Rosh Hashanah AM

[Music] who says [Music] [Music] know oh [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] they are [Music] your [Music] oh [Music] [Music] those who saw who saw in tears [Music] those who saw in tears [Music] tears [Music] those who saw [Music] joy [Music] joy [Music] [Music] is [Music] hmm um [Music] hmm [Music] ah [Music] huh um [Music] huh [Music] so yeah exactly [Music] do [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] ah ah [Music] um [Music] uh [Music] huh huh how uh [Music] uh [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] do [Music] do [Music] so [Music] so [Music] do [Music] do [Music] so um [Music] so we're going to begin our service together shinatova we know that we are going to have a relatively um sparse uh attendance down here in the middle so we just know that if you're up there we'd love to invite you to come down if you're on the sides and you want to come back in the middle we invite you to do that we're going to be very generous with each other if someone's in your seat i think that we would love to have uh people come in a little bit more if you are open to that maybe you can do that also at the bar when we stand up but we'd love to have see your faces here in the center we're going to start this morning with a prayer of gratitude and beauty on page 24 with matovu [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] is [Laughter] [Music] my [Music] is [Music] to be with all of you here this morning to know that all of you our members our neighbors our live stream community are part of us here on central synagogue.org and jbs and on youtube and facebook live we know that you are joining us from all around the world we say happy new year to you we are grateful to be um part of this i am very grateful to be part of this incredible team to be on the bema this morning with cantor dan mutlu with rabbi nicole auerbach rabbi mossoff with our president dr shawnee silverberg and all of you our incredible musical team led by david strickland and his incredible group that's up there and here uh and i have to make a shout out to jessie lotter our head of audiovisual and george and emily lansbury who have been doing the production of this particular show together they are incredible and they are the reason that um this all looks good all around the world so thank you to all of them we're going to open our hearts to the possibility of this new year i think that is our goal today so i'd like to begin with this beautiful poem by alden salovey wildly unimaginable blessings let us dream wildly unimaginable blessings blessings so unexpected blessings so beyond our hopes for this world blessings so unbelievable in this era that their very existence uplifts our vision of creation our relationships for each other and our yearning for life itself let us dream wildly unimaginable blessings a complete healing of mind body and spirit a complete healing for all the end of suffering and strife the end of plagues and diseases when kindness flows from a river of love when goodness flows from the river of grace awakened in the spirit of all beings when god's light radiating holiness is seen for everyone let us pray with all our hearts for wildly unimaginable blessings so that god will hear the call so that god will open the gates of the garden seeing that we haven't waited that we've already begun to repair the world in testimony to our faith in life our faith in each other and our faith in the holy one blessed be god's name we continue with the gift of our very physical beings on page 25. please join me we praise you eternal god sovereign of the universe who with great wisdom fashioned humankind creating within us all manner of openings and channels it is clear and known before the throne of your glory that if even one of these were wrongfully opened or closed it would not be possible to survive and to stand before you blessed are you eternal god who heals all flesh and who acts wondrously [Music] he [Music] [Music] time [Music] a [Applause] [Music] o [Music] we continue with elude devarim on page 29 god's checklist for us these are the obligations without measure their fruit we eat now their essence remains for us in the world to come please join to honor parents to perform and the study of torah is equal to them all now we turn to page 31 with a psalm of gratitude joy thanksgiving i feel like we can't sing this song and not be a little bit more awake to the blessings of the world um that's a real challenge so here we go i'm gonna sing hallelujah and i hope you'll join with me and if you do even with that mask on or wherever you are at home i promise it'll make you a little more awake this morning a little more like wow it is the new year a little more hallelujah try that [Music] i [Music] [Applause] [Music] let's put that together [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] hello [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] my [Music] [Applause] hallelujah [Music] beautiful and as we rise for the baruch on page 33 i'll make the invitation one more time for people to kind of move in you've done it already so beautifully and we're going to be generous with each other with the seats and but if anyone wants to come down and we're standing we'll invite you and we continue together with baruch [Music] oh [Music] please join with me hello sun in my face hello you who make the morning and spread it over the fields and into the faces of the tulips and the nodding morning glories and into the windows of even the miserable and the