICEThe morning service begins with Birchot Hashachar, the morning blessings, our daily statement of appreciation for waking up to find ourselves alive, with our world still around us (pp. 60-61). Each specific one-line blessing originally marked a specific act or awareness associated with waking up from sleep. These blessings are followed by P'sukei D'zimra, a series of psalms and songs meant to help us sing and breathe with joy so we can enter the frame of mind to pray in earnest (pp. 90 and following).The tone for Shacharit, the morning service itself leading to the Torah reading, is announced by the leader's chant of its first word: Hamelech (p. 107), which literally means “The King.”We can imagine this point in the service as the moment when God enters our synagogue, to watch us more closely. If the whole morning of Rosh Hashanah is a symphony, then Shacharit is its slow, somber movement. During Shacharit, we are prompted to reflect on the fragility of our own lives, in contrast with the enduring existence of God and the universe. In this mood, we continue through the familiar Sh'ma and its enveloping blessings (pp. 108-123), which note the thread of vitality and purpose through all creation, the covenant of love and Torah that binds God and the people of Israel, and the hope of redemption in our world like the redemption of our people from Egypt.On Rosh Hashanah, the portions of the Amidah (“standing prayer”, beginning on p. 134) focusing on God's holiness and on the special nature of the day all emphasize the theme of Hamelech. In each Amidah, there is a section includes five paragraphs that depict a future when all will unite in righteousness and recognize the dominion of God, the teacher of righteousness (p. 32, p. 144, pp. 251-253). The section immediately following continues the theme of Hamelech. We state our intention to see ourselves with humility and to spend the day reflecting on the idea that what is enduring is not the single individual but something greater. One of the messages of the Amidah, repeated in every service during Rosh Hashanah, is that the meaning in our lives comes not in isolation but by uniting with one another to pursue what is good and what is right. True community, in the eyes of the Machzor, exists only where people are involved together in the betterment of the world. For the community, teshuvah requires that each individual think about his or her relationships with everyone else and ask whether those relationships help or hinder the important purposes of the community.When the leader chants the beginning of the Amidah, we sing piyyutim, special liturgical poems, that elaborate on the image of God as Hamelech and the theme of din, the probing and judging of our deeds and our hearts (pp. 138-141). At the end of the Amidah, the ark is opened and we stand for Avinu Malkeinu (pp. 152-155). This is one of the signature prayers of Rosh Hashanah, the symbol of our humility and our honesty on this Day of Judgment. We ask for forgiveness and support beyond what we may deserve. Though we stand in humility, we nonetheless look directly at the Torah, the symbol of God's presence in our community. In this way we extend ourselves toward God in an offer to close the spiritual distance that we have allowed to develop. And gently we remind God that though in relation to the universe God is forever Hamelech, in relation to us God is part of a family whose members count on one another for compassion, strength, and forgiveness. TORAH SERVICE The rituals surrounding the reading of the Torah are permeated with the symbolism of bringing God’s presence and teaching into the midst of the community. It is through Torah that we know God and what is good. When we bring the Torah out of its ark and into the congregation, the mood of the service changes dramatically, from an atmosphere of solemnity to an atmosphere of community and celebration. Torah is our common possession, and our most valuable and distinctive possession as Jews. When we read from the Torah, we not only learn and think -- we also, in a way, remind God that we are God's link to the world, the instruments through which God's ideals can be realized. For that reason, when we read Torah, we imagine God taking notice of us, listening to our thoughts, and considering our teshuvah. In the Torah reading for the first day (Genesis 21), God gives Sarah and Avraham their long-awaited son. After the initial joy, however, the home becomes a place of conflict because of the behavior of Avraham's other son, by Hagar. Hagar and her son are banished to the desert, but God hears her son and comes to their rescue. God answers his cry "where he is." The predicament of Hagar's son, who is never mentioned by his name in this reading, is the predicament of all of us, especially during the High Holy Days. We stand completely exposed; our names and reputations cannot make up for the voids within us; all we have sometimes is a wordless existential cry from the depths of our soul. Yet God intercedes for us and gives us the strength to proceed with our lives, from "wherever we are." In the Torah reading for the second day (Genesis 22), the two most important sets of relationships in Avraham's life, with his family and with God, make irreconcilable demands on him. Asked to offer the son of his old age