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Rabbi Joel Lehrfield
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| The Rabbi's Study |
| September, 2002 |
| One of the most important
prayers recited on Rosh Hashanah (for that matter at any service) is the
"Amidah - the silent meditation". True, a "Piyot", or
"Poetical Prayer" inserted in the repetition of the "Amidah"
has evoked over the generations, a tremulous chord in the heart of the praying
Jew. That "Piyot" begins with the phrase "On Rosh Hashanah
it is written and on Yom Kippur it is sealed" and brings if not a tear,
then at least a tug at our heartstrings. But it is not an essential part
of the "Amidah" of the Yamim Noraim (High Holy Days). |
It is the "Amidah" that is the core of the service and the "Amidah" for Rosh Hashanah, is the longest prayer of any prayer cycle. I think it would be worthwhile to focus on its structure as the High Holy Days approach. |
| For most Jews, the High Holy Days
are the religious apex of the year, and the "Amidah" that is recited
informs us of the three basic principles of our faith. The first principle
is termed "Malchiyot". It proclaims that Hashem, our G-d, is the
Creator, the King, the Author of life and death. It tells us that there
is a plan and purpose to the universe. It proposes that life, our lives,
are not haphazard accidents. We proclaim that Our G-d, all-powerful, is
the ethical source of compassion, loving kindness, justice and truth and
will be ultimately accepted as such by the entire world. |
The second principle of faith is termed "Zichronoth". It proclaims that Hashem knows us, remembers us and is concerned with our histories, personal, communal and national. He provides each of us and every nation with its own special responsibility and purpose. This carries with it the obvious corollary that each of us personally, and each nation collectively, is to carry out its responsibility and its special task. We, as Jews, have the singular responsibility to carry the name and message of Hashem to the four corners of the Earth. After all, our father, Abraham, was chosen by Hashem in order to bring this message to all humankind. This task remains incomplete. |
| The third principle of
faith as described in the "Amidah" is called "Shofrot."
This principle proclaims that we attain our goals, our purpose and our functions
through the study and practice of Torah. This Torah revealed by Hashem and
given to us amidst the sounds of the Shofar, is the way we perfect ourselves
and hope to influence others. In the Torah is to be found our way of life
and the description of the ongoing saga of the Jewish people throughout
the ages until the final coming of the redemption and the ingathering of
the exiles. |
| Through the ages, persecution
has narrowed our vision so that instead of setting for ourselves the fulfillment
of this magnificent dream, we permit Rosh Hashanah to be a request to live
just another year in good health and prosperity. I do not belittle that
request. I too wish for the same. But life is more than bread alone, it
is the dreaming of the dream and the march to a vision. I feel we have failed
our children in that we have not imparted to them the soul of our faith,
so that in the absence of the dream, little in our Torah seems to them relevant
to as they pursue the fulfillment of their G-d given lives. Times change.
The ingathering of the exiles in spurts and jumps is our peoples' work in
progress. A plane loaded with 400 Americans recently landed in Israel to
begin a new life. One hundred and thirty families and their children from
all over the United States made Aliyah. For them, this was a step in fulfillment
of this dream. In spite of issues of security and the difficulties of earning
a living, the power of the dream drew them. |
It is time for us to renew the vision and as the Torah says "To teach it to our children and to remind ourselves as well, as we sit around our High Holy Day tables this year." |
Chavie and I wish all of you a Ktivah V'chatima Tova. May we see a year of Shalom for Israel and the entire Jewish people. May Hashem grant us the merit to see a resurgence of our faith in a rebuilt Jerusalem. |
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