crotchety best preacher that ever was dear star that just happens to be where you are in the universe to keep us from ever darkness to ease us with warm touching to hold us in the great hands of light good morning good morning good morning watch now how i start the day in happiness in kindness we praise you creator of light [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] please be seated [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] uh [Music] [Music] [Music] page 40. imagine ourselves enslaved in egypt we imagine hearing a call from moses that we are to go free and gathering at the city's gates to embark upon a trek into an unknown wilderness we arrive at the water's edge trembling as the egyptians charge at us from the crest of the hills caught between the water and their chariots imagine the seas parting and our struggle to reach the far shore we look behind to see the waters close and realize that we have survived imagining this deliverance we comprehend our ancestors joy and sing this song as they did [Music] oh [Music] a [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] please rise [Music] i [Music] that my mouth may declare your praise [Music] that my mouth may declare your praises [Music] [Music] that my mouth may declare your praise [Music] foreign [Music] me [Music] m foreign [Music] oh [Music] heart [Music] me [Music] we remember us remember us [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] i [Music] hello [Music] oh i [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] please be seated we continue with the holiness of this day [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] me to rise [Music] i hear the voice of our ancestors we come now to the oldest blessing in our tradition we've found remnants of this blessing from thousands of years ago it used to be only the purview of the priests to offer this blessing to the people but we know that peace cannot just come from on high we must offer it to each other so we will offer this blessing together on page 48. this community knows the way we can bless each other is adding these words kain yahidzone may it be god's will with the each of these lines of blessing you can sing it on one note [Music] just pick apart when you get to it eloheinu our god and god of all generations bless us with this threefold benediction of the torah [Music] [Music] okay [Music] is [Applause] [Music] right [Music] i share these words from outside of our prayer book we may not know the origins of the unatana tokef prayer legend attributes it to rabbi amnon of mainz germany who in the 11th century under the threat of torture and death responded with passion for life and god we may never know how this prayer exactly began but you and i do know that ever since we first read and understood the words the unitanna tokef has stirred and challenged and shaken us does god judge us is our life in the balance and the most unnerving of all questions will we survive this year and if there is a destiny do we really have the power to alter it through repentance prayer and sadaka we may not know how the unatana tokef prayer began but we do know this from the beginning our parents and our grandparents and every generation that has come before us prayed from the core of their being that they return here next year with those they loved and this remains our prayer we're at the bottom of page 51. let us proclaim the sacred power of this day both awesome and full of dread on this day your dominion is honored your throne established there in truth you reign you are judge and all power is with you you write and you seal you record and you recount you remember deeds long forgotten you write in the book of our days and what is written there will be proclaimed in our lives for you for we are in your hands [Music] [Music] [Music] the [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] the day of god [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] god [Music] among the sounds of the shofar we yearn to hear a still small voice the voice of angels who declare this is the day of judgment all who dwell on earth stand arrayed before you as the shepherd seeks to flock and counts the sheep as they pass under the staff so do you number and consider every soul and set the bounds of every life decreeing its destiny [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] ah [Music] [Music] my [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] me [Music] oh [Music] me [Music] [Applause] foreign [Applause] [Music] [Music] um [Music] [Music] [Applause] okay [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Music] me [Music] on rosh hashanah it is written on yom kippur it is sealed how many shall pass on and how many shall come to be who shall live and who shall die who shall see ripe agent who shall not who shall perish by fire and who by water who by sword and who by beast who by hunger and who by thirst who by earthquake and who by plague who by strangling and who by stoning who shall be secure and who shall be driven who shall be tranquil and who shall be troubled who shall be poor and who shall be rich who shall be humbled and who exalted but we trust that repentance prayer will temper the severity of the decree [Music] our origin is dust and dust will be our end each of us is as grass that must wither a wind that passes by a flower that will fade a dream soon forgotten but you are everlasting and you have linked our name to yours in a moment we'll have the opportunity to pray our own personal prayers silently and then afterwards