Ok! I’m going to invite you to something incredibly cool, and meaningful, that we are trying out here at Temple Emanu-El.
Saturday night, September 9th, we are going to have our S’lichot service outside, under the stars. S’lichot is what I call ‘the soft opening’ for the High Holidays and is meant to put us in a certain headspace a few days before Rosh HaShanah.
Your rabbis have spent considerable time finding poetry[i] from contemporary poets to weave between the beautiful traditional prayers that are sung as we prepare for the High Holidays.
We will include the age-old custom of changing our Torah covers to their white mantels, representing purity and the wish that through our ‘internal wrestling’, our slate will be once again clean (white as snow” -Isaiah 1:18)
And… we will introduce a ‘new custom’, one that involves fire! As part of our (short) service, you will have the chance to write down your regrets from this past year (what you would like to change about yourself, your behaviors), and, as the moon begins to rise, to symbolically burn your note in an open hearth. [ii]
So…A contemplative experience under the stars, with poetry and prayer, new innovations alongside age-old traditions. Side by side with your family, your rabbis, and your community.
We are really looking forward to this.
Won’t you please join us!
B’shalom,
Rabbi Spike
September 9th - Leil Selichot Dessert & Service
6:30pm Dessert
7:00pm Service
[i] Poetry as part of S’lichot service goes as far back as the 9th century prayer book of Rav Amram Gaon
[ii] We think that this is going to be really powerful, and reminiscent of burning chametz before Passover.
