CyberTorah

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur can be overwhelming and liturgically dense. Worse, since we do it every year, it can easily become routine when it is meant to heal our broken hearts.  Here follow seven tips to having a meaningful, spiritual, experience during the Holidays.

1) Make the experience personal.  The themes and liturgies intend to show a mirror to your life.  What fears do you face this New Year?  What memories do you have of other Holidays?  The High Holidays confront us with the passage of time and our own mortality.  It asks us to stand forward and defend the meaning of our lives.  What have you done with the last year? Of what are you ashamed?  Of what are you proud?  Most importantly, what are you going to do differently this year?

2)  Write / Say your own prayers. The Machzor contains the prayers of Am Israel, of the Jewish people.  It does not necessarily contain our own personal prayers. If we allow ourselves to be limited by the confines of the book, we never give voice to our souls.  We ought to have moments where the printed page becomes irrelevant to our thoughts and prayers.  Its words inspire us and challenge us – but then we relate and express our own personal concerns.  What is your Avinu Malkeynu – what would you say to God as you approached before the Divine Throne?  Write or say your own confessional composed of your issues for this year. Personal prayer enriches, expands, and makes communal prayer meaningful.

3) Read the English.  For most of us, the Hebrew can be read but not understood.  For many of us, even reading the Hebrew is difficult or impossible.  It is good to say the blessings (the Barukh Atah… sections) in Hebrew, but the rest can be recited in any language.  The Mahzor committee put incredible work into the translation. Use it!

4) Use the Transliteration.  Music is the language of the soul.  Further, congregational singing is one of the high points of a spiritual experience.  Most of the songs we sing together have transliteration provided on the page.  In addition, humming along is perfectly appropriate.  The music itself is as moving as the meaning behind the words.  Even if the Hebrew is uncomfortable, allow yourself to be part of the music.

5) Bring or Borrow a Book.  It is hard to stay focused on prayer for as long as the service lasts.  It is perfectly appropriate to read something of a Jewish / High Holidays theme as Torah L’Shma – the study of Torah – during the service. Bring something to study or share.

6) Enjoy your Friends.  The Holidays appropriately include a social component.  It’s inspiring to be together with Jewish people.  Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are holy experiences of Am Yisrael, the Jewish people together.  Stepping outside for a few minutes to talk with an old friend can be as meaningful as time spent in the service and equally holy.

7) Know that you are a good Jew.   The Holidays are here to help us become better Jews.  They are solemn days, not sad days.  Particularly on Yom Kippur, the Machzor emphasizes our inadequacies in the face of God.  It also emphasizes that the choices we make and the mere fact of our covenantal loving relationship with God bestow upon us tremendous value.  Sometimes we feel judged and inadequate in the face of what we have failed to do.  The true purpose of the Holidays is to build us up and inspire us to do more.

The Holidays are as meaningless or as meaning-filled as we choose.  Let yourself be touched and changed and you will be.  Strive to find how the prayers address you and you will find, in many cases, that they do.  Remember that not every moment is a spiritual high, but some moments may be if we are open to the possibility of experiencing God.

May the year be a better one, and please, God, bring the hostages home.

L’Shana Tova,

Rabbi David Booth