through the wonder of technology we'll be blessed to hear our cantor emeritus richard botton sing i reached out to cantor boden yesterday he's living in california and he and linda are well and he asked me to share this message with you while i'm not here in person i send blessings through the song i will sing with hopes that god will hear and answer our prayers and he ended his words with i love you all cantor bottom we are returning that love right back to you we now pray silently um [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] let's see [Music] my friend stacy once shared a bit of wisdom on how to sustain a long relationship whenever your spouse or partner does something that really drives you nuts instead of getting upset just say to yourself isn't that adorable it's surprisingly effective like when my husband jacob is so engrossed in doing his new york times crossword puzzle that he is unable to hear my voice jacob hey jacob isn't that adorable jacob will tell you that one of the things he finds most adorable about me is my propensity to misplace things you see my mind is caught up in so many holy thoughts i can't be possibly bothered by all the little details like where i left my keys or my phone or my wallet i can't count the number of times i've walked out of a restaurant without my purse and one time i left my bag on a bench in central park and by the time i returned it was gone now good samaritan returned it to my apartment two days later with everything intact you gotta love new yorkers but not before jacob who does all of our billing had had to cancel every one of our credit cards and change the auto pay settings on every one of our online accounts at that point i stopped taking a purse with me and just started carrying one credit card in a pocket when i go out one day jacob asked i notice you haven't used your visa card in three months did you lose it no it's definitely not lost i said honestly i just don't remember the safe place that i left it you mean you lost it it's temporarily missing but it's not lost until i decide that i can't find it well jacob found that response even more adorable than usual but it turns out it's a very jewish response and when i studied the copious laws around lost objects with my brilliant talmud havruta rabbi essasar cats i felt like the ancient rabbis were reading my mind to set the context you have to understand that our tradition sets a very high standard for returning what is lost where the onus is on the finder to return the lost objects to the owner back in ancient israelite times a lot of people's most valuable property could literally walk away from them the torah is clear when you see your neighbor's ox do not see it as lost that's a proactive mandate you must see that what is missing does not become lost for most of us we think returning lost property is a good deed but in jewish law returning a lost object was an obligation to be initiated by the finder and not returning a lost object was considered theft now i'm guessing it wasn't that difficult to recognize your neighbor's wayward ox it would have some identifying markers maybe an iron brand or a name collar what the tone would called sima neem that would make it easier to recognize the owner and easier for a finder to return but what about all those items in our lives that have no si manim no identifying marks like that twenty dollar bill that falls out of your pocket or the sunglasses you drop on the subway surely a finder is not responsible for returning those here the talmud creates a status of heft care for those generic lost objects that they deem ownerless that no one is responsible for returning if you find it you keep it you know like when you leave behind your umbrella you know it's really gone but here is the really interesting part a window into the talmudic mindset when exactly does an object change status from belonging to you to becoming ownerless it's not the moment that the object goes missing it's the moment that you the owner give up on ever finding it the talmud calls it the moment of yesh despair it's only when you feel yauch or despair that the thing that you were missing becomes truly lost so you see i really was in a talmudic mindset when i told jacob that my credit card was not lost because i always had faith that i was gonna find it which i did a month later when i finally reached into the right jacket pocket but think for a moment about the profound lesson that our tradition is teaching us as long as you hold on to hope nothing is truly lost until that moment you despair that object does not become ownerless it still belongs to you and it could be returned but we can't restore it by ourselves and we can't find it by staying in place so where do we go to search well legend has it that during temple times in the center of jerusalem there stood an evan hatoen a stone of lost objects archaeologists imagined it to look like a large pyramid with wide platform steps on all the festivals like rosh hashanah when the entire community would make pilgrimage to the holy city they would come gather at the center and anyone who had found an object would bring it with them to the stone and anyone who was missing something would go there looking for it it was a giant communal lost and found but the evan a toeing signified something even greater the stone of lost objects was an assertion of our mutual bond i will help you find what you're missing and you will help me restore what i've lost the stone was our antidote to despair now if you knew that on our holy