Rosh Hashana Chant Service

service and i'm putting this on gallery view so i can see your faces and not just mine um that's an important part of this chant practice actually is that i i'm gonna invite you to consider that that you put things on gallery view so that you can see our collective faces and names connected this morning so i'm so happy that we're together and i wanted to um frame a little bit what this service is and has been throughout the years on second day rosh hashanah so we gather together in a way that's a little different yes than what we've done and services it's a less tr it's a non-traditional model and for many of us chanting has become really important as a way to um be centered receive reflect get grounded um and there's another way in which this service i think comes to service there's a lot that we've already received on era rosh hashanah and yesterday in services and some of us were outside together yesterday and we're doing this moment here where we have a contemplative meditative practice that will allow us to digest and integrate some of what we've been receiving and i really see this as a valuable time for that to maybe recall some things that you have been hearing in services some teachings some more that you'll hear this morning and that with some spaciousness and the chanting and some spaciousness in the silence between the chants that we have a chance to just cultivate a little bit more space i think that on second day rosh hashanah my experience is that and this may be yours i'm a little more open a little more awake and a little more vulnerable and i want you to take care of that for yourselves to allow that vulnerability to be part of our spiritual preparation for how we invite change within us that we so long for at this time we really look to the days of all to bring us spiritual nourishment that allows for us to shift and change and we're getting ready to move into yom kippur we're going to have these days in between so second day rosh hashanah here at cbh and this chant practice is a bridge between all that we've brought in what we're moving within us and where we take that into yom kippur so this is the practice the chat the chants will be in the chat so you'll have them there we deeply miss a collected sound i may cry a little bit in missing that but i also know that we have profoundly risen to the occasion of still allowing chant practice to work so those of you that are fortunate enough to be in a space with someone else you'll have more than one voice with you the rest of you like me here just by myself i'll hear my voice and i'll imagine your voice you get to chant with my voice and you get to let your voice go where it wants to go there's no there's no limit to what you can do you may just stay on one tone or you may follow me or you may harmonize that may be what you feel so that's the practice this morning and then after we close our chant practice we'll have a little more torah from rabbi dale rabbi dale is this is her first time doing um second day chant service so we welcome her into this practice that she'll be learning with us and good morning rabbi dale welcome good so morning to be with all of you yes mackenzie it is a chefy on a moment i think i'll take a second and just really say that this is the first time that i have the opportunity to swim in the sea of chant so beautifully and skillfully woven by gan and will and to allow myself and ourselves to be moved along by it hello spoke about our vulnerability on this second day and and on the first night of rosh hashanah we talked about living in the liminal place in the in between again as you were talking i was thinking about geshert sarmaod all the world is just a narrow bridge and what is it in the midst of this liminal space and then neither here nor there in the liminal space of these 10 days when we haven't yet have the opportunity to be sealed into the book of life i'm thinking about the economy above all is not to fear everything it's interesting that teaching from rabbi nachman is often translated as and above all is not to fear at all but could be translated maybe better as not to fear in general not to fear all the time not to fear everything so we're invited to not live in a stance of fear not to say that fear doesn't arise in us that insecurity doesn't arise in us that resistance to uncertainty doesn't arise in us but i think what we're asked to cultivate is beta home the quality of trust the quality of allowing each moment to unfold in this new year um christian friends of mine have this saying um when you're walking in the darkness and you don't know where you're going you can't pray that you're going to be able to see to the end of the road but what you can pray is that god light the next step maybe we can cultivate beta-chan that the next step will be lit for us and that somehow the light of our spirits and the rising of holiness from our singing will give us enough light to make the next step and the next step and the next step i mean we begin with two morning prayers and these morning prayers i really see as spiritual stretching they're something we should do every day to both be grateful we wake up to our gratitude and we also remember that our souls are pure and at this time it's a really important thing to be able to do that i have a piece of whimsical art in my house that says don't hate me because i sin differently than you and i've been thinking about that today because of the vulnerability that starts to open itself up so elohim is a beautiful morning stretch into reminding us gratitude and um and with moda ani our spirit our breath carries us and