to the God Who has given him everything, Avraham is literally speechless. He has no way out, no one to discuss his crisis with. He proceeds, and eventually God reveals that this was only a test; Yitzchak his son lives, and we learn of the birth of Rivka,Yitzchak’s future wife. Together they will continue the story of the Jewish people.Although we may not be able to empathize with Avraham's particular test, we are faced with similar tests throughout our own lives. There are moments of moral choice when every alternative seems to lead only to pain or to tragedy. There are moments of choice and crises of faith when we feel utterly alone, without anyone to talk with, not knowing what to think or how to go on. If Avraham passed his test, it is not because of the choice he made, but because he made a choice and had to live with its consequences. So too must we make choices and so too must we live with the consequences. Part of teshuvah is owning up to our choices and taking responsibility for their consequences; teshuvah offers us second chances, opportunities for repair. On both days of Rosh Hashanah, the theme of the Haftarah is God's loyalty and love for the Jewish people in the face of despair. In the first day's reading (I Samuel 1:1-2:20), Chana prays to God from her heart for a son. God listens and opens her womb, and she becomes the mother of Shmuel, the greatest of the early prophets. In the second day's Haftarah (Jeremiah 31:2-20), God promises to bring the Jews back from their exile. God and Israel speak to one another as parent and child; even when they are estranged, they love one another, and when one does teshuvah, the other forgives. SHOFAR SERVICE Before the Torah is returned to the ark, the shofar is blown (pp. 202-206). Its piercing blasts call on us to shake off our remaining indifference to the purposes of the holy day. Its pure and unadorned sounds invite us to abandon pretense and to face what is really in our hearts. Its notes, rising toward heaven, announce to God our presence and our willingness to go through the process of teshuvah. MUSAF--ADDITIONAL SERVICEMusaf begins with the individual recitation of the Amidah. At the heart of the Musaf Amidah are three special sections, each composed of introductory and concluding meditations surrounding a collection of ten biblical verses. Malchuyot (Rulership; translated pp. 259-263) continues the familiar theme of God as what is ultimate in the world. Its opening prayer is Aleinu. Aleinu continues the thought of the five paragraphs in every Amidah that envision a future when all the world will unite in righteousness. Aleinu weaves together the images of God as Creator, God as Judge, and God as the One to Whose justice all will eventually turn. When the world does indeed unite in justice, God will indeed be One, and God's name One. Aleinu is about the entire world's teshuvah. Zichronot (Remembrance; pp. 267-271) focuses on the theme of chesed, God's loyalty and love for us because of our covenant together. The opening passage mentions Noach, and the closing passage mentions Avraham. Both faced the possibility of ultimate human destruction, yet God considered the integrity and goodness that both of them displayed in their lives. Those qualities and acts of human beings are known as chesed. Because of their moral courage, and because they represented the best possibilities of humanity in their age, God decided to preserve us and our future. That too is known as chesed. We seek similar chesed today. Even on a day of judgment, we can vouch that our individual lives, the life of the Jewish people, and indeed the life of the world all contain moments in virtue of which we deserve a secure future. We ask God to remember the covenant between us and to allow us to steer away from destruction and toward a better future. Shofarot (Shofar Sounding; pp. 275-279) recalls the many moments in Jewish history linked by the symbol of shofar: the binding of Yitzchak, whose rescue was marked by the sacrifice of a ram; the revelation at Mt. Sinai, preceded and followed by the sound of shofar; celebrations at the Temple in Jerusalem, accompanied by shofar sounds. So too, the messianic age will be heralded by the shofar, according to the prophets. The shofar binds us with our history and with our hopes for the future. After the individual Amidah, the leader chants the prayer Hineni -- "Here I Am" (pp. 236-237). Hineni expresses in simple words what we all feel: awe at the gravity of the occasion, humility about our ability to persuade God and others of our sincerity. When the Musaf Amidah is repeated aloud by the leader, there is a major addition: the prayer Un'taneh Tokef (pp. 240-243), “Let us declare the sacred power of this day.” This is another signature prayer of the High Holy Days: God sitting on a throne of judgment, the book of each person's deeds open before God, the procession of all humanity before God, the inscription of each person's fate on Rosh Hashanah and its sealing on Yom Kippur, the fleeting and fragile existence of humanity. Though the prayer should not be taken literally, we still ought to be moved and shaken by the dramatic and stunning imagery in Un'tenah Tokef. Even if God is not the one who is seeing and judging our every last deeds, the questions about our destiny are real questions -- Who will live and who will die? So we summon the courage to write down those questions and our fears about them. We affirm that each moment of our lives is worthy of notice and recording, no matter how good or bad. And we resolve in the new year to lead lives of teshuvah, tefillah, and tzedakah – lives of transforming ourselves, lives with the stillness that lets us hear God's wisdom, lives of caring for others and fixing the world. YOM KIPPUR PRAYERSTo the authors of the Bible, evil and wrongdoing were forces that, once unleashed through an action, only disappeared after they revisited the one who erred and brought punishment. Kippur was an alternative process by which such a force could be confronted, captured, and dissipated. Kippur was not a light matter. In the biblical ceremony for Yom Kippur, the forces unleashed by the sins of the community were symbolically transferred to two animals. One was sent to a point as far from civilization as possible, and the other was killed. During the year, individual wrongs also required sacrifices in the presence of the community. Teshuvah is essentially the same process. Having unleashed harm or hurt through our actions, we move to confront our deeds. We then grapple with our motives and our desires in order to understand and master them. Only then can we relieve ourselves of the burden of past wrongs, satisfied that we will not repeat them, and only then can we be cleansed and purified, confident that the year to come will be one in which good things flow from each of us. The liturgy of Yom Kippur guides us through this process. We name our errors, repeatedly and in detail, confessing them to God and to all those who sit and stand around us. We ask forgiveness as generations before us have been forgiven, naming the attributes of the God Who gives us not only the standards against which we judge ourselves but also the strength to improve ourselves and to find inner peace. Our prayers on Yom Kippur are said with urgency. We fast in order to channel all of our concentration into summoning the words and thoughts we nced, and we speak as though our lives in the coming year depend on what we say and feel on this day. Many sections of the Yom Kippur liturgy are identical to the Rosh Hashanah liturgy (see above in this booklet):the five paragraphs in the Amidah envisioning the unity of the world in righteousness the motif in Shacharit of Hamelechthe overall structure of Shacharit and the Torah servicethe prayers Avinu Malkenu, Aleinu and Un'taneh Tokef As was true on Rosh Hashanah, the focal point of the liturgy on Yom Kippur is the Amidah, the long prayer said standing. The theme of its middle section is now Melech Mochel VSsoleach, the Ultimate Ruler Who Pardons and Forgives (e.g. pp. 375, 469, 585). In every Yom Kippur Amidah there are two sets of prayers which together form the essence of the Yom Kippur liturgy. They are known as S'lichot (prayers for forgiveness) and Viddui (confession). S'lichot is said together during the repetition of the Amidah. S'lichot begins with the recitation of the thirteen attributes of God found in Exodus 34:6-7 (e.g., pp. 393, 453, 553). In the Torah, God first recited these words to Moses after the Jews had created the golden calf idol, after Moshe had broken the original tablets of the covenant and as he had come to the mountaintop to receive the second tablets. According to tradition, every time God hears us say these words, which describe God as forgiving, God is reminded of that occasion and is moved to forgive us. If we could be forgiven then, how much the more so now. S'lichot, then, is permeated with the notions of covenant and of restoring the broken faith between partners. At the end of S'lichot, we stand and sing the passage Anu Amecha V'atah Eloheinu -- "We are Your people and You our God." We remind God that our destinies and our identities are forever linked; if God does not forgive, God's only vehicle for seeing divine ideals realized in the world will have vanished. Viddui is the last section of the silent Amidah, and follows immediately after S'lichot in the repetition of the Amidah. It consists of two confessions, both written in alphabetical acrostic, both expressed in first person plural, both said standing. The first, shorter confession, Ashamnu, is said aloud and together (e:g., pp. 367-379, 460-461); the second, longer confession, AI Chet, is said either together or silently (e.g., pp. 406-409, 464-465). Almost all of the wrongs listed in each confession are interpersonal. By naming one for each letter of the alphabet, we are in effect admitting that there is no area of behavior in which we are blameless. We say the confessions in the plural out of mutual responsibility and out of support for one another. Each of us can derive strength from the plural language -- we recognize that all of us are human and imperfect, and that we all have things to learn and errors to correct. Ten times on the day of Yom Kippur we say Viddui, plus twice the previous afternoon. Each time our attention may be drawn to different items on the list. Each time we have to remind ourselves that we are responsible not only for whatever list of wrongs we could compose for ourselves, but also for every hurtful act we have done and not noticed. We remind ourselves and one another through