Praying for Life
The contents of the High Holiday prayer book emphasize the themes of the
Days of Awe--introspection, repentance, and the hope to be "inscribed in
the book of Life."
By Iscah Waldman
"The
great shofar is sounded. A still small voice is heard. This day, even the
angels are alarmed, seized with fear and trembling as they declare: 'The day of
judgment is here!'"
In a loud and
trumpeting voice, the cantor describes the shofar's blast, then softly and
gently describes a "still, small voice." This poignant line from the
Musaf ("additional") service sets a tone for the High Holidays. It is
a dichotomy that is played out over and over throughout the liturgy of the Days
of Awe. On these days, we sing of the king, judge, and awesome sovereign who
sits in judgment over us, while at the same time, we appeal to God's mercy and
longstanding tradition of forgiveness, likening God to a shepherd sheltering a
flock.
Rosh Hashanah is the first day of court. In the liturgy, we see this played out
in the number of references to God as sovereign, ruler, and as a most judicious
king. Additions and different emphases start as early as the beginning of the
Shaharit (morning) service, with the word "Hamelekh" (The King).
While these words also appear in the liturgy of Shabbat morning, on Rosh
Hashanah and Yom Kippur they are highlighted in such a way that a new leader
begins the service with a powerful note on the word "King" itself.
The structure of the
morning service on Rosh Hashanah is similar to weekday and Shabbat services. It
is, however, additional piyyutim (liturgical poems) such as L'eyl Orekh Din
("to the God who sits in judgment") or Adonai Melekh ("Adonai is
King") that evoke the seriousness with which we would approach a trial
with the true judge.
The Torah reading on Rosh Hashanah is from the story of Isaac's birth,
describing God's kindness in giving a child to Abraham and Sara in their old
age (Genesis 21). On the second day we read the story of the binding of Isaac,
which ends with a ram as a substitute for Isaac (Genesis 22). The shofar that
is so prominent on Rosh Hashanah is considered to be symbolic of this ram.
As the continuation of the piyyut U'netaneh Tokef quoted above, tells us, on
Rosh Hashanah we are inscribed into the book of life, while on Yom Kippur, the
book is sealed. These simple lines open us up to the possibility of teshuvah
(repentance) and of reflection of our past deeds. U'netaneh Tokef is recited on
both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as an introductory piyyut to the kedushah
(literally, holiness) in the musaf Amidah. The key line of this prayer follows
on the heels of a long rhetorical piece that demands to know who among this
congregation will be here next year--how many will perish and how many will be
brought high? But, notes the liturgist, even those who are fated for the worst
can depend on the following precept: "penitence, prayer, and good deeds
can annul the severity of the decree."
The shofar is perhaps the best-known feature of Rosh Hashanah services. There
are two sets of shofar blasts on each day of the holiday, the first following
the Torah service, and the second intertwined with three unique sections in the
musaf known as Malkhuyot (verses relating to God's Kingship), Zikhronot (verses
relating to memory), and Shofarot (verses relating to shofar). Each of these
sections contain ten verses on each of the topics--Malkhuyot contains verses
that recall that God is king, Zikhronot contains references that recall God
remembering us for the good, and Shofarot gives quotes in which the shofar is
sounded, in the past but mostly in the future, heralding future redemption. The
sounding of the shofar is interspersed through each of these three prayer
sections, showing itself to be a part of the prayer itself. In Reform and other
liberal congregations that do not recite musaf, these sections--and the shofar
sounding--are added to the morning Shaharit.
Rabbi Michael
Strassfeld has written in his book, The Jewish Holidays, that these
three sections, unique to Rosh Hashanah, reflect three central principles of
Judaism:
1.
The acceptance
of God as King of Universe
2.
The
acknowledgement that God intervenes in the world to punish the wicked and
reward the good.
3.
The recognition
that God was revealed in the giving of the Torah at Sinai, and will again be
revealed at end of days.
