Redemption Through Prayer

<BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" LINK="#000000" VLINK="#000000" ALINK="#000000"> <CENTER><TABLE><TR><TD WIDTH=20% VALIGN="TOP"> <A NAME="top"> <P> <B><a href="http://betmish.org/text/erh5760drash.html">Text-Only Version</a></B> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/index.html">Home</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/whatsnew.html">What's New</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/calendar.html#July8">Coming Events</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/drashot.html">D'rashot</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/do.html">What We Do</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/who.html">Who We Are</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/contact.html">Contact Us</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/faq.html">Frequently Asked Questions</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/archives.html">Archives</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/links.html">Links</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/member.html">Membership</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/credits.html">Credits</A></B></BIG> <P> <BIG><B><a href="http://betmish.org/addbook.html">Guest book</A></B></BIG> </FONT></TD> <TD ALIGN=CENTER VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="80%> <CENTER>    <table border="0" align="center"> <tr> <td align="center"> <a href="http://betmish.org/index.html" target="_top"><IMG border=0 src="http://betmish.org/images/banner2.gif" align=center height="104" width="512" hspace=5 alt="Bet Mishpachah banner"></a> </td> <td align="left"> <font size="-5"><a href="http://betmish.org/child/descriptions/banner.html">Banner<br>Description</a></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center"> <p><font size="-1"><i>Washington, DC's Egalitarian Synagogue</i><br> <i>Embracing a Diversity of Sexual and Gender Identities</i></font> </p> <p> <b><font face="Arial"><font size="+1">Rabbi Bob Saks<br> </font></font></b><br> <font face="Arial"><font size="-1"><i>Founded in 1975 by Members of the GLBT Community<font color="white" size="-4"> </font></i></font></font></p> </td> <td align="left"> <font size="-4" color="white"> </font> </td> </tr> </table> </center> <H1 align=center>Redemption Through Prayer</h1> <center>by Scott M. <BR>September 10, 1999 <BR>Tishri 1, 5760</CENTER> <P>Good evening and Shana Tova. </P> <P>Last spring, when the members of our synagogue who are involved with High Holy Days began to consider which roles we would play, I spoke with our High Holy Day Ritual Chairs and told them that, because of other personal commitments, I really needed to take a year off from leading a service. They were very understanding and assured me they could fill in the spots, but, "Well," they said, "how about giving a <I>drash</I>?" I was so caught off-guard and honored to be asked, that, without much thinking, I said "OK!" </P> <P>Boy, they are good!</P> <P>There were times since then that I'd ask myself, "What have I gotten myself into? What wisdom do I have to impart? What do I know?" Well, for one thing, I've come to find out that, much more than I expected, preparing a High Holy Day <I>drash</I> involves a very different process than preparing a service. Preparing and leading a service involves, among other things, choosing and organizing the prayers from our <I>machzor</I> into a meaningful, cohesive unit; composing transitions that guide the congregation from prayer to prayer on both a mechanical and interpretational level; and leading the congregation in those prayers (all of which our service leaders have done so beautifully this evening). In preparing a <I>drash</I>, one is starting practically from scratch. It's a blank slate. Naturally, there is a wealth of Jewish thought, writing, and literature, but where does one begin?</P> <P>The challenge of choosing and developing a topic that would be appropriate for Erev Rosh ha-Shana got me thinking, much more and much earlier than I usually do, about such questions as</P> <UL><LI>what are the High Holy Days all about?</LI> <P><LI>why do we come together here to observe them?</LI> <P><LI>what is the purpose of all this time spent in synagogue?</LI></UL> <P>Big questions. To begin to answer them, and my <I>drash</I> CAN only BEGIN to answer them, I decided to examine them through the microscope of this year's High Holy Day theme: <I>G'ula</I> -- redemption.</P> <P>First of all, what does "redemption" mean? The dictionary says "an act of redeeming or the state of being redeemed." Very helpful. What does it mean "to redeem"? The dictionary says "to deliver, rescue, protect, or liberate." What do those definitions have to do with us as Jews or with us at the High Holy Days?</P> <P>Let's take an example from tonight's service. One of the passages we read states, "I saw you as slaves in Egypt and desired you to become a godly people. I am the everliving, your God."