Erev Yom Kippur Services

so [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] please turn to page one for a sinai [Music] [Music] [Music] my is [Music] i would like to invite our temple president dr michael solomon to welcome the congregation as we enter the year 5782 uncertainty persists it is unfortunate that we cannot all be together in person here tonight but we are definitely one in spirit those of you who have worked with me in temple leadership over the past years may have noticed my regular upbeat tone my family will attest to this as well it is always about positive energy the glass is always half full never half empty it is my primary goal to bring this same spirit to our congregation in everything we do the temple's response to the coronavirus pandemic is no exception and its near and long-term future is bright your temple leadership is working hard to bring everyone back home while the covet situation has deteriorated rapidly in our community we continue to provide what i believe are safe and responsible options for our members to come back to campus if they choose to we have a group of vaccinated members here in this sanctuary tonight and more of you will return tomorrow morning this sunday our 7th and 8th graders will come back to campus to begin the religious school year in person we also hope to bring our younger children back as soon as we can the traeger family early childhood education center continues to provide high quality preschool education more importantly these children are getting the social interaction that is so critical to their development that everything always goes smoothly quarantines occur but we what but we must press forward think outside the box and not be defeated virtual programming has been a miracle for us during the pandemic providing community education and spirituality for all for our members however i feel strongly that it is no substitute for the human connections that face-to-face collaborations provide we must not forget this when the pandemic subsides next year i plan to stand here before all of you and celebrate the coming year 5783 we will do something special and fill every seat happy new year sanato vaz we turn to page two for the blessing over the candles and shaykhian oh source of blessings [Music] foreign oh [Music] is [Music] source of blessings bringing us to this time [Music] oh [Music] is the prayer of people not free to make their own decisions people forced to say what they do not mean in repeating this prayer we identify with the agony of our forebearers who had to say yes when they meant no connie grey is also a confession we are all transgressors all exiled from the heights we know all in need of the healing of forgiveness and reconciliation for what we have done for what we may yet do we ask pardon for rush words broken pledges insincere assurances and foolish promises may we find forgiveness for sins against god the day of atonement atones but for sins of one human being against another the day of atonement does not atone until they have made peace with one another please rise [Music] please is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] place alright [Music] worship away [Music] no yes [Music] is no oh [Music] [Music] dream oh [Music] home [Music] oh [Music] should um lord the lord know oh [Music] as in your love you have been patient from the time you let us out of egypt to the present day so in your great love may you forgive our people once again and god said i have pardoned in response to your pleasure [Music] is [Music] we turn to page four as we remain standing for the balcony oh [Music] blessed are you adonai your great name fills the universe with majestic mind your word creates twilight and dusk as your wisdom opens the gates of night your discernment separates the changing seasons and causes the passage of time the stars arrayed across the sky reveal your design you roll out the cycle of darkness and light shaping day and night you sweep away day and carry the world into nightfall setting day apart from night time you are god for all we can perceive and all that is beyond our perception leading eternal god we are sovereign to the end of time blessed are you adonai creator of twilight and dusk listen israel adonise our god that nice one blessed is god's glorious majesty forever and ever ah [Music] oh foreign [Music] now foreign is [Music] is my foreign foreign oh [Music] witnesses to this heroic might the people thanked and praised god by name freely accepting the reign of heaven that moses and miriam and holy israel sang to you this song of utter joy [Music] [Music] [Music] oh oh return to page six bless our sleep with peace adonai and awaken us to life when we rise with powers of lives spread over us your shelter of shalom and through your wisdom restore us make us whole let your name proclaim your presence in our lives be our shield make us stronger than the enemies we face illness and war famine and sorrow and stronger than the enemies in our hearts wickedness and sin carry us to safety as on wings for you are the monarch of grace the sovereign of compassion you are the one who cares for us and sets us free watch over us we who go forth to life watch over us that we may come home in peace now until the end of blessed one you spread over us a canopy of peace the shelter of shalom over all israel your people and over jerusalem [Music] my [Music] me [Music] is [Music] you rise now to the villa on page seven [Music] oh [Music] [Music] three [Music] you are the source of blessing adonai our god and god of our fathers and our mothers god of abraham god of isaac and god of jacob god of sarah god of rebecca god of rachel and god of lair exalted god dynamic and power are inspiring and all god sublime creator of all yet you offer us kindness recall the loving deeds of our fathers and our mothers and bring redemption to their children's children acting in love for the sake of your name remember us for life sovereign god who treasures life inscribe us in the book of life for your sake god of life sovereign of salvation pillar of protection blessed are you in our lives adonai shield of abraham sustainer of sarah [Music] [Music] is me [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] your life-giving power is forever adonai with us in life and in death you liberate and save cause due to descend and with mercies abundant lovingly nurture all life from life to death you are the force that flows without end you support the falling heal the sick free the imprisoned and