If we were to pick out one piyyut as an archetype of the theology of the Rosh
Hashanah, we might choose L'eyl orekh din (to God who sits in judgment).
The poem begins by declaring that God "probes all of our hearts" and
therefore will always divine our most secret thoughts and fears. The poem moves
on to say that God suppresses wrath in judgment so that regardless of the dark
nature of our secret sins, God will suppress anger in discovering them. It ends
by announcing that God acts with compassion, accepts God's subjects, and guards
those who love God. We may take from this that even while we call Rosh Hashanah
"Yom HaDin" (day of judgment), we can look forward to the end
of the process in which we will be loved, accepted, and forgiven our sins. This
is the overall theological message that the Rosh Hashanah liturgy wishes to
portray: We still have hope.
If we view Rosh Hashanah as a the first day of a court case, then we likewise
would see Yom Kippur as the day on which the verdict is handed down. The
tension mounts as we near the Day of Judgment, and this can be seen in the
liturgy as well. The evening of Yom Kippur begins with a once-controversial
prayer, Kol nidrei, that has since become the symbol for the solemnity of the
day. In this prayer, repeated three times, we pray that all vows and oaths that
we have made throughout the year will be forgiven us, so that we might enter
into this coming year with a clean slate, forgiven for any promises we might
inadvertently have broken. Many rabbis viewed this as an unnecessary absolution
which might lead people to sin by taking their vows too lightly in the future.
However, this prayer had already proven to be so popular and powerful among the
people, it has become a centerpiece of the holiday.
All five services on Yom Kippur include a section known as Selihot
(forgiveness prayers) and another one called the Vidui (confessions).
The Selihot include a basic confession of sins, an expression of our
contrition, and reflections on God's forgiving nature. We recite the 13
attributes, which are taken from a prayer that Moses recited in Exodus 34. In
it, we assert that God is a compassionate, patient, and righteous God. Included
in the Vidui is the Ashamnu, which is an alphabetical acrostic of
different sins we have committed. It is said in first-person plural, because
while each individual may not have committed these specific sins, as a
community we surely have, and our fates are intertwined on this day. We also
read the Al chet, which is a prayer that similarly lists transgressions
we have made over the year. These two sections best reflect the theology of the
day: We are in a state of self-reflection. We admit our sins fully, and even
beat our breasts while doing so. We place our fates in God's hands for God is Tov
V'Salah (good and forgiving).
Yom Kippur musaf (Shaharit for Reform synagogues) is different from Rosh
Hashanah, in that we do not add Malkhuyot, Zikhronot, and Shofarot, but instead
include a section on the Avodah, a description of the sacrifices and rituals
performed by the High Priest in the Temple on Yom Kippur. We also add a piece
known as the martyrology, a solemn section where we recall ten martyrs who were
killed in most brutal ways, giving their lives while declaring their faith for
the world to hear.
It is the final service on Yom Kippur, Nei'lah--literally "locking"
(of gates)--which paints an image of the gates of heaven closing, lending
urgency to our prayers and our need for repentance and forgiveness. We begin
the service with a piyyut that asks God to "open the gate" and let us
enter so that we might have a final appeal before God's decree is sealed. There
is a silent Amidah prayer, like at all services, which is repeated by the
cantor. Throughout Neilah, the language of being "written" in the
book of life used thus far in High Holiday liturgy shifts, as we instead speak
of being "sealed" in that book.
The final section of Ne'ilah includes a
recitation of the Shema ("Hear O Israel…") followed by recitation of
these lines: Barukh Shem K'vod ("Blessed be God's name…") three
times, and Adonai Hu HaElohim ("Adonai is our God") seven times. We conclude
with a long blast of the shofar.
Thus ends the period of the High Holidays. We begin with contrition and awe as
we enter the courtroom for our trial. We end with the acceptance of our
verdict, and the assertion that Adonai is our God--powerful, all knowing, and
of course, compassionate.
Rabbi
Iscah Waldman is the director of education and family programming at
Ansche Chesed in New York City.