days you and the entire community would return well then you know that all is not lost isn't it fitting that the theme for all of these high holy day services is teshuva returning you have all returned whether you are sitting here in this sanctuary or radio city music hall or joining us from your homes wherever you are today as in ancient days i want you to imagine that we are all gathered with each other around that evan hatoen where we can ask each other what have you lost since we last gathered a year ago and what are you seeking to find how can we help each other stave off despair since this coveted pandemic hit our shores 18 months ago 600 000 small businesses have closed 10 million americans have lost their jobs six hundred and thirty five thousand people have died of covid in the united states four and a half million worldwide and there will be many more these numbers are staggering and then there are all there are the losses which are much harder to quantify which you've told me about personally you said i lost my connections with my neighbors my deli guy my soul cycle friends the people in the pews whom i love but have just not seen i walked past my favorite italian restaurant the one i went to with my wife and now it's gone i lost my passion for my job working around the clock from home with my children running underfoot i missed my last baseball season of high school i lost a critical year of dating said a 26 year old i lost a critical year of dating said a 62 year old each of us carries personal losses from this past year and almost everything feels so much harder because we are still limited in the way that we can gather together just six weeks ago i thought things were going to look very different in here in anticipation of full capacity we rented out radio city music hall i cannot tell you how much i'd been looking forward to bringing in this new year with the full sanctuary and seeing all of your unmasked smiles and hearing your unfiltered voices singing but we're not there yet but if there is one thing we have learned in the last 18 months it's that we can still show up you are here and you out there you too are very much also here and we have found that we can gather and connect and comfort we can learn exercise even date in ways that we would have dismissed before and we must keep doing it because this showing up is more important than ever and while the evan hatoen no longer stands in jerusalem this bema like countless other bemas around the world can still function as our stone of lost objects but its power can only be made real by you the stone only works when we are brave enough to come before each other and say what we have lost when we commit to each other to helping each other find you know what that's like when we come together here and sing our misha barach prayer for healing we announce the names of those who have lost their health their mobility their hope and we pray with them for it to be restored when we say kaddish those people who are recent mourners or observing a yard sight they stand first and they silently announced to this congregation i have lost my spouse my sister my friend what do we do when we stand at the stone with someone who's lost something that cannot be returned death is so severe in its finality our obligation then becomes to help the mourner from feeling yesh from sinking holy into despair we cannot restore for them a life but we can sit with them we can weep with them we can tell stories and help them see the glimmer of an easier day that all is not totally lost and remember the talmud teaches that when we lose an item that has sima neem those unique identifying markers we hold out hope that that object might still be returned we stave off despair and that thing it does not become ownerless it actually still belongs to us and it could still be returned and so it is with people we loved think of their countless sima nim which returned to us in unexpected ways and assure us that they still belong to us like when you catch yourself in the mirror and you see your mom's eyes staring back at you or when you realize you've started telling his dad jokes when that song that you both danced to at your wedding comes on when you hear your child ward off the evil eye like her boobie did tutu kinahara when our community gathers with each other at a funeral or at a shiva we can learn new details about a loved one we didn't know we can actually find things to laugh about we are reminded that we do not have to carry all those semanim by ourselves so does your husband's college classmate who knew him since he was 18. so does your grandfather's friend who set him up on his first blind date so does your colleague who still makes your grandmother's coogle recipe your community holds these memories with you sometimes the sema name that we remember most about our loved ones are those things that made us the most crazy when they were alive they're quirks and idiosyncrasies now in hindsight we think you know they really were adorable each one a treasured simon a sign of the person we loved they reassure us that even though our loved ones are no longer walking the earth they are not gone from our hearts or our minds jewish law has a lot to say about lost objects but its core it is all about our communal responsibility to each other so for a moment i want you to look around this room this is your congregation you're a beautiful bunch and if you are not in the sanctuary right now i want you to picture the people who make up your community let's remind each