confined you are faithful even to those who rest in the dust power beyond power from whom salvation springs sovereign over life and death who is like you merciful god who compares with you with tender compassion you remember all creatures for life faithful and true worthy of our trust you sustain our immortal yearnings and in you we place our undying hopes well spring of blessing power eternal you are the one who gives and renews all life you are holy your name is awe there is nothing divine beyond you as the prophet isaiah taught source of all might is exalted through justice the god of holiness made holy through righteousness blessed are you adonai holy sovereign please be seated as we join together responsively eternal our god remember us amen be mindful of us amen and redeem us for a life of goodness and blessing amen peace profound and lasting all embracing peace let this be your gift to israel your people in your goodness author of peace bless us and all people every season every hour with the peace that is yours to give let off in the whole family of israel be remembered and inscribed in the book of life maybe a life of goodness blessing and prosperity may it be life of peace you are the blessed one the eternal one source of shalom [Music] is [Music] see [Music] [Music] [Music] is is [Music] is is is [Music] [Music] we continue now with silent prayer [Music] hey [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] hey [Applause] [Music] [Music] turn now to the misha barach prayer for hope and for healing for all of us and all we love please join us in these words [Music] oh [Music] blessings [Music] [Music] hey [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] we turn now to the confessionals on page 10 our god and god of all generations may our prayers reach your presence and when we turn to you do not be indifferent adonai we are arrogant and stubborn claiming to be blameless and free of sin in truth we have stumbled and strayed we have done wrong [Music] um more [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] oh oh [Music] oh [Music] so we read together we all have committed offenses together we confess these human sins the sin of arrogance bigotry and cynicism of deceit and egotism flattered every greek injustice and jealousy some of us have kept grudges were lost malicious mind others were obstinate possesses quarrels selfish there was violence weakness of will xenovocal we yielded to temptation and showed zeal for bad causes our turning away from your meets vote and laws of goodness is a hollow pursuit you are just concerning all that happens in our lives your way is the way of truth while ours leads to error what can we say to you whose existence is beyond time and space but words of ours can reach your realm beyond the clouds beyond heaven itself every hidden mystery every revelation surely you know them all you know the secrets of the universe and the secrets of the human heart you know and understand them you re-examine our inner lives nothing is concealed from you nothing hidden from your sight eternal one our god and god of our ancestors we pray that this may be your will forgive all our wrongs pardon us for every act of injustice help us tone for all our moral failures we continue responsibly on page 11. the ways we have wronged you deliberately by mistake and how we have caused you in your world through the words of our mouths the ways we have wronged you by hardening our hearts and harm we have caused your world [Music] the ways we have wronged you by judging others unfairly and harm we have caused in your world through disrespect to parents and teachers the ways we have wronged you for insincere apologies and harm we have caused in your world by mistreating a friend or neighbor the ways we have wronged you through violence and abuse and harm we are imposed in your world for dishonesty in business for all these failures of judgment and wealth god and secretly and harm we have caused in your world by losing self-control [Music] we have wronged you by giving in to our hostile impulses and how we have caused in your world from greed and exploitation the ways we have wronged you through cynicism and scorn without cause and harm we have caused in your world through offensive speech the ways we have wronged you with slanderous fun and harmony of costing your world through a selfish heavy spirit for all these failures of judgment and will god of forgiveness forgive us pardon us lead us to atonement [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] my heart lord [Music] hear our call adonai our god show us compassion accept our prayer with love and good will [Music] birthday [Music] [Music] ah [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] here [Music] oh oh [Music] my my [Music] we stand together now the words of avinu malkin [Music] welcome our prayer with love accept an embrace foreign [Music] to save us justice [Music] me [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] me [Music] foreign please be seated in the book of numbers adonai our god commands moses and aaron to use a very specific blessing when they bless the people of israel this blessing is now known as the priestly benediction we use this blessing many times during the year we use it every time we welcome a newborn baby into our midst we use it for a bar or bat mitzvah student when they join the community as adults doing the confirmation doing a wedding and sometimes every saturday at the end of services we bless the congregation without blessing what is it about that blessing that became so special so special that even during the high holidays our choir sings it led by dr louis bailey so many times and it's translated to english into hebrew so we can understand what the words mean what makes this blessing so unique to us so central to our lives well one reason is obvious that's the one blessing that god wrote and god told us to use but it's not only that this is the perfect blessing it's shaped in a perfect geometrical way but it's also the meaning of that blessing is just so wonderful to every event to every time we use it it says the following may adonai bless you and guard you may adonai's face shine on you and be gracious to you and may adonai's face turn toward you and give you peace if you look at it line by line it's shaped like a pyramid three words then five words then seven words that create a perfect pyramid and if you look at it from top to bottom it says to you may god bless you may god shine light upon you may god's face