the Viddui that our ethical failings are serious and add up, and that our community will never be all we want it to be unless we can repair the most minute details of our behavior toward one another. And through the continually mounting sound of our repeated confessions, we try to persuade God that we have indeed seen our errors and that we sincerely resolve to live better in the coming year. KOL NIDRE EVENINGWe call the evening service for Yom Kippur by the name of its opening ritual: Kol Nidrei (p. 352-353). The unforgettable melody of Kol Nidrei sets the tone for the entire holy day. Why, however, does this ceremony of annulling our vows belong as the overture to Yom Kippur? On Yom Kippur we fast and eliminate all pleasurable distractions from our lives. We devote almost the entire day to prayer, to words. Everything depends on the words we say and think: to ourselves, in self-examination; to each other, in confession and in search of forgiveness; and to God. Yet the way we have all used words during the year betrays us; how can our words rise to this occasion? We therefore begin Yom Kippur with Kol Nidrei, an admission that we often debase words and use them lightly or insincerely. Words are all we have on Yom Kippur; through Kol Nidrei, we try to concentrate on devoting our words for a day to only pure and honest ends. SHACHARIT AND TORAH SERVICE The morning service for Yom Kippur is largely the same as the service for Rosh Hashanah, except for the Yom Kippur Amidah and the prayers of S'/ichot and Viddui. The Torah reading for Yom Kippur (Leviticus 16) describes the original, biblical ceremony of Yom Kippur. Its highlight is the sending off of the scapegoat, bearing the sins of the entire community to Azazel, a mythical place representing the edge of the inhabited world. The Haftarah (Isaiah 57:14-58:14) penetrates to the heart of the holy day. The prophet, speaking for God, criticizes those who observe the rituals of the holy day as ends in themselves. How can our fasting and praying be taken seriously when so many of us are counting the hours until we can return to life as usual? The tomorrow for which we cannot seem to wait will be so full of injustice: the misery of the hungry and the homeless, the indifference we show toward the poor and oppressed. Only when the community works to end oppression, says the prophet, will God march with us and help us in all our efforts. After the Haftarah, we say Yizkor (pp. 684 and following), prayers in memory of family and friends, and Jews who have been martyred through the ages. MUSAF--ADDITIONAL SERVICEWe begin by saying the Amidah silently. Before the Amidah is repeated aloud, the leader chants Hineni, and this recitation includes the prayers Un'taneh Tokef, Kedushah, and Aleinu, all of which are described above in the section on the Rosh Hashanah Musaf. There are two further interpolations in the repetition of the Musaf Amidah. The first is the Avodah service (beginning p. 598). The Avodah is a retelling of the Yom Kippur ceremony during the period of the Second Temple, as recorded in the Mishnah. The Temple ceremony was based on the biblical ceremony. During the course of the day, then, we experience every fashion in which Yom Kippur has been observed through Jewish history, from the desert ceremony to the Temple festivities to prayer. On Yom Kippur, the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) would enter the Holy of Holies in the Temple, and only on this day did the Kohen Gadol pronounce the name of God. Yom Kippur in the Temple was a day of great joy and of tremendous gathering, a day when God and the people of Israel were truly at-one. The Avodah is followed by the beginning of S'lichot, the recitation of the thirteen attributes of God (p. 553). S'lichot is interrupted by the second interpolation, the martyrology (beginning p. 554-555). This story weaves together the martyrdom of ten sages of the Mishnah at the hands of Rome. Today, we add a commemoration of those who were killed in the Holocaust. On this day when the entire Jewish people gathers together, we remember -- and we remind God -- of how Jews have been persecuted through the ages for our beliefs and for our refusal to disappear. So much have we suffered in the name of God; how can God not forgive us? So faithful have Jews been throughout history; how can we break faith now? Musaf continues with the rest of S'lichot and with Viddui, and then with the completion of the repetition of the Amidah. MINCHA--AFTERNOON SERVICEThe afternoon service begins with the reading of Leviticus 19:1-18, a discussion of what it means to live our lives with holiness. Holiness in this chapter is not simply piety. It is an ethical level at least a step or two above not hurting each other. It demands concern for the poor and justice for everyone. As Yom Kippur edges toward its close, it is important for us to leave not only with a sense of completion but also with a gentle reminder of how we must live starting with the first moments of the new year.The Haftarah is the book of Yonah. God instructs Yonah the prophet to go to Nineveh --the largest city in the East and the traditional enemy and antithesis of Israel -- and to tell the people there that if they do not do teshuvah, they will be destroyed. Yonah tries to run away from God, knowing that God