other what the evan hatoen symbolizes i am obligated to you to return what i have found i have to seek you out so tell us what have you been missing in the last year and we will help you find a job find a doctor find a bashert find a new apartment find a caregiver find someone to talk to and you who have lost so much and i'm not minimizing loss for a moment our tradition would ask you to resist despair don't give up on finding those things that are most beloved to you fight for them and they will return in unexpected and meaningful ways gather with me around the stone after these isolating days of this relentless pandemic we've returned to this place and we say to each other i've lost something precious will you help me find it i have found something wonderful tell me if you need it you are not alone in your searching we are with you we return and return again to each other [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] me [Music] so thank you rabbi bookdel for helping us find our selves again return to our home again and don't worry we we have not lost rabbi booked out she is uh heading to our other home radio city music hall where she'll be able to share her message with our friends there we're now entering the service for the reading of the torah and it's my honor to call for dear members of this community to help us take the scrolls out of our arc in a few moments so lenny and peter may and nancy shemtob and michael kubin will invite you forward now we're on page 59 please rise please join me avinu malkenu hear our voice we have sinned against you avinu malcano have compassion on us and on our children avinu malcano make an end to sickness war and famine avinu malcano make an end to all oppression avinu malcano inscribed us for blessing in the book of life let the new year be a good year for us fill our hands with blessings be gracious and answer us for we have little merit treat us generously and with kindness and be our help [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Applause] [Music] sure [Music] [Laughter] the eternal one the eternal one is merciful and gracious endlessly patient loving and true showing mercy to thousands forgiving iniquity transgression and sin and granting pardon [Music] up [Music] foreign [Music] ah [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] then [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] so [Music] today is a glorious day today is a day you have made so come let us sing and rejoice [Music] foreign [Music] please be seated thank you lenny and peter and nancy and michael i am now pleased to call forward to the bema for the honor of the reading of the torah azalea weller harrison leuterman harry alper and kate kamarov come on up now on the first day of rosh hashanah it is traditional to read from the book of genesis from chapter 21 and the story surrounding isaac's birth one of the reasons we read this portion is because rosh hashanah is called the day of remembrance god takes note of sarah in the first verse of this portion and god remembers all the good that sarah and abraham have done the great 18th century rabbi the baal shem tov taught that remembrance is the key to redemption the word to remember appeals appears in the hebrew bible 169 times money may be lost our health mate fail our basement may flood but the memories of good deeds and kindness live on and are the greatest of blessing may we here gathered today in the sanctuary and online filled this upcoming year with meets vote and may these acts of love and kindness be remembered for decades to come you can follow along with the reading of the torah on pages 61 and 62 in our prayer books and as we know this rosh hashanah is the first time in two years that we've been able to gather in person here in the sanctuary for yantef services and simultaneously last year and still this year we feel the presence of those that are streaming in through jbs and our our synagogue website however we are together for this roshana we are so glad to be together so to honor all of you and the blessing that you bring to this community we would like to invite anyone at home and anyone in our sanctuary home to have the honor of blessing the torah this morning so if you're seated in the sanctuary and would like to participate in this honor we'll just ask you to rise in a moment from where you're at if you're at home this is an honor if you're able to also be standing when you're participating in it and once we've chanted the blessing you can be seated our torah chanters will chant the torah and at the conclusion of the chanting of the torah we'll invite you to rise again so the blessing before the reading of the torah is on page 61 and we invite anyone here who'd like to participate in this blessing to please rise at this time [Music] [Music] [Music] me [Music] elohim you can take the odds [Music] oh [Music] [Music] sarah [Music] [Music] talk [Music] hey [Music] [Music] a [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] who [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] if [Music] [Music] [Music] um [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] rhymes tremendous tremendous torah reading thank you so much all of you we'll invite those who would like to participate in the blessing after torah to please rise the blessing is on page sixty-five [Music] [Music] ah please be seated actually you know what i made a mistake we got one more thing to do we do have one with everyone remind me what that thing is we're going to see this toronto yeah we're going to lift