It is no secret that I like the little service of the High Holy Days. The private moments. The more intimate experiences. Last night a group of us gathered both in person and on Zoom to begin selichot services. Typically held late on the Saturday before Rosh Hashanah, it is one way we “get in the mood.” There are differences between how the Sephardic communities and the Ashkenazi communities do selichot. And most liberal Jewish communities have no fixed liturgy.
Sometimes it features some of the upcoming tunes, the nusach you will hear during the course of the season. Sometimes it features a dinner. Sometimes it features readings or a workshop, writing or art. So much of the concepts of the High Holy Days is so cerebral it can be hard to understand. Music, art, poetry are ways to get us out of our heads and perhaps into the emotions of the prayers themselves. Some congregations show a movie. That has had mixed responses in this congregation but that was the direction the ritual committee and I chose to use this year.
The first part of the evening was changing the blue linnens to white. It is always a special moment when that is completed. It was lovely to have five of us working together to make the sanctuary look beautiful.
There is something magical about selichot, the late night, the dim lights, the approaching holiday all seem to be evocative. It gives me a chance to focus, to center, to really prepare.
We began with havdalah with people bringing their own lighted, separate candle to one another and to light the havdalah flame. It was beautiful. Then it was my intent to show the movie, “Lilies of the Field.” But while havdalah worked on Zoom, the Zoomers couldn’t hear the audio on the video so we went to the remaining part of the selichot service. That full service follows.
One of our members brought a lovely reading from Rami Shapiro about Hineini that I will have to track down. You might hear it again later in the season.
But what about Lillies of the Field. If you never saw it, it came out in 1963 starring Sidney Portier. It seems like an improbable movie to show on the wall of a Jewish sanctuary. Even projecting a cross or having nuns bless themselves. But nobody raised those objections.
By now you might be wondering, why did I pick this movie. It is about a community—a diverse community coming together to build a church. Isn’t that what we do at CKI—we come together to build our Jewish community. Not a church, but in this case a synagogue.
The movie has many diverse people, Sidney Portier is black and even points that out. He’s a poor itinerant handyman whose car runs out of water. There are five German nuns who have escaped over the wall in Berlin to land in this G-dforsaken desert. There is an Irish Catholic itinerant priest. Juan, the Hispanic restaurant owner, a host of Hispanic “villagers” and there is the white owner of the road construction company. And all of the languages, with no subtitles to go with it, English, German, Spanish and even southern English!
The head nun, The Mother, eventually called Mama, wants Homer to help fix their roof. (Can you say Fiddler on the Roof? Or our own roof campaign?) He does that and then wants to be paid. She wants him to sleep there and do more. Some tension—a lot of tension–about what it means to be paid and when. One egg and a cup of milk is a “Catholic breakfast” and not really payment and not nearly enough food.
But the ice seems to break when he offers English lessons, rather than listening to the “phonograph” on a record. Much better and more fun than the staid lesson. The younger nuns even smile.
One of those lessons included “I build the church. You build the church. HE builds the church. We build the church.” The idea was that they all build the church together. Or maybe G-d will provide and HE will build the church. Is it faith in G-d. Faith in the one individual? Faith in the community? Or just insurance?
This movie has much to say about racism and diversity and welcoming people. Much to say about building community. And for me it was a piece of lifelong learning this year.
What are the implications for us? I remain enthralled by thinking about this. It is worth the watch and a great kick off to the High Holy Days.
Selichot and Welcome Back Havdalah 5783
Welcome
Heveinu Shalom Aleichem
Heveinu Shalom Aleichem,
Aleichem Heveinu Shalom
Hiney Ma Tov U Manaim
Shevet Achim Gam Yachad.
Ashrei
Ash-rei yosh-vei vei-te-cha – od y’-ha-l’-lu-cha se-la.
Happy are they who dwell in Your house; they are always praising You. (Psalm 84:5)
Or zarua
Or zarua latzadik uleyishrei lev simcha.
(light is sown for the righteous and joy for the upright in heart)
Havdalah
Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha’olam borei prei hagafen.
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.
Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha’olam borei minei v’samim.
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, Creator of varied spices
Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha’olam borei m’orei ha’esh.
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, Creator of the lights of fire.
Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, hamavdil bein kodesh l’chol, bein or l’choshech, bein yom hashvi’i l’sheishet yamei hama’aseh. Baruch atah Adonai hamavdil bein kodesh l’chol.
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the universe who makes distinctions between holy and everyday, between light and darkness, between Shabbat and the six days of work. Blessed are You, who distinguishes between holy and everyday.
Eliyahu hanavi
Eliyahu hatishbi
Eliyahu hagiladi
Bimheirah b’yameinu
Yavo eilenu
Im Mashiach ben David
A good week, a week of peace
May gladness reign and joy increase.
The Gates
The gates are opening.
A transition in time:
notice and walk through.
Tonight we open ourselves
to possibility, to becoming
better than we were before.
Tonight we prepare
to breathe into our changes
and begin anew.
Tonight we turn from despair
and open toward hope, even if
we aren’t certain,
even if we feel wobbly as fawns
learning to bound
across an open summer field.
Tonight we turn from inattention
and open toward awe, even if
we don’t remember the way.
The gates are opening
above a sapphire floor.
God waits. Will we come in?
Rabbi Rachel Barenblatt
Selichot
Rosh Hashanah 17b:5
The verse states: “And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed” (Exodus 34:6). Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Were it not explicitly written in the verse, it would be impossible to say this, as it would be insulting to God’s honor. The verse teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, wrapped Himself in a prayer shawl like a prayer leader and showed Moses the structure of the order of the prayer. He said to him: Whenever the Jewish people sin, let them act before Me in accordance with this order. Let the prayer leader wrap himself in a prayer shawl and publicly recite the thirteen attributes of mercy, and I will forgive them.
