Days of Awe 2010/5771

I. In English, we commonly refer to the approaching religious season as the “High Holidays” (the word “high” to distinguish these holidays as perhaps more important in stature than our other holidays). In Hebrew, this season is traditionally referred to as “Yamim ha-Nora'im.” We often translate this phrase as “The Days of Awe”; but more accurately, they might be called “The Fearful Days,” or “The Days filled with awesome dread.”  Our ancestors approached these days with trembling, with a sense that their lives hung in the balance ~ weighed on scales that measured their righteous deeds against their very human weaknesses. Our relatives in earlier generations beat their chests in earnest, as they intoned the sins listed in the “ashamnu” prayer. “We have sinned,” they repeated ~ because they truly felt in the depths of their souls the transgressions they committed during the past twelve months…. For them, the “Book of Life” was not simply a metaphor…

It is hard to gauge how far a more modern, “liberal” approach to the High Holidays has drifted from this ancient conviction and sentiment.  Whether we have become more enlightened in our understanding of theology and history; or more cautious in our definition of miracles; or perhaps at times more estranged from our roots ~ I suspect that this is all a matter of one's perspective. But it might be fair to say that each generation must search ~ and somehow find ~ its own emotional and spiritual connection to this holy season, much as our ancestors did in their day.

II. Pertinent to achieving a “spiritual connection” to the holidays (and, by extension, to the entire liturgical calendar), Temple Emanu-El will be hosting a series of explorative events throughout the year ~ focusing on one or more of our “senses” as they relate back to our tradition. The series actually begins, somewhat symbolically, with our ritual of “tashlich” immediately following worship services on the first day of Rosh Hashanah. Traditionally, “tashlich” (Hebrew for “casting” or “throwing”) was about our ancestors' casting their sins into the sea. Again, this custom has “evolved” ~ and I have thus been encouraged to speak about “tashlich” on the morning of Rosh Hashanah, and of our tradition's relationship with bodies of water. Other themes that I hope to address during these Days of Awe include “trust,” “grief,” and “premonition” (seeing/feeling into the future). On a more practical note, I am also pleased to mention that Ms. Kristin Goodkin, one of our former cantorial soloists, will be joining me on the pulpit this season for both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  And for the evening of Yom Kippur, we are honored to welcome Mr. Don Rienfeld, cellist (retired) of the RPO, to bring the pensive melody of Kol Nidre to our sanctuary. 

III. Each year presents its own challenges, even as each year the world struggles to find its way anew. As the Herzbrun family will be marking the beginning of our 25th year with Temple Emanu-El this coming December, we have come to know this congregation year-by-year both as a sanctuary and a home, a place where ideas are exchanged and positive feelings are shared freely. With the conclusion of the holiday season and the final “sounding of the shofar” in the sanctuary, both Pnina and I are privileged once again to host the congregation with a break-the-fast in our social hall and to say thank-you for allowing us into your congregational family.

L'shanah tovah,

Michael, Pnina, and Yoni