The main goal of the entire rabbinic High Holy Day season was Teshuvah, repentance. Teshuvah actually means returning. If we return to a life of wholeness, caring and mitzvoth, we become integrated again as Jews. The word atonement has this same root. Atonement also means "At-one-ment." Our sages assured us that teshuvah, real personal returning, results in divine forgiveness. Thus, the Un'taneh Tokef, one of the central prayers of the High Holy Days, concludes with the statement, "Teshuvah, prayer, and tzedakah temper the severity of the decree."
The teshuvah process is a long one. It begins thirty days before Rosh HaShanah on the first day of the Hebrew month of Elul. The entire month of Elul is meant to be both serious and intense. Every day during the month (except Shabbat) the shofar is blown in the synagogue in an attempt to awaken our souls to the difficult task of teshuvah, returning.
By spending the month of Elul in introspection, searching our souls for our past mistakes, we prepare for the Yamim Nora'im, the Days of Awe. For almost a thousand years this self-examination was done publicly in the synagogue. Jews would stand and ritually go through the act of confessing the mistakes and transgressions to which people are prone and would openly ask for forgiveness. In some communities, Jews would spend the day before Rosh HaShanah going around to neighbors' homes to ask for forgiveness. Such personal vulnerability had a powerful influence on the individuals and their ability to achieve real teshuvah, real returning.
In an attempt to help us think about the upcoming High Holy Days, Rabbi Lipman will be e-mailing an "Elul thought" each day of Elul to everyone who wishes to be on the list. To get on the list, either sign up after Shabbat services at Temple or call the Temple office (708-0018), or e-mail Rabbi Lipman.
On the Saturday night before Rosh HaShanah, Jews traditionally meet at midnight to recite special prayers of penitence, called Selichot. Medieval rabbis saw midnight as the most propitious time to make requests of God. According to our tradition, King David would awaken at midnight to create the Psalms. If it worked for him, they reasoned, it should work for us. Ironically, the probable origin of having a service at midnight was the introduction of coffee into the European Jewish world. More Jews found themselves staying up later, and the eerie time of midnight became the appropriate time to recite prayers of penitence. Here at Temple B'rith Shalom, we will have our Selichot Service at 7:00pm on Saturday, September 20th.
Teshuvah, returning, creates in us a sense of personal renewal. Our rabbis connected that feeling to the Yamim Nora'im by making Rosh HaShanah the anniversary of the creation of humans, the sixth day of creation. Rosh HaShanah reaffirms the world's renewal as well as our own. The Jewish tallying of years since creation therefore changes each year at Rosh HaShanah, the seventh month of the Jewish year. This year will be 5764.
