The High Holiday season marks the beginning of the Jewish year. In contrast to the secular new year which is often associated with obliterating the past (by tearing out the leaves of the calendar and drinking too much), this season at the beginning of the new Jewish year emphasizes remembering—even as we celebrate new beginnings and work towards making changes in the coming year.
The 40 days from the beginning of the month of Elul through Rosh Hashanah (on the first—and for more traditional communities, the second) days of the month of Tishrei and Yom Kippur (on the tenth) constitute a season of teshuvah—a period of repentance, return, and renewal. It is a time in which we seriously examine our actions and relationships, and attempt to return to our true selves—and to God—by making amends, praying, and doing acts of righteousness and generosity.
Special services emphasize various themes central to the season. On Rosh Hashanah afternoon, the Musaf service focuses on God’s sovereignty (Malchuyot), God’s remembering our deeds and God’s relationship with us (Zichronot), and the promise of a redeemed world heralded by the blowing of the ram’s horn (Shofarot). On Yom Kippur, the Avodah service commemorates the rites of individual and communal purification in the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. Readings from the Torah and the prophetic writings depict stories of spiritual trial (including infertility), and birth and re-birth, and send messages of social responsibility and the possibility for renewal. Throughout Elul, on Rosh Hashanah, and at the end of Yom Kippur, the sound of the shofar serves as a spiritual wake-up call.
While the themes of this holiday season are deeply meaningful and personally relevant, the liturgy of the machzor (the High Holiday prayer book) can be off-putting. Daytime services are quite long, and more than any other time of the year, the traditional liturgy is replete with the ancient imagery of God as King—language both hierarchical and exclusively male. Additionally, for those of us who are overly self-critical, the ongoing confessions of sin and guilt can feel self-defeating.
The image of God-as-Father (while still using masculine language for the Divine, as does all of traditional Jewish liturgy) provides somewhat of a balance—a Ruler is demanding and reigns from on high, but a Parent nurtures us, understands our failings with love, and teaches us. Because these depictions of God are both problematic and powerful, many individuals and communities have adapted traditional prayers, sometimes simply reworking God’s gender (using female God language or non-gendered depictions of God).
In this section, you will find exercises and prayers for doing teshuvah, feminist revisions of traditional High-Holiday prayers, as well as other poems and prayers (which you can take to synagogue with you), liturgies and meditations for Tashlich (during which we symbolically cast our sins, usually in the form of breadcrumbs, into a body of water) and Selichot (the penitential prayers that characterize the season), a contemporary prayer for the one who blows the shofar so that it may be heard by the congregation, and some new prayers and customs regarding two elements central to many Jewish holy days—candles and food.
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