Hebrew Prayers from Rabbi Herzfeld

There is a power and beauty in the Hebrew Prayer Book. Here is one selction from a distinguished (and young) Washington Rabbi. More will come I hope.

Ben


Kol Nidre
Shmuel Herzfeld


It is Kol Nidre night, the most awesome night of the year. We have gathered here tonight to pray as a community. The most difficult thing to do at any tense setting is to begin. The question is how we should begin our tefillot. How would you begin?

In fact, the first thing we say on Yom Kippur is, anu matirin le-hitpallel im ha-avaryanim, we declare it legal to pray with sinners. Think about it for a moment, it’s astonishing. The first thing we say on Yom Kippur is that we are allowed to pray with sinners.

Hold that thought for a moment, because I want to discuss with you another prayer, which stands at the very center of our Yamim Noraim, the Unetaneh Tokef prayer. We read this tefillah twice on Rosh Ha-Shanah and once more on Yom Kippur. So we should ask ourselves: What is the message behind this prayer, and why does it dominate our Yamim Noraim?

In U-Netaneh Tokef, we say "ve-khol baei olam ya-avrun le-fanekhah ki-vnei maron, and the entire world passes before you like a flock of sheep." And this is usually understood to mean that everyone passes before God as an individual, like a sheep passes before the rod of a shepherd.

However, a more accurate explanation is the way the Talmud in Massekeht Rosh Ha-Shanah explains this passage. The Gemara in Rosh Ha-Shanah teaches, "Ha-yotzer roeh yachad libam u-mevin al kol maaseihem, the Creator sees all of their hearts together and understands all of their actions." That is the phrase, kivnei maron, like a flock of sheep, means that God looks at the Jewish people like one big flock of sheep. All of us are seen first and foremost in an indistinguishable fashion. We are all one flock coming before God.

This is why U-Netaneh Tokef is placed at the center of our liturgy on the Yamim Noraim. It is to drive home this point that when we stand here on Yom Kippur, we are first and foremost not praying for ourselves, but for the entire community. We are together repenting for the sins of the community, and we are praying for the needs of the community.

This is also why we begin Yom Kippur itself with a tefillah that states anu matirin le-hitpallel im ha-avaryanim, we are allowed to pray with sinners. The reason why we are supposed to pray with sinners is because on this day, even before we are judged as individuals, we are judged as a community. And so our prayers need to be common prayers, the righteous with the sinners, the rich with the poor, and the sick with healthy. God is looking at all of us together, on this day. If one of us is guilty of sin, then we are all guilty of sin. If one of us is sick, then we are all sick. If one of us is poor, then we are all poor.

We are all coming together now to pray as a community. And as we spend the next twenty five hours immersed in the holiness of Yom Kippur, let’s bear this message in mind. We gather here on Yom Kippur, to pray together as a community. So on this Yom Kippur let's all sing together, let's beat our hearts together, let’s feel each other's needs together. Together let’s feel the plight of the Iranian Jews, together let’s feel the pain of those who still await Gittin from recalcitrant spouses.

And as we begin this Yom Kippur, let's look together at what's happening as we speak in Israel. These are our soldiers there. These are our brothers and sisters that are being attacked. And so wherever one stands on the political spectrum, our message on this night is that we are all together.