it up of course to the world yes excuse me if you're not standing in you are able to please rise at this time [Applause] is [Music] bye please we have arrived let me just make sure my microphone is on here there we go we have arrived at the rosh hashanah reading traditionally we read the story of hana who not only bears the pain of her infertility but also the loneliness of being misunderstood once ellie realizes hannah is sincere that her actions are true she becomes the teacher for us all the rabbi the rabbis say that hannah's prayers should be the model for how we are all supposed to pray with her passion her vulnerability her authenticity over the years it's become our custom here at central synagogue to congregants share a story from their own lives that brings a timely meaning to the hana story and so we're so grateful this morning that our member chin julie wong who is a founder of our jews of color group here at central will offer us a teaching thank you so much rabbi shanatova when did you first learn to pray for me it happened in the bathroom it was a tiny bathroom in brooklyn in 1995 i was eight years old and had just started the third grade the year before i had gone from being just another kid in china to being an illiterate undocumented immigrant in new york city who went to school hungry every single day after school i sat next to my educated mother in the sweatshop and watched as she slaved over the sewing machine earning pennies per article of clothing new to the idea of race i got so used to being called a that i figured it was just the english word for chinese new to the idea of being illegal i learned to turn and run every time i saw someone in uniform my parents and i made our home in a single room full of love laughter and furniture from the sidewalk trash on the day i found prayer or really prayer found me i had locked myself in the bathroom we shared with our many roommates it was the only place i could find real privacy at least when i ignored the angry knocks on the door and on that day i sat as i always did on top of the toilet lid usually i had a book with me but that day i was completely alone my hands cupped my face bloated from tears my parents the only two people i trusted in the entire western hemisphere were fighting again it was a new ritual in america where it seemed no matter how fast we moved we could never outrun the cloud of poverty the fear of deportation in our waning hopes at this point i did not know religion i had never been introduced to god i knew only that i felt so very alone but as i sat there with my stomach turning over itself i heard a new kind of call without even registering it i slid off the toilet lid and kneeled in front of it i raised my clasp hands before me and found five words please let everything be okay i was hooked from there every day i went and found my sanctuary i did it even as things got worse even when i barely had the energy to mutter the word please in a chain for minutes on end rocking back and forth as my loneliness dissolved against the force field of my words my husband will tell you that i still lock myself in our bathroom today he might say only god knows why or as rabbi book doll suggests he might even say how adorable in today's haftarah an infertile hannah exemplifies the life-giving force of true prayer the courageous kind of prayer that heirs to light our deepest vulnerabilities this kind of prayer is so rare in adulthood that eli mistakes it for drunkenness in my childhood i engaged in daily prayer not because it changed anything outside of me as i as we have seen in this pandemic in that cave of survival it's not really external change that matters no in our darkest moments what matters is that prayer changes us on that first day i found something to believe in a faith to keep company with the words of joseph rabbi joseph albo from 15th century spain still ring resoundingly true prayer does not change god it changes we who pray for me as for so many jews of color praying in synagogue demands vulnerability in the extreme it hurts to wear our skin here at every synagogue i've tried and i've tried many i am assumed to know nothing about my own religion recently a study conducted by stanford university found that 80 percent of american jews of color have experienced discrimination in jewish settings 80 percent that's higher than our country's vaccination rate and i thought i would get used to it but i never have and that might be the most jewish part about me i can never seem to get used to injustice so i will let you in on a new ritual before i enter any jewish space i pause i breathe and i gird myself for the dehumanizing interrogations the mirthless stares the questions about the kind of asian i am and the list of asians that people have known or have dated but i have to admit this ritual is not so effective because each time the comments materialize again i dissolve back into that loneliness of my childhood i long again for my bathroom sanctuary i even regret being jewish why i ask are white gentiles treated better than i am in my own house of worship was this what hannah felt when her prayers were misunderstood but there is also the healing power of judaism i am never more at home than when i am with my fellow jews of color my extended family and all of the magical moments of my life have happened during the days of awe in fact during my first yom kippur fast i found myself attending services in a public school cafeteria and it was there in front of the serving station where i would have received