sustains us into holiness so before we go into our chant i thought we actually might do a real stretch so wherever you are in your chair to allow yourself to stretch because you'll feel the sides of your body open up and that opening on the side of your body is where your lungs live and your lungs are where your breath moves in and moves out so that stretching will allow your chant to be wider and larger your voice carries on your breath this morning with some beautiful stretching you're doing yeah that's beautiful maybe a little bit of your neck too yeah beautiful we begin [Music] [Music] [Music] a [Music] [Music] [Music] m [Music] [Music] a [Music] i a [Music] i [Music] [Music] he [Music] oh [Music] [Music] tell [Music] [Music] [Music] i [Laughter] [Music] be lord [Music] ah [Music] tell you [Laughter] we are in the liminal space we are in the in between and in these days of elul and tishrei we read a special psalm the 27th psalm and the psalm has this very mysterious line in it it says to you my soul said my heart said seek my face eternal god will seek your face seek my face and i will seek your face i feel like first of all we can translate faces present seek my presence and i will seek your presence when we quiet down enough to for forget for a brief moment about our pressing day-to-day obligations sometimes what arises is really that longing for spiritual connection for being connected at our core and what is so beautiful and inspiring to me about this verse is we are both seeking god and the divine and holiness and imagining that that longing and that seeking is coming from the other direction too that when we open ourselves and allow us to feel our longing for true connection for true relationship with what is real what is true that there's a longing coming the other way that we are met so i invite us in this sacred beautifully quiet spacious place to allow our hearts to long for connection to presence connection to the divine among us in us around us and let us know that that divine is waiting for us to reach out that we will be met i will seek your presence and i seek mine as well these next two chants really expand on rabbi dale's teaching that we're reaching out sometimes in sorrow which psalm 81 expresses and waiting to be met and in these liminal spaces in this chant that will follow lo neda this liminal space is that we're on a journey that we're not quite sure where we're going sometimes and as rabbi dale said yesterday we're looking to what sustains us and guides us in this liminal time and that is part of our own spiritual journey [Music] are [Music] they are a [Music] oh [Music] right they are a right right [Music] [Music] i [Music] a a [Music] i [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] i [Music] [Music] [Music] m [Music] [Music] so in the torah reading for the second day of rosh one word appears four times the word is hineni avraham our ancestor responds to four different requests or calls with the word he name here i am when god tells him to go take isaac to do something that seems unimaginable avraham says he named me and when isaac along the way not knowing what's happening says uh i don't get this dad what's going on here avraham says he named me here i am my son and when the angel calls out thankfully to tell abraham that he didn't do what he thought he needed to do each time he calls out henani here i am so what does it mean to say he made me here i am i think in the context of unbidden realities like the pandemic like being in this liminal space we're all existing in there's a great tendency to want to resist certainly i found myself at the beginning of the pandemic saying no no that can't be this trip i had planned this conference i was going to speak at this thing that we were going to do as a family that has to happen and um maybe that kind of resistance to unbidden reality is what we see with the seemingly unfathomable resistance to the reality of both the health risk of the pandemic and the health resources that we have that people are not taking advantage of sadly in my work and with end of life and aging i have found that there's a tendency sometimes to stiffen to not accept a diagnosis to not accept changes in a loved one and i have never seen any good come from resisting reality um someone said when i fight reality i lose but only 100 of the time so resisting reality through denying or distancing or um refusing to engage with it is costly it keeps us from having the resources we need to meet the moment and i believe the teaching of henani is to say here i am let me be in whatever faces me let me bring my presence and my humility to know lo nei da we don't know how this will unfold but i bring myself fully to this moment may we in this place of uncertainty and liminality and fear and danger be able to say he made me to be able to muster our resources to be able to reach out to support one another and those around us who are so in need of our care he named me here i am i don't know what's ahead but i am willing i am present i am here [Music] me [Music] hey [Music] m [Music] me [Music] here i am here i am i am here [Music] here i am here i am here i am i am here here i am [Music] [Laughter] [Music] hey [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Music] ah ah [Music] a [Music] yo [Music] i ah ah [Music] me [Music] me [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] new oh [Music] oh [Music] of we join together for the shema shema he's right [Music] i don't know ah [Music] take a few moments of silence as we've walked into 5782 we've also walked into a sabbatical year the shemitah year and i'm going to bring you a