{"id":159,"date":"2006-09-29T08:31:46","date_gmt":"2006-09-29T06:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/?p=159"},"modified":"2009-12-29T13:34:36","modified_gmt":"2009-12-29T11:34:36","slug":"when-words-fail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/2006\/09\/when-words-fail\/","title":{"rendered":"When Words Fail"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a> What would normally be a manageable two, maybe three hours in synagogue on a normal Sabbath service stretches out to four, five and sometimes even six hours on Rosh Hashana…and nearly all day on Yom Kippur.<\/p>\n But more than the time, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the words. There are so many of them. And to be perfectly honest, they aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the easiest to digest.<\/p>\n Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a sampling:<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 And so all shall ascribe the crown to You\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6to the One who is too awesome for praise\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Who suppresses His anger\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6Who forgives sins\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/span><\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 God shall reign forever\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6from generation to generation\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6awesome, exalted and Holy…O King, rescue us from evil\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/span><\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 He will judge the world righteously\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6he judges alone, who can dispute Him?<\/span><\/p>\n Powerful stuff. But what do you do if the words don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t speak to you? If you find it hard to relate to the text on the page? To my ear, the language sounds too authoritarian and patriarchal, designed to induce raw fear in the supplicant, which to my taste seems out of step with the rhythm and flow of contemporary life.<\/p>\n So every year when Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur come around, I have the same problem with all those old fashioned words. Now before you call me a heretic, hear me out. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to stop going to synagogue or remain part of the community on these festive days: my commitment to a Jewish lifestyle transcends any transitory difficulties I may have with the High Holyday liturgy. But it would be nice if the text wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t so unapproachable.<\/p>\n My annual struggle was made even more poignant this year when I noticed our thirteen-year-old daughter Merav sitting in shul<\/span>, book closed, staring blankly and bored into a corner of the sanctuary.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I just don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get it,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she told me as we sat down following the holiday to discuss her 2006 Rosh Hashana synagogue experience. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I mean, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re supposed to be praying to God, but does God actually listen? And how do we know there even is a God? The words say we do, but I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand it at all.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n Then she added in a particularly barbed zinger aimed straight for my heart, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153When I grow up, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m for sure not going to be as religious as you.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n Hold on there, missee. Who do you think you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re talking to? Not as religious as me<\/span>? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not your combatant here. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m more of a partner, going through the same issues, struggling with the text, not getting it, feeling out of place. Maybe we can work this one out together. Lord knows I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve already tried.<\/p>\n For example, a few years ago at Rosh Hashana time, I decided that if the words didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t speak to me, I just wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say them. But rather than space out like my daughter, when it was time for the Amidah<\/span>, the silent prayer, I closed my siddur<\/span>, folded my arms over my chest, and tried to meditate.<\/p>\n I strived to empty my mind, to just be present, noticing all the sounds and sensations around me, appreciating life and the opportunity to be together with a community of seekers, many of whom may have secretly been doing the same thing as I was if I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d opened my eyes to take a peek.<\/p>\n Would this approach help me get closer to God and my fellow spiritual seekers, I wondered, or was it just a way to pass the time? Whatever the motivation, it worked pretty well. My friend Rabbi Julie Saxe-Taller<\/a> of Congregation Sherith Israel<\/a> in San Francisco agrees.<\/p>\n In a sermon prior to Rosh Hashana services last week, she told her congregation: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If during these hours together, you find an image or metaphor that especially speaks for you, feel free to remain in that place for as long as you want. There is no commandment to be on the same page as the person next to you! If what you need is to be here in this community reflecting quietly on your life, please do so with all of our respect and blessings.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n The next year, I upped the ante a bit and, in addition to meditating, I tried to relate to the inherent musicality of the service. We attend Jerusalem\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fabled Leader Minyan<\/a> for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur (see my posts here<\/a> and here<\/a>) where the singing is particularly joyful and the tunes lean more towards rock and roll than traditional Eastern European drinking songs (think Leonard Cohen<\/a> instead of Dudu Fisher<\/a>).<\/p>\n I once again closed my eyes but this time I tuned in to the symphony of sound surrounding me. I noticed it rise and fall, swelling to crescendos at times, at others becoming so quiet you could hear your neighbor sweat. Some congregants would quietly drum on their prayer books, others might pound on the walls at a particularly uplifting melody.<\/p>\n But at the end of the day, there were still the words. And as this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Rosh Hashana rolled around, it seemed to me a bit disingenuous to continue ignoring the words, especially given their sheer quantity. Rather than avoid the text, could I return to reading the words, I wondered, but relate to them differently, less authoritarian and more humanistically?<\/p>\n Why not? After all, although the words may be predominantly about our subservience to the one true God, the ultimate goal of prayer, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always believed, is to positively influence our own sense of self so as to improve our interpersonal relationships and to make the planet a better place. Isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t that the highest goal in Judaism tikkun olam<\/span><\/a> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c fixing the world?<\/p>\n
\nRosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are the highlights in a year of Jewish holidays. The importance ascribed to what are known as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the High Holydays\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is second to none on the Jewish calendar. When it comes to liturgy, though, they are also among the toughest days of the year. The prayer service, you see, is just, well\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6so long<\/span>.<\/p>\n