my first meal of the day that free lunch that i finally reclaimed my power from hunger that little undocumented girl has somehow found her way home the days of awe are a time of teshuva return and as we return to praying together in services i pray that we return to to our roots ours is the religion of the displaced the marginalized the enslaved there is a reason rabbi heschel marched alongside dr king and selma remarking my legs were praying so at the threshold of this great year 5782 i ask each and every member of this powerful congregation when did you first learn to pray might it have been a time when you too felt lonely lost hungry may this rosh hashanah recall us all back to that time and may the wisdom of that pure vulnerability light our way into the new year thank you [Applause] well chien julie thank you so much uh for being our hannah this morning i know um you said that some of your magical moments have occurred uh during the days of all but this morning you give us a magical moment we'll we'll never forget uh a lesson which uh we'll take with us into this new year and into the years forward as we become jews in part because of fellow jews teaching us to do so i i can't help but mention because it's it's uh it's bashert that this morning is the morning when your debut book has been released it's called it's called beautiful country i was lucky to get a copy of it this morning and i was i was really excited to hear that you said the first four chapters are available for uh reading on the at the new york times so i i it's it's a book that's received rave reviews it's on everyone's list of book book of the month or book of the year and uh i want to congratulate you and uh encourage us to have a chance to read more about your very moving story your memoir talks about what you've shared with us being an undocumented immigrant but also the journey that you took after that from chinatown to yale law school to founding a civil rights law practice with your husband mark it's a testimony to the possibilities of america being a beautiful country so we're so grateful for you we're grateful for your strength we're grateful for your heart we're grateful for teaching us we're grateful that we're part of the same community together thank you thank you please rise as we return the torah to the ark [Music] um [Music] trump [Music] we are about to enter the shofar service which begins with a recognition of god's sovereignty we start with elenu which contains these words we bow low and prostrate ourselves in thanks before the ruler the ruler of rulers the holy one blessed be god on shabbat we enact these words of supplication by bending at the waist but on rosh hashanah you will see the clergy lowering ourselves first to our knees and then placing our hands and our heads on the floor if elenu calls on us to acknowledge our humility and gratitude in the face of god's awesome power then falling to the floor allows us to fully embody this spiritual act of surrender if you would like to experience this yourselves we welcome you to step into the isles during this prayer and when you see us start to kneel join us by bringing your body to the ground there's plenty of room this year and if you know child's pose you know how to do this already we rise again when we hear the words leafnay melech and for those of you who are at home this is the perfect year to try this out when no one else is looking if you prefer to stay where you are or if your body will not allow you to assume this pose we invite you as you hear these majestic words to imagine your place in the universe i'm thinking about that image that rabbi salt shared with us of earth from from the moon allow yourself to feel small and vulnerable lay bare your heart and tremble with awe as you stand before the source of life [Music] my [Music] oh [Music] know [Music] um [Music] oh [Music] dear [Music] oh we now invite our beloved member jim tish to help us herald god's majesty with the sounds of the shofar it's so wonderful to have you back in the vemma on the bema in person this year thank you for being here we'll invite you to remain standing in body or in spirit throughout the shofar service but feel please feel free to take a seat if you need to or if it will help you fulfill the commandment to hear the sound of the shofar with intention we continue on page 38 as we recite the blessing for the sounding of the shofar [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] jose [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Laughter] [Music] uh [Music] m [Music] turn to page 55 and read responsively oh god who recalls even what we forget help us to remember who and what we are keep us from forgetting that we are your children and that you want us to love each other as ourselves help us remember that the jewish past that we have inherited our parents and grandparents who stood before you as we do keep us mindful that we must secure and enrich the future of our people and our world may the memories which guide our behavior inspire us to lead lives worthy of memory and we continue with the next set of calls [Music] ah [Music] foreign [Music] we turn to page 74 and read responsively at the bottom let us ask ourselves hard questions for this is the time for truth how much time did we waste in the year that is now gone did we fill our days with life or were they dull and empty was there love inside our home or was the affectionate word left unsaid was there real companionship with our children or was there a living together and growing apart