little bit of a teaching from rabbi sam fine smith about this and this is to give us something to reflect on as we watch a video and hear a song by jesse romer about the shmitah year and we'll just use it for our own reflection time for what we might shift within ourselves in this coming year the torah recognizes that we human beings can easily fall into delusion imagining ourselves to operate independently of the great oneness of being and a natural outgrowth of such a misperception is the mistaken belief that we own the earth and are therefore entitled to exploit it as we see fit to increase our power and wealth as a corrective to our tendency to fall prey to this delusion the torah provides us with an earth-based spiritual practice called shemitah it's literally a year of release or letting go the land will lie fallow is what the torah teaches us it's natural produce ownerless and free for use by anyone the owner of the land cannot claim first use and even the animals are given free reign to eat from the fields left value what an amazing idea during this year-long sabbatical a kind of extended retreat we are asked as a spiritual practice to release our habitual tendencies and grow an awareness of our interdependence within the great oneness by letting go in all these ways we may come to recognize that without the land belonging to us that we are in the land part of it this is a gandhi quote it can still produce enough for everyone's needs but not for everyone's greed every human being on this planet exists in a state of mutuality with the earth its ecosystems its human animal and plant communities all of which are ultimately sustained by the great ocean of being in the shemitah year may we cultivate awareness that our lives are a gift that we are intric intricately connected to all that is and the earth that we live upon enjoy jesse's video [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] says [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] say [Music] is [Music] [Applause] is [Music] la [Music] my [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] what a beautiful beautiful reminder that video is of our capacity to renew the earth uh it's so joyous when we understand and honor our connection to the land and just as we can feed and nourish that connection with the earth so too can we feed and renew our connection with ourselves we have that capacity we just need to take the time to listen please join me in hadashia menu renew our days renew us as of old [Music] [Music] [Music] is let the sun see you let the sun see you let the sun see you let the sun in let the sun see you let the sun seal [Music] let the sun see you let the sun in let the sun see you let the sun seal let the sun see you let the sun in let the sun see you let the sun seal let the sun see you let the sun in [Music] your mouth [Music] a [Music] and [Music] thank you i've been so lifted by rebecca and mackenzie and shayna's chanting this morning so beautiful thank you as is custom in a chant experience that we share together we send this energy that we've been cultivating together towards those that are in need of healing in some way i invite you to put into the chat the names of those people you want to send this healing prayer to oh [Music] [Music] [Music] i [Music] we just wrap all of these people with our heart and our love and our hope for healing [Music] i [Music] [Music] oh so we close this part of our second day rosh hashanah service by dedicating the merit of this chant practice to the well-being of all and we'll close singing shalom together but we're not done yet because we're going to have a little more torah and a beautiful um video from um alan show or two so this is worth just ending this part oh [Music] [Music] [Music] shine thank you for being a part of this practice so we've been hearing throughout this holiday voices from cvh today we get to hear from alan sugar and i just want to say that what i appreciate so much about these beautiful testimonials and videos is is the uniqueness of every single one of them there is no one like any of these people no one like any of the precious souls in cbh and so it's really beautiful to have a chance to hear about the journey and the vision of alan sugar [Music] a long time ago a million years bc the best things in life were absolutely free but no one appreciated a sky that was always blue and no one congratulated a moon that was always new [Music] so it was planned that they would vanish now and then and you must pay before you get them back again that's what storms were made for and you shouldn't be afraid for every time it rains it rains pennies from heaven i love that song but i especially like that introduction i have always found it haunting and a bit trembling a bit troubling but but now now i don't find it so troubling because now i feel that well well maybe i don't have to pay to get them back again maybe i i i don't have to work for them and maybe i don't have to earn it all and it's always there and i find that i share so much of that in my my poetry i i i have a home that this is a copy i have a poem on my refrigerator and i think it still holds up and i think it it it expresses that idea i'll just read the first state lines it's called the pilot this flame this glow a light below that burns it's blue and orange and deep within pale green it's always there among the ash unseen and rising like a sign it leaps and turns this source of wealth this gold no i discerns remains for me when i'm beyond my means and there it waits through daily dull routines investing like a dividend that earns well i can't say more than that so i'm