will forgive the people of Nineveh when they repent. But Yonah cannot escape God. He finally goes to Nineveh, and indeed, they do teshuvah and God forgives them. In a light fashion, the Haftarah shows us that the attributes of God that we have been reciting all day are indeed a true characterization. If Nineveh, a symbol of evil and distance from God, can be forgiven, surely we can be forgiven as well. The rest of Mincha is the Amidah and its repetition, including S'lichot and Viddui. NE’lLAH--CONCLUDING SERVICE: "LOCKING THE GATES"On weekdays, we pray three times; on Shabbat and major holidays, four times; only on Yom Kippur do we pray five times in one day. Ne’ilah, a name deriving perhaps from the metaphorical closing of the gates of heaven, is a special time. We fix our gaze through this whole service on the open ark and the Torah, as if to keep God close as our time for prayer on this day runs out. Since Rosh Hashanah and through Mincha on Yom Kippur, we have asked to be “written “in the Book of Life; now we ask to be “sealed” therein. The Ne’ilah Amidah has only the short confession Ashamnu. Throughout the repetition of the Amidah, we ask God to keep the gates open a little longer -- for the sake of our faithful ancestors, for the sake of our sincere prayers. One last time we say S'lichot, repeating not once but twice the attributes of the God Who forgives. One last time we say Viddui. At the end of the Amidah, we say Avinu Malkeinu, drawing yet closer to God as a child draws close to a parent We close the ark, and let the gates above in heaven close on our final prayers. Yom Kippur concludes (p. 752) with our declaration of Sh'ma. Saying the Sh'ma affirms our faith that these High Holy Days have indeed helped us to change our lives for the better, and that our coming year can indeed be a blessing -- for each of us as individuals, for our community, for the people of Israel, and for the world. With a long blast from the shofar, Yom Kippur and the Days of Awe fade into the dusk. TORAH READING – FIRST DAY OF ROSH HASHANAHFirst AliyahAdonai remembered Sarah. In the Torah narrative, God had sent three messengers to visit Sarah and Avraham to tell them that a son would be born to Sarah “at a season of life.” Much has happened since then, including God's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities filled with evil; and a famine that forced Avraham and Sarah to flee to the land of the Philistines. While we would assume Sarah has been present and pregnant through most or all of this, only now does the Torah say that Adonai remembered Sarah. Perhaps this represents Sarah's perspective, a feeling that now she is once again in God's field of vision, so to speak.Does Rosh Hashanah give you a feeling of being in “God's field of vision” in a way you haven't seemed before? What in the past year has moved you away from that? What do you do, or could you do, to make this time of year a “season of life”?Second AliyahLaugh. What is the sound of Sarah's laugh? Is it the joyful laugh of having a new child? The nervous laugh of the most unusual mother in the neighborhood, worried about the stares of others or her strength to raise a new baby? Does she feel that others share her laughter, laugh with her?Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian... We judge Sarah harshly for what she asks, and Avraham too for standing silently. Why doesn't he argue with God, as he did to save the strangers of Sodom and Gomorrah? The Torah lets us see Sarah and Avraham struggling to integrate their many responsibilities, to the very different people who make up their family and their household, and to one another.What makes you give up, or nearly give up, in your personal relationships? When have you spoken up, and when have you been silent?Third AliyahGod heard the voice of the boy... Yet in the previous verse, it was his mother Hagar who lifted up her voice. It was when she gave her voice on behalf of another who was in danger of his life that he was heard. Jewish tradition regards a wordless cry or scream as a kind of faith. As long as we cry out, are not dulled to our own pain or that of others, we have the possibility of hope.What cry, on your own behalf or someone else's, have you been trying to give voice to?Fourth AliyahAvraham's dealings with Avimelech, king of the Philistines, and his military leader Phichol, seem unrelated to the story of family we have just read. Yet events in the larger world often echo and clarify questions in our own personal lives. Even today, the debate about war in Syria raises very familiar questions about behavior, motivations, and consequences that come up in our families, workplaces, and other settings. In our reactions to our leaders, we can find clues to themes in our own lives that are worth exploring.Fifth AliyahHe planted an 'eshel' in Be'er Sheva, and called there in the name of Adonai, God of time and space. One midrash sees Avraham here in a path of teshuvah, healing from his actions toward Hagar and Yishmael. It reads the Hebrew word eshel not literally as a tamarisk tree, but as an acronym for achila, shtiya, l'vaya – providing food, drink, and an escort into the wilderness for anyone passing through this desert oasis. These were exactly what Avraham had not done for his family, and he stays in Be'er Sheva