were we a help to our mates or did we take them for granted how was it with our friends were we there when they needed us or not the kind deed did we perform it or postpone it the unnecessary jibe did we say it or hold it back did we live by false values did we deceive others did we deceive ourselves were we sensitive to the rights and feelings of those who worked for us did we acquire only possessions or did we acquire new insights as well did we fear what the crowd would say and keep quiet when we should have spoken out did we mind only our own business or did we feel the heartbreak of others did we live right and if not then have we learned and will we change [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] you may be seated we turn our minds and our hearts now to the memories of those who are not with us to bring in this new year for those who lost someone recently the celebration of a new year can seem cruel a reminder that the world goes on despite our grief for those who lost dear ones at this time in years past the particular light of this season the feeling of warm breezes turning cooler the taste of fresh-picked apples and the smell of newly sharpened pencils even the feeling of the pews beneath us and the sound of the shofar carry us back to that moment when we knew our lives would never be the same again and for those who are mourning someone with whom we had a difficult or fractured relationship this moment of remembrance can carry with it the pain that comes with acknowledging the rifts we were not able to repair the words that went unsaid the promises broken rabbi karen kadar writes the true worth of a life is the story it is left behind tell it well search for meaning and understanding search for truth did he teach you about love did she personify genius or sensitivity did his life warn you of the danger of bitterness and anger as i stand and behold the eyes of those who mourn i realize that the only difference between people in this world is not wealth fame or success the only difference is those who had love in their life and those who did not as we move into this new year may we continue to learn from the examples of those who have gone before us both those who had love in their life and those who did not may they inspire us to live fully love deeply and act compassionately so that their memories will be a blessing long after they are gone rabbi book doll reminded us earlier how important it is for us to acknowledge as a community what we have lost and so i'll ask if you are in the first week of mourning please rise so that we can share with you and if you were in the first 30 days following a loss we invite you to rise and share the name of your loved one if you're in the first year after losing someone please rise with us so we can acknowledge what you have lost and if you are marking a yard site an anniversary of death we ask you to rise in honor of the ones you are missing today for all those whose names have been spoken for those were holding in our hearts and for those who have no one left to say kaddish for them we rise as one community for the words of khadija tom on page 78. it's [Music] amen [Music] [Music] amen [Music] r [Music] my [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] thank you all again for being here this morning to help us ring in a new year and thank you to all of you who are here with us from the comfort of your homes this afternoon we will be gathering in the lobby of the community house and walking together to the east river we will meet at 5 p.m for tashleech we also have a guide for those of you who want to do toshley on your own but we would love to see you we will begin at 5 45 at 55th street and the east river our rosh hashanah day 2 service will begin at 10 a.m tomorrow right here in our sanctuary and for more detailed lists of our services and other opportunities please visit our website we want to thank again our gifted musicians for helping us lift our prayers higher this morning and also to our sham machine who greeted you we will ask that if you took a kippah or a talit please bring it back to them so that we can make their lives easier and we we continue with the words of ain kalohenu which are on page 83. [Music] [Music] do [Music] [Music] who is like a god [Music] thanks to our god thanks we give thanks to our god thanks we give thanks [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] is [Music] is [Music] you are a god you [Music] [Music] [Music] you are [Music] during this coming year may we enjoy good health and happiness may peace reign over our beautiful country israel and throughout this wonderful world may we have the companionship of good friends and kind helpful neighbors may our hands and hearts work together to repair our world may we enjoy the fruits of our labors a good book and may we celebrate birthdays and anniversaries may we embrace our precious lives may you see many a rainbow the magnolias and cherries in full bloom in central park and may you have a good the good fortune to hit a home run with the bases loaded may there always be a seat waiting for you on the subway and whenever it rains may you find an umbrella and a taxi may we help each other find what we are looking for may we help each other return home may this year be a happy and healthy and prosperous one for all of us and all our loved ones [Music] [Music] do [Music] so [Music] foreign

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Length: 156min 45sec (9405 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 07 2021