asking you all to to reach into your hearts and also to reach into your pockets and to consider offering at this time a donation a gift of well we're asking this year we're asking for a a gift of 270 dollars and i i don't know where they got that number from uh richard stone sent that to me in an email so if you have a problem with 270 just talk to rick i'm sure he'll give you a story but here's the good news it doesn't have to be exactly 270 dollars it is not get it is not etched in stone i love that it can be a little bit more a little bit less and you know 270 dollars that's that's about a dollar 35 cents a day that'll buy you a cup of coffee well if you live in the 1950s actually it's a little bit more than a dollar 35 because i went on a calculator and i did the math and it comes to one point three five one eight five one eight five one eight five it's irrational and irrational numbers go on and on and on just like giving itself so please consider giving a donation of two hundred seventy dollars a little bit more a little bit less and listen you don't have to give anything at all if you don't give anything at all just call me and i'll i'll take you out for a cup of coffee it's it's just pennies a day and if you hear it thunder don't you run under a tree there'll be a building on la vista that we're still paying for for the cbh community thank you we are thrilled to announce the sokolo challenge each high holiday gift will be matched up to a total of fifteen thousand dollars please visit www dot forward slash 2021 to make your 100 match gift today thank you again for your generous support i have no words alan that was amazing thank you for your spirit and your artistry and your humor and your generosity with our community so a word of torah about a troubling text this reading for the second day of rosh hashanah the akaidah the binding of isaac this reading has troubled me so much and so long that i actually wrote my rabbinic thesis about it many years ago i wanted to figure out at the time what did jews in ancient times make of this story and what did early christians make of this story and what could we learn from the way that the two traditions looked at this story from how it was that christianity diverged from judaism but that's a story for another day suffice it to say that i have had an opportunity to look at each word of this story very closely over many years and what i am intrigued with today is a connection to something that cliff taught us yesterday about the story of hagar these two stories about abraham's two sons who whom he imperiled have something in common and that is seemingly a brick wall hagar in the text we read yesterday has been cast out with her son given in going into the desert a little flask of water and a little bit of food bread certainly not enough to sustain them until they got to wherever it was that they might go and so she despaired as cliff taught us and sat down and wailed and the torah tells us that an angel of god came to her and said what's with you hagar don't you see that god has heard the voice of the boy where he is in the stuff that he's in and hagar at that moment who felt that there was absolutely nothing and she went and filled the flask with water and she gave drink to the boy god opened her eyes and she saw a well of water was the will not there before could she not open her own eyes how is it that we see that which will sustain us that which will provide a path forward in today's reading avraham is up on the mountaintop thinking that what god wants of him is to sacrifice his son i think he as as cliff pointed out didn't listen well and that that's not really what god was asking of him but at any rate there's isaac tied on the altar ready to be sacrificed avraham has a knife in his hand and the angel says wait a second wait a second you don't have to do that and at that moment abraham lifted up his eyes and he saw that here was a ram caught by its horns in the thicket and that that was the sacrifice that was required of him again the well was there and hagar didn't see it the ram was in the thicket it didn't just happen to walk the earth was caught presumably caught for some time but abraham lifted up his eyes and he saw it and the way out was available so i want to suggest and then he called the place by the way [Music] the place where god will see but who was it who really saw was it god or was it avraham saw so this was the place of godly seeing so maybe agar had her eyes opened avraham just had to lift his eyes he didn't need someone to open them he just had to lift his eyes sometimes we are looking down in the midst of our narrow narrow place in our constriction and we cannot see possibility if we can lift up our eyes perhaps we will find the key to taking the next step may we all find the power to lift up our eyes in the coming days and the coming year may we be able to see the source of sustenance may we be able to see the place of possibility and when we think of the shofar let us think about that ram that gave its life so that we could have a way out and our people could continue let's lift up our eyes leave my father leave my homeland follow you and you will make me a blessing i can see you in the darkness i can smell you in the blood of our bargain is my son my own to give away is he my own to hold on to tell me how to pass your final test must i defy obey on the mountain i stand vainly seeking an answer in the blank stare of the eyes of the ram and the brand i saw faces i saw colors there was light then in the tent of my mother i have learned new ways of seeing i have been up to the top of the mountains light began to