many days, years perhaps. Maimonides defines teshuvah as finding oneself in the same situation or a parallel one, and acting differently. Here, according to the midrash, Avraham lives with potential enemies, and challenges himself to act in a way fitting for one identified with God.TORAH READING – SECOND DAY OF ROSH HASHANAHFirst AliyahAnd it was, after these things, that God tested Avraham. The test of the Akedah presents a moral dilemma to Avraham on many levels. He has obligations, to God and to Yitzchak. There is the question of authority, which Avraham has faced before when he challenged God about destroying Sodom and Gomorrah. There is the question of his responsibility to Sarah, whom he chooses not to tell about God's demand. There is a spiritual dilemma as well, as Avraham has to integrate what he believes he is hearing with his confidence in the future that God has promised him.A dilemma is a test when conflicting loyalties or values are at stake. What is the most serious dilemma you have faced in the past year, or that awaits you this year?Second AliyahOn the third day.... From early on the first day through a second day, the Torah records no conversation at all among the travelers: Avraham, Yitzchak, and the two servants. On the third day, Avraham and Yitzchak each speak. Each sentence leaves us wondering: In what tone was it said? What was spoken, what was unspoken, what was understood, what was too difficult to say? When Yitzchak says, My father, Avraham answers: Hineni b'ni – Here I am, my son, answering Yitzchak almost exactly as he had answered God at the outset of the story. What do the two Here I am responses mean?Third AliyahFrom two days' walk in a single verse, the narrative slows to a crawl on top of the mountain. Perhaps Avraham's mind rebelled, as ours does, at the thought that he would actually go through with the sacrifice of his son. Many midrashim and chasidic interpreters see these verses as an emotional metaphor, for the most narrow escape from a seemingly impossible predicament. Both Yitzchak and Avraham are pulled from the brink at the final moment. In this kind of reading, the Akedah is not a test sent from God, but a playing out of the most difficult tests in our lives, when it seems there is no answer that doesn't harm someone. How can we live with integrity when faced with that kind of choice?Fourth AliyahFor I will bless, indeed bless you, and multiply, yes multiply your descendents like the stars of the sky.... This promise sounds different from the same promise given to Avraham when he was first called by God. Surely this reward is not his motive for following God's path, even if it is the result. Of course, Avraham's reward here is not in his own lifetime, but something that will continue toward the future.We don't (hopefully) live well in order to be rewarded. But what does it means to you to experience the “rewards”, or not to see them? Have you ever thought of your own life as the reward of someone else's life, perhaps far back beyond the generations you knew personally?Fifth AliyahAnd it was, after these things, that Avraham was told: See, Milcah has also borne children to Nachor, your brother. Eight children, plus four more from their concubine Re'umah! The also is quite a comment. Avraham risks everything to follow God, and only after all his difficulties his heir remains. Nachor stays behind, presumably in old places living old ways, and has twelve children (like the Israelites!), and then his granddaughter Rivkah, the partner for Yitzchak. Two paths, so different, converging on the same place at the end of the brothers' lives?Why is Avraham's path worthwhile? What makes his risks and his faith worthwhile, when he might have made other choices?The Other Key Chapter About Avraham: Genesis 18Chesed (Devotion to Others) and Tzedek (Justice)Adonai appeared to Avraham by the terebinths of Mamre – and he was sitting at the entrance of the tent at the hottest time of day. Avraham lifted up his eyes and he saw: Look, three men standing over him! He ran toward them from the entrance of the tent, and he bowed down to the ground. He said, “My lords, if I have found favor in your eyes, please do not pass by from your servant. Let a bit of water be taken, and wash your feet, and relax under the tree. And I will take a piece of bread and your hearts may feast, and afterward you may pass – for this is why you have passed this way by your servant.” And they said, “Do as you have spoken.”Avraham hurried to the tent, to Sarah, and he said, “Hurry, three measures of fine flour, knead it and make cakes!” And to the herd Avraham ran, and he took a calf, tender and good, and he gave it to the lad, and he hurried to make it. He took curd and milk, and the calf that he had made, and he gave it before them. And he stood over them, under the three, and they ate.They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” He said, “Here, in the tent.” He [the messenger] said, “I will return, yes return to you at a time of life, and then look, a son for Sarah your wife!” And Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent, behind him. Avraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years, and Sarah had stopped experiencing the manner of women. So Sarah laughed inside herself, saying, “After so long without it, shall I