Adonai Adonai
יְהֹוָ֣ה ׀ יְהֹוָ֔ה אֵ֥ל רַח֖וּם וְחַנּ֑וּן אֶ֥רֶךְ אַפַּ֖יִם וְרַב־חֶ֥סֶד וֶאֱמֶֽת׃ (ז) נֹצֵ֥ר חֶ֙סֶד֙ לָאֲלָפִ֔ים נֹשֵׂ֥א עָוֺ֛ן וָפֶ֖שַׁע וְחַטָּאָ֑ה וְנַקֵּה֙
Adonai, Adonai, Eyl rahum v’hanun, ereh apa-yim v’rav hesed ve-emet. No-tzeyr hesed la-alafim, nosey avon va-fe-sha v’hata-a v’nakey.
Adonai, Adonai You tube video
Avinu Malkeenu:
Avinu Malkeinu chaneinu va’aneinu, ki ein banu ma-a-sim,
aseih imanu tz’dakah vachesed v’hoshi-einu.
Avinu Malkeinu, be gracious and answer us, for we have little merit. Treat us generously and with kindness, and be our help.
Eternal One of forgiveness
Searcher of hearts
Revealer of deep thoughts
Proclaimer of righteousness
Good and benevolent to Your creatures
Knower of all secrets
Provider for the righteous
We have sinned before You
Be merciful with us.
Sh’ma Koleinu
שְׁמַע קוֹלֵֽנוּ יהוה אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ, חוּס וְרַחֵם עָלֵֽינוּ, וְקַבֵּל בּרַחֲמיִם וּבְרָצוֹן אֶת־תְּפִלָּתֵֽנוּ. הֲשִׁיבֵֽנוּ יהוה אֵלֶֽיךָ וְנָשֽׁוּבָה חַדֵּשׁ יָמֵֽינוּ כְּקֶֽדֶם. הֲשִׁיבֵֽנוּ יהוה אֵלֶֽיךָ וְנָשֽׁוּבָה חַדֵּשׁ יָמֵֽינוּ כְּקֶֽדֶם. אַל־תַּשְׁלִיכֵֽנוּ לְעֵת זִקְנָה כִּכְלוֹת כֹּחֵֽנוּ אַל־תַּעַזְבֵֽנוּ.
Sh-ma ko-lei-nu A-do-nai E-lo-hei-nu, chus v’ra-cheim a-lei-nu, v’ka-beil b’ra-cha-mim, uv-ra-tson et-t’fi-la-tei-nu. Ha-shi-vei-nu A-do-nai e-le-cha v’na-shu-vah, cha-deish ya-mei-nu k’ke-dem. Al tash-li-chei-nu, l’eit zik-nah kich-lot ko-ch-einu, al ta-az-vei-nu.
Hear us, Adonai our God, have compassion upon us and with that compassion, accept our prayer.
Help us to return to You, O God; then truly we shall return. Renew our days as in the past.
Consider our word; look into our inmost thoughts.
Do not cast us away from Your presence; do not remove Your holy spirit.
Do not dismiss us when we are old; as our strength diminishes, do not abandon us.
Loving God, do not abandon us; do not be far from us.
For You, O God, do we wait; and You, our God will answer.
Hashiveinu
Return O Israel, to your Eternal God;
return, all who have stumbled.
For this says the Eternal God,
the Holy One of Israel;
In returning, in peace shall you triumph;
in calm trust you shall find strength.
You are a stronghold to the poor,
a shelter from the storm,
a shade from the heat.
Infinite God, reach out to me;
let me return to You,
let me come to You.
I am alone.
Alone.
Empty-handed.
Afraid of myself.
Let me come to You.
Reach out to me.
You are a shelter from the storm,
a shade from the heat.
Return O Israel, to your Eternal God.
Behold how the Eternal One does great things with this people!
Behold the Most High, who heaps miracle upon wonder!
Return O Israel, return!
You are a stronghold to the poor,
a crown of glory to all who stumble and fall,
to all who rise and return!
הֲשִׁיבֵ֨נוּ יְהוָ֤ה ׀ אֵלֶ֙יךָ֙ ונשוב [וְֽנָשׁ֔וּבָה] חַדֵּ֥שׁ יָמֵ֖ינוּ כְּקֶֽדֶם׃
Take us back, O LORD, to Yourself, And we will come back; Renew our days as of old! (Lamentations 5:21)
Summer Day
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean—
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down—
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
Mary Oliver
Shofar
Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha-olam asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu lishmoa kol shofar.
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the universe, who has made us holy with commandments, and who has commanded us to hear the voice of the shofar.
Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha-olam shehecheyanu v’kiyimanu v’higiyanu lazman ha-zeh.
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the universe, for giving us life, for sustaining us, and for enabling us to reach this season.
Oh Lord, let this new year be for us and for our children a year of awe and amazement, blessing, courage, compassion and creativity. May we dream boldly, exhibit empathy, enjoy families, friendship and fun. May we be generous, gracious and grateful, honest and hopeful. May we be blessed with intelligence and ingenuity, joyfulness and justice. May we be kind. May we love and be loved. May we experience music and motherhood and nature. May we be optimistic. May we be patient and persistent. May we experience quietude, respect and reverence. May we be sincere and spiritually fulfilled. May we embrace your Torah. May we be united in Your service to improve the world around us. May this be a year of vigor and wisdom, yearning and zeal for good causes. May we be blessed as we go on our way
Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein
With many thanks to the Bayit for some of these modern words.
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