fade as i was blinded by the tears of the angels falling in my eyes as i lay bound upon the wood and the fire my eyes open looking past my father out to the heavens my heart opened by the knife that's through the ram and the bramble i have waited since the sixth day to hear your voice cry out here i am in your image in your own voice i call out your name and cry here i am as i promised i made you a father know the pain of the father i can see that you see me now you know that i know that you know me on the sixth day i created the ram and the brambles on the sixth day i created [Music] on that incredible teaching that that song just illuminated so powerfully for us thank you robert sims and rabbi dale for that teaching let's chant together avinu malcano [Music] avinu mahenu [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh we continue now with mourners kaddish we hallow the memories of those who died at this time in years past and those who have passed away recently we hold them in our hearts if you would like to put names in the chat please feel free we have them in god's name with the words of kaddish if you happen to be looking at a mahsour it's page 12 16. it's is [Music] happy to call upon jackie sherman to tell us what is happening in cbh world okay good morning welcome my name is jackie sherman and i'm the treasurer on the cbh board we are thrilled to host so many friends from the atlanta area around the country and across the globe for our virtual high holiday services as we celebrate rosh hashanah 5782 yesterday we were in denver today we're in atlanta every year whether in person or virtually cbh is proud to provide holiday services to our community without the traditional tickets for purchase as a result we rely heavily on your generosity to help us raise our annual funds if you haven't already done so we encourage you to support our high holiday appeal by visiting donatetocbh.org 2021 you are invited to join us later this afternoon for our each lift service at 2 30 pm all are invited back for kolnidre on wednesday september 15th at 8 pm and yom kippur day on thursday september 16th at 9 30 a.m want to conclude your rosh hashanah observance with a prayer for healing or an opportunity to recite recite the mourner's kaddish the 15-minute evening minion will meet tonight at its regular time of 8 pm the zoom link can be found on our website cbh atlanta.org we have a new offering this year our multi-generational shabbat shuba picnic at a local park on saturday september 11th at noon please reserve your spot on our high holiday offerings page on our website there are still spots to register elementary age kids in our renowned innovative cvh community school which meets weekly each sunday morning at the friends school in decatur for more info visit cbhschool.org sorry about the gardeners in the background even in the shmitah year you have to [Music] cut the grass for all our members to whom we loaned a high holiday prayer book please plan to return them in the final two weeks of september following yom kippur we will be providing you with a range of times that you can return them to cbh following yom kippur when you return your prayer book or anytime you come to cbh this september please bring non-perishable food items to be donated to the operation isaiah food drive if you enjoyed the music at today's service you can delve deeper into the awesome professionally produced collection of cbh music on our website you had an opportunity to hear five members of our chorus gayan our music director will robertson our chorus director shayna cohen mackenzie wren and rebecca leary sapphone thanks to all of you a big thank you to all who took part in our envisioning cbh congregational survey whether or not you participated please be on the lookout for communication regarding our upcoming focus groups which will meet for once each once during october we invite all community members to share during one of these important online meetings that will help shape cbh's future our deepest gratitude to all the volunteers staff and instrumentalists and everyone else who helped bring cbh high holidays to life especially rabbi dale will robertson diane guerin and haylee monette for producing these virtual high holiday services we couldn't have done it without each of you leshana tava um may you have a great sweet new year thank you so much jackie shanato to everybody i just want to offer a closing blessing before we'll have one more chance to bring out this second day beautiful opportunity to be together source of all the world the korachayim be with us in this place of not knowing in this place of becoming in this place of possibility let us find trust let us say here we are we are present we are ready and let our eyes be opened to sustenance and possibility and the way forward king he wrote so may it be god's will [Applause] i [Music] thank you thank you everyone

Channel: Congregation Bet Haverim

Views: 84

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: CHB, COngregation Bet Haverim, High Holy Days, High Holidays, Judaism, Synagogue, Rabbi, Josh Lesser, Dayle, Shana Cohen, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Faith, New Year, Awe, Civil Rights, LGBT, LGBTQI, Pride, Social Justice, Atlanta, Georgia, Yamim nora'im, reconstructing Judaism, Jews, Saphardic, Israel, 5782, Shanah Tovah, Hebrew, Shabbat, Kosher, Torah, Shalom, Culture, Tradition, Judaica, Hashem, BHFYP, mitzvah, Jews of Color, Music, Chant, Donate, Challenge, TikTok, Eliad Cohen, Asher Angel, Noah Schnapp

Id: VXtY4_aSMtE

Length: 87min 28sec (5248 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 08 2021