</P> <P>Another passage, which we sang in Hebrew in the <I>Michamocha</I>, quotes Jeremiah and declares, "As God saved Jacob from arms stronger than his own, so will God redeem all who are oppressed."</P> <P>So, God redeemed Jacob when he wrestled with an angel, and God redeemed all of us when were slaves in Egypt. I don't mean to ask God, "but what have you done for me lately?" but what kind of Jewish-people-wide redemption for the sake of our personal safeties are we in need of today? I'd go so far as to say that most of us probably do not expect to see in our lifetimes a divine intervention of such order at all.</P> <P>So how does the theme of redemption still apply to us today?</P> <P>Let's take a step back and consider what any of us really needs to be liberated from these days. Most likely, it's ourselves: a habit that we want to break, a fear or inhibition we've been meaning to overcome, or some good habit or deed or new venture we haven't provided ourselves the opportunity to do or explore. We've advanced as a people from needing God to save us from the bad things or to allow us or make us do the good things. We are now responsible for our own liberation from the bad and deliverance into the good. We are responsible for our own redemption.</P> <P>And, one of the ways to begin to redeem one's self is through prayer. Which takes us back to the questions of why are we here tonight, tomorrow, etc, and what is the purpose of our time spent at services. </P> <P>Take a look around. A lot of work has gone into allowing a crowd this large to enjoy a service that is conducted with dignity, ceremony, and precision. The service leaders have planned, page by page. The <I>gabbai</I> has made sure everyone has gotten to the <I>bima</I> on time. The choir has rehearsed to perfection. The ushers have gotten us all to our seats with books and handouts. There are even people monitoring the sound system as I speak. It's pretty impressive. But much of it is designed so that you actually don't notice it. So when you leave from here tonight, you may forget about a lot of it. </P> <P>So what are you going to leave with? What will the impact of tonight's service be? That is almost entirely up to you. </P> <P>We're very happy that you made the decision to be here tonight. There are lots of other things you could be doing this evening and over the HHD season. But, now that you are here, is worship or an examination of your soul taking place? Synagogue attendance has become for many people a religious obligation, something they look upon almost as a service to the community, as opposed to a service to God or a service to one's self. Think about why you are here tonight. To appease your parents? To assuage a sense of guilt over not being at synagogue any other time of year? To keep up appearances? Or, are you here for yourself, that is, your self-improvement, your relationship with God, your self-redemption? By deciding to make this evening about yourself, and committing to focus on the prayers in front of us, you can get the most out of the time you spend here and accomplish a degree of redemption through prayer.</P> <P>Luckily, in this congregation we have advanced from the "prayer by proxy" that many of us grew up with. We may remember synagogues in which the rabbi, cantor, choir, or organ did the praying for us and we simply observed. Here at Bet Mishpachah, while we enjoy the occasional solo by a service leader or song from the choir as a means to set a mood or give us introspective time, for the most part we all have the opportunity to say every word of the prayers and to sing along with each song.</P> <P>But just because we all recite the words or sing the songs, it doesn't necessarily mean that we are really praying. It's very easy to slip into auto-pilot.</P> <P>As a parallel, consider how we speak in our day-to-day lives. The many different ways in which one could deliver the same set of words can convey a myriad of intentions. It's all based on the intonations, the inflections, the pauses. If we just said the words in a flat monotone, a lot of meaning would be lost. Those intonations and pauses are all based on some thought process. Depending on the message the brain wants to deliver, the brain determines how we will say the words. Because we speak everyday, this happens pretty automatically for us. </P> <P>However, most of us do not do the sort of self-analysis involved in prayer, let alone High Holy Day prayer, everyday. Our brain isn't used to processing the meaning of these words so quickly. Those "intonations" are not going to come so easily. It's going to take some effort.</P> <P>In Washington, so many of us put so much effort into so many things in our lives: our careers, our homes, our communal involvements. And all of that can be wonderful. But what about our spiritual needs? So many of us who are such movers and shakers, people who take responsibility for what happens, may be sitting here tonight and waiting for something to happen to them. And if it doesn't, may leave saying, "The service was alright, but I didn't get anything out of it."