have pleasure when my husband is so old?” And Adonai said to Avraham, “Why is it that Sarah is laughing, saying, 'Is it even possible that I would give birth, now that I am old?' Is anything beyond God? At the set time I will return to you, at a time of life, and Sarah will have a son.” Sarah protested, “I did not laugh” – for she was afraid – but God said, “No, indeed you laughed!”The men got up from there, and they looked out over Sodom, and Avraham was walking with them to send them off. Adonai said, “Shall I cover up from Avraham what I am doing? After all, Avraham is sure to become a great and powerful nation, and through him all the nations of the land will be blessed. For I have known him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to guard the way of Adonai, to do righteousness and justice, so that God will bring over Avraham all that God has spoken about him.”God said, “[I am responding to] the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah, for it is great, and their wrongdoing, for it is very heavy. I will go down now and see whether they have done everything that this outcry coming to Me suggests – and if not, I will know.”The men turned from there and went toward Sodom, and Avraham was still standing before Adonai. Avraham came close and said, “Will you even wipe out the innocent with the guilty? Perhaps there are fifty innocents in the midst of the city – will you even wipe out the place and not lift off their guilt, for the sake of the fifty innocents that are inside it? It would profane You to kill the innocent with the guilty, that the guilty should fare just like the innocent. It would profane You – will the Judge of all the earth not do justice?”Adonai said, “If I will find in Sodom fifty innocents in the midst of the city, I will lift off the guilt of the whole place for their sake.”Avraham answered and said, “Look, I have dared to speak to my Lord, and I am but dust and ashes. Perhaps the fifty innocents are missing five – will you destroy because of five the whole city?” And God said, “I will not destroy if I find there forty-five.”And he spoke once again to God, and said, “Perhaps forty will be found there.” And God said, “I will not do it, because of the forty.”And he said, “Let God not be angry with me when I speak – perhaps thirty will be found there.” And God said, “I will not do it, because of the thirty.”And he said, “Look, I have dared to speak to my Lord – perhaps twenty will be found there.” And God said, “I will not destroy, because of the twenty.”And he said, “Let God not be angry with me, when I speak one last time – perhaps ten will be found there.” And God said, “I will not destroy, because of the ten.” And Adonai went, having finished speaking to Avraham, and Avraham returned to his place.”From the Midrash:Avraham, Smasher of Idols and RebelAvram's family used to make images and sell them in the market. One day, when it was Avram's turn to sell, his father Terach gave him several baskets of household gods and set him up in the marketplace. A man came to him and asked: Have you a god to sell? Avram: What kind of god do you wish to buy? The man: I am a mighty man - give me a god as mighty as I am. So Avram took an image that was standing on a shelf higher than all the others and said: Pay the money and take this one. The man asked: Is this god as mighty as I am? Avram replied: You good-for-nothing! Don't you know the way of gods? The one who sits above all others is the mightiest of all.As the man was about to leave, Avram asked him: How old are you? The man answered: Seventy years. Avram said: Woe to a man who is seventy, yet prostrates himself before this thing which was made only today. At that, the man flung that god back into Avram's basket, demanded the return of his money, and went his way.A woman came carrying a bowl of fine flour and said: Here, offer it to the gods. At that, Avram seized a stick, smashed all the images, and placed the stick in the hand of the biggest of them.When his father came, he asked: Who did this to the gods? Avram answered: Would I hide anything from my father? A woman came with a bowl of fine flour and said: Here, offer it up to them. When I offered it, one god said, "I will eat first," and another said, "No, I will eat first." Then the biggest of them rose up and smashed all the others. His father replied: Are you making sport of me? They cannot do anything! Avram answered: You say they cannot. Let your ears hear what your mouth is saying!Terach took Avram and handed him over the King Nimrod. Nimrod said: Do you not know that I am the master of all things, including the sun and the moon and the stars and the constellations – why are you undermining my authority? Just then, God gave Avram the idea to respond: The way the universe works since the day it was created is that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Tomorrow, command the sun to rise in the west and set in the east, and then I will testify that you are indeed the master of the universe.A Modern Midrash:Who Were Avraham and Sarah, Our Founders?From Rabbi Jon's Yom Kippur sermon (2009)They were inventors. The inventors of chesed -- of kindness, of generosity, of reaching out. They never stopped asking each other, what's the right way. Warm challah, delivered personally; or orange orchards, which