Each year Sukkot quickly follows the High Holidays. There is a tradition that after Havdallah on Yom Kippur, that we immediately begin building our sukkah. I always felt that this was a lot for Judaism to ask of us. After a 25 hour fast, intense prayers and reflection, and the emotional roller-coaster that Yom Kippur can bring, to start with the Sukkah immediately? Why? The answer that our Sages bring speaks to me more this year than ever before. Essentially, they say, “kol ha kavod’ (lots of respect) for really doing Yom Kippur right. You did some soul searching, and have made resolutions to make the most out of your life and your relationships. But all that is work of the mind and of the heart, what about the hand? Take all that ‘inner work’ that you have done, and go…build…something. Don’t stay in your head. Act. The other lessons that Sukkot teaches are amazing (join us Friday night for online services), but this is the lesson that calls to us with a sense of urgency. With Yom … [Read more...]
A Yom Kippur in the Kitchen
Just this week, while chatting with one of our Temple Emanu-El teens, she relayed to me: “Rabbi, Yom Kippur is going to be so hard this year. Usually, we are at synagogue, away from our home’s distractions, and definitely away from the one place I try to not pay attention to all day…the kitchen! But this year, we are literally attending Yom Kippur services from our kitchen!” She’s not wrong. Like Rosh HaShanah, many of our members will attend Yom Kippur services from their kitchens, dining rooms, living rooms, TV rooms, and sunrooms. For the first time in years, no one can kvetch that we kept the air too hot or too cold (that’s on you this year!). The mundane spaces of our home will be made holy by the sacred words we sing out from the walls of our mikdash m’at (miniature sanctuary). Though there will be new distractions we have not had to face in years past, there will also be new opportunities to enhance our holiday experience. While it may be tempting to sleep through the hard part … [Read more...]
Music That Moves You, a High Holy Day Journey in Song
V’al Kulam by Meir Finkelstein Performed by Cantor Lauren Adesnik, Sydney Levy, Ann Rollins V’al Kulam is a short blessing that concludes the Modim, or gratitude section of the Amidah, our standing prayer. The Amidah is the heart of our prayer service, when we offer our vulnerable prayers to God. This blessing moves us deeper into our encounter with the divine and expresses our gratitude for our ancestors and creation of the world, the universe, everything in it, and in the heavenly divine world as well. Click the link to enjoy! https://youtu.be/lomanqBFuPA … [Read more...]
This Rosh HaShanah…
Each year, in the hours that lead up to Rosh Hashanah, I spend time with our High Holiday prayer book (machzor). I have found that these hours in study of our liturgy allow me to be in relationship with not only the prayers, but the sanctity of the holiday. I enjoy this time. It is sort of a ‘treat’, knowing that by being intentionally ‘open’ to the text, parts of our tradition will rise to the surface, where I can engage in a quiet, reflective manner. This is a different experience than encountering the prayers during worship services. That tenor is one that is more charged and a quicker pace. They are both positive experiences, but the quiet time with our machzor is more intimate, more personal. It is a whisper instead of a shout. Part of what I really enjoy are the meditative readings and side-page intentions, many of which we do not include in our Temple Emanu-El services due to limits in time. For this reason, they often feel like hidden ‘gems’, … [Read more...]
Music That Moves You
Most of us are connected to a piece of music, or a melody, secular or religious that moves us to a different time and place. The melodies we hear on the High Holy Days are thick with meaning and tradition. Many of us have sung and prayed to these tunes for most of our lives. This year’s high holy days, without some of our most favorite tunes and missing the majestic depth of our choir, will certainly prove very different. I promise they will still be as meaningful and beautiful as ever! COVID-19 may have impeded in person choral singing, but we are not deterred. Coming to you in several Facebook Live presentations, on Instagram and on our website, are five incredible collaborations. Mah Tovu, Elohai N’tzor, and Sim Shalom are three of our most beloved choral settings at Temple Emanu-El. The textured harmonies add a sense of uplift, inspiration and an aura of drama and profound meaning to our high holy day prayers. Led by our fearless conductor Melissa Fontaine, guided by the … [Read more...]
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