</P> <P>You may be familiar with the song <I>Al Sh'losha Devarim</I>. The words are Al sh'losha devarim ha-olam omed: The world stands on, or is supported by, three things: al ha-torah: on Torah; al ha-avoda: on prayer; ve'al gemilut chasadim: and on acts of lovingkindness. The word used for prayer in this song is avoda. But avoda, literally translated, is "work." Well, effective prayer<B> is</B> work, requiring mobilization of heart, mind, and soul.</P> <P>The prayers can't just be recited; they have to be examined and directed to each of us. We all need to think about what we are saying and ask, "How does this apply to me in terms of what I can do to improve myself? How does this apply to me in terms of my relationship with God or what I can do for my community? What of this can I internalize and take home with me?</P> <P>Again, we're very happy that you made the decision to be here tonight. But the issue of High Holy Day prayer is not so much physical attendance, but spiritual attendance, concentration, and self-diagnosis. </P> <P>Much of what I am saying was inspired in me by the essays of Abraham Joshua Heschel. Allow me to excerpt from one of the things he had to say about prayer: "Prayer is a way to master what is inferior in us, to discern between the vital and the trivial ... Prayer clarifies our hopes and intentions. It helps us discover our true aspirations, the pangs we ignore, the longings we forget ... It gives us the opportunity to be honest, to say what we believe, and to [live up to] what we say."</P> <P>What a great opportunity our services provide us. Think of what a difference we could make if each of us takes time at services tonight or when we get home to think about even one "true aspiration," as Heschel says, and each of us keeps that as his or her "personal wallpaper," as the PC-literate say, throughout our High Holy Day services. If we keep that "true aspiration" present and allow it to be reinforced by the words of our <I>machzor</I>, and come up with ways to make that "true aspiration" happen, we may be able to begin to realize that self-redemption -- that <B>transformation -- </B> which is ultimately what the High Holy Days are about and why we spend time here in synagogue. </P> <P>If one were to go through the High Holy Day services, but then pick up with his or her life with absolutely no difference from the life that he or she conducted just before Rosh ha-Shana, then the High Holy Days may have been a waste of time for that person.</P> <P>The worth of the time one spends here may be measured in the actions that follow. The prayer itself is a beginning of the redemption; it has to be followed by action. But the actions that we weave into our daily lives after these ten days may be determined by what we make of our prayers here.</P> <P>In the <I>Avinu</I> <I>Malkeinu</I> prayer, which we will be rising for shortly, one of the lines we will read is, "<I>Avinu</I> <I>Malkeinu</I>, enable us to attain our <B>liberation</B>." Remember that "liberation" was one of the synonyms I cited earlier for "redemption." And, just as importantly, it is not stated, "<B>give us</B> our liberation," but "enable <B>us to attain </B>our liberation."</P> <P>So, the question is not "what has <B>God</B> done for <B>me</B> lately?" but "what have <B>I</B> done for <B>myself</B>, spiritually speaking, lately?" Just as much as we address God, we address our prayer to the good within ourselves and enable self-improvement and the creation of change in the world. </P> <P>Historically, God was the performer, the redeemer of the people. Now we are each performers, responsible for our own personal redemption.</P> <P>It has been an honor to address you this evening, and I hope I that have added to the meaning of your Rosh ha-Shana. However, the ultimate responsibility for that lies within you. </P> <P>Allow me to close with an excerpt from the very first page of our Shabbat siddur: "... Prayer demands more of the heart than of the tongue ... Our prayers are answered not when we are given what we ask, but when we are challenged to be what we can be."</P> <P>Le-Shana tova tikateivu -- May you be written for a good year.</P> </TD></TR></TABLE></CENTER> <P><HR> <p align="center"><FONT face=Arial><small><small><b>For a description of any of the graphics on this page, click on the D next to the graphic. <BR>For more information, contact our office at <a href="mailto:office@betmishpachah.org?SUBJECT=Request for Information from Web Site">office@betmishpachah.org</a><br> Send comments about this site to <a href="mailto:webweaver@betmishpachah.org?SUBJECT=Comments About Web Site">webweaver@betmishpachah.org</a>.<br> Copyright 1996 - 2008 Bet Mishpachah.</b></small></small></FONT> <CENTER><font face=Arial size="-1" color="#999999"><small><small><P><b>This page last modified on Sunday, May 18, 2003 at 07:58 PM EDT.</b></small></small></font> </CENTER> </body>