is to say: public works, solid and enduring. That's who they were, and that's why the Blessed Holy One chose them in the first place.They left Ur, the great ancient city; they left alone and walked. They knew their own sadness, of separation, being apart from their families. They believed that each day was like a tallit that the Blessed Holy One wrapped around them, they felt that God steadied their feet, gave sun and water and nourishment for them and their small flocks. They knew the first commandment before God even had to tell them: Be like Me. Reach out, look for ways to care for the varied people you will meet on your journey.When they stopped for a while in Haran, along the road in Syria, Avraham and Sarah would go into the marketplace and pray. This how they prayed: They stood facing each other. They looked up, then at each other. Then they each turned around in place, slowly to the right, and looked in all directions. They paid attention to everyone they could see. When they completed a circle, they would close their eyes, and look up again. It took about thirty seconds.It was remarkable the visions they would have in those thirty seconds. Invariably, they could see a furrowed brow even a mile away, or hear a silent cry. Sarah would go off and bake, and bring the bread to someone she had noticed somewhere in the 360. Avraham would leave a basket of fruit, the same way.People started joining them -- not just people who had been touched by their kindness, but people who watched them in the daily, circling prayer. There were those who were enthralled by the arguments, the great challah-orange debate, which could be easily heard over meals in their tent, which they kept open at all times. By the time Avraham and Sarah picked up for Canaan, they were a community of hundreds. A growing circle of chesed, of generosity and devotion, of need and response.Service and Community:In the Desert, Among StrangersBy Rabbi Jon – excerpted from ...”Abraham planted an eshel-tree in Be'er Sheva, and there he called the name of Adonai, Eternal God. And Abraham lived in the land of the Philistines a long time." The peace treaty is jarring--it comes as Abraham's own family seems to be collapsing, and stands in counterpoint to the doom of Sodom and Gomorrah. The rabbis of the midrash (rabbinic exegetical narrative) try to make sense of the episode, and their point of entry is, of all things, the tree.In one midrash, two rabbis offer their views on what exactly the eshel was. One says: an orchard. The other says: an inn, a way station for desert travelers. Either way, Abraham marks his new bond with the Philistines by getting involved with them, providing and sharing food.Maybe Abraham was reflecting on his experience with Sodom. He had argued on their behalf, but from a comfortable distance--looking down into the valley from his home up in the hills. For all his talk of justice, he had done nothing to engage with the evil and corruption right in those cities. Here, Abraham decides to take seriously his own talk about justice, creating community right there in the desert, looking out for vulnerable travelers among the Philistines as well as his own people.The rabbi who teaches that an eshel is an inn has to justify his creative translation. The three letters of the Hebrew word eshel, he says, each stand for an element of Abraham's hospitality: aleph for "achilah," eating; shin for "shtiya," drinking, and lamed for "l'vaya," accompanying travelers on their way."Then Abraham lived in the land of Philistines a long time." Not in the cities he had settled in when God first brought him to Canaan, but in the land of the Philistines. Who knows how many strangers Abraham met, what he learned as he shared meals with them, what they taught him as he escorted them toward a safer journey.If they thanked him, say the rabbis, he would respond: Do you think you have me to thank? Let us thank God together, for it is God's food we are sharing. And, we might add: It is God who brought me to this land, who separated me from people so that I would have to figure out from the beginning how to order my relationships, how to sustain justice in my own home, which I realize is a place of ayn-shalom, no peace.What is Abraham's life, after all, but a twisting story about connection and disconnection? Leaving home, wandering the new land, leaving it in time of famine. Reaching out to travelers, speaking out for ten hypothetical innocents hidden in a culture of evil. In the middle of the desert, Abraham makes a tentative step, staking out a small parcel for peace and devotion to others with no expectations in return. None of them will be announcing miracles to Sarah or good fortune for their descendents. The eshel is a moment of pure service.It is interesting that in one rabbinic legend, this is the time that Abraham sends messengers to check on Yishmael, and eventually to reunite the family--only for a time, of course, before the terrible challenge from God to offer his other son. But I like to think about that legend, and to imagine Abraham and Sarah with their children at the eshel in Be'er Sheva. Peace in the home, service to others. How to preserve that moment, they do not teach us--Torah forwards that challenge to us. ................
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