turns toward you and if you look just at the middle of it it says adonai's face towards you trying to say to us in the way it's shaped that actually the meaning of this blessing is that it represents the abundance and the love that god wants to bestow on the people of israel when this blessing is used what is really beautiful and you can only see it in the hebrew not in the english translation is that it says it in the singular the you there is in the singular meaning that this blessing is pointed at every individual in the community it's not saying it to all of us as a congregation but to each one of us as a person as an individual but this is not all if we look at it line by line the first line says to us may adonai bless you and guard you we're asking god to guard us not only to bless us but to guard us this has been a very tough year for us actually not one year 18 months a year and a half and there's nothing more than we yearn to than god guarding us rashi the greatest torah commentator ever says the following on this line he says we're asking for security physical and financial security not only for here and now but also for the future how wonderful it is if you can walk this earth if you can walk the path and the journey of your life knowing that you are guarded and that you are safe both financially and physically and that you know that also your future is safe both financially and physically wouldn't that be enough but we're actually asking for more or god is telling us to ask for more in that blessing the second line is saying may have a nice face shine on you and be gracious to you we're asking two things here one is we're asking for the light of god we want god to bring god's radiance and light into our lives in our tradition we say the soul of the human being is the light of adonai our god we believe that our essence our humanity what makes us human is the light of god that is in us but we're also asking god to give us some of the grace of god what we're actually asking in the second part of the blessing is that we will have this light and that grace and we will be able to spread it around us it's not enough that we will enjoy it but the entire community everybody who is around us can feel the light of god and the grace of god that is in us and then we go to the third level of the pyramid and we say may adonai adonai's face turn towards you and give you peace the hebrew actually says and give you or grant you shalom usually we understand it as we're really asking for shalom what could we ask more than shalom shalom means not only peace it means wellness and wholeness and well-being shalom in hebrew means to be perfect so by asking for shalom we're actually asking that our life will be just simply perfect that we will be what we ought to be perfect human beings but we're asking for another thing here as well maybe even more important we say in the beginning of that line may had a nice face turn toward you we're asking to feel god's presence wherever we are so now when you think of this entire pyramid of this entire blessing we're actually asking god to guard us in our journey through life to make sure that we will always feel safe financially and physically we're asking that the grace and the light of god will be part of our life so we can bring it into other people and then we're asking for god to be present in our life in all times and that our life then will be filled with shalom and then comes the last line after all those blessings and there's a transition from the singular to the plural when it says so they will put my name on the israelite and i will bless them may it be a year where we will feel the safety that god is with us at all times that we are secure both financially and physically and health health-wise may it be for all of us a year when we will feel the light of god in our lives and maybe even more important that we will feel the grace of god and will share that grace with other people that are around us in our community in our congregation and may we all married to feel god's presence at all time in our life and to achieve the stage of shalom we turn now to page 16 for this moment of memory this holy night concludes with memory our last thoughts always are those we have lost we miss them especially tonight yearning for their presence at our side to everything there's a season and a time for every purpose under heaven time to be born and a time to die time to laugh and a time to cry time to dance and a time to mourn a time to seek in a time to let go this is the time we remember those who gave meaning to our lives this is the time we remember the bonds that tied us together the love that we share and the memories that remain with us still their memory is a blessing now and forever we pray that their goodness will live on in our lives planting seeds of kindness and hope for generations yet to come we rise now for cottage as we hold all of them in our hearts amen may the source of peace bestow peace on all mourn may we comfort me be the source of comfort be that to all who are bereaved and let us say amen oh [Music] [Music] [Music] ah [Music] [Music] [Music] our closing song is on page 18 a don't alone [Music] uh [Music] [Music] me our god and god of our fathers and mothers bless us with hearts filled with wisdom bless us with minds filled with love bless us with eyes open to the wonder of your creation bless us with ears attuned to the cry of all those who are in need avinu malcano almighty and merciful bless us with the year in which we hear your voice with the many opportunities to bring healing to your world bless us with a year of understanding and of mutual respect may the many joys and sadnesses of the year gone by always be a reminder of the strength of community and congregation which we all share and may the year to come its challenges and its joys bring us always that certain recognition that we are better together for all that we share may the year which now beckons move us from strength to strength travelers together along the path of justice and righteousness holiness and peace may god bless this holy congregation and all who have gathered here this day may we be the builders of a world of blessing for ourselves for our families for our community and for the world the scribed and sealed for a good year me shanatova things

Channel: The Temple - Reform Synagogue in Louisville, KY

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Length: 70min 14sec (4214 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 15 2021