Rosh Hashanah & Torah Morning Service

[Music] ah [Music] hello [Music] god [Music] oh [Music] [Music] come on [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] hello [Music] foreign [Music] there come on [Music] oh [Music] bocartov shanatova we begin this morning on page 140 with motovu as we create and build our tent through time and space through the wonder of zoom and being able to connect in this way [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] happy healthy new year take a moment if you're on zoom to just look at our gallery view and see the faces that you can see of our cvh community in atlanta around the world connected by this miraculous technology but more importantly connected by love connected by love for each other love for our tradition and love for the divine khadesh yaminu renew our days as of old new in english can be a homophone it can mean the novel something that didn't exist before but it can also mean what we already are aware of what we knew so part of this day yom hazikaron the day of remembering is to remember and to read new to know again who we are as individuals who we are as a cbh community who we are as a jewish people and who we are in the wider world we rekindle we refresh we become aware we wake up and we know where we are so that from this place we can transform and live into the new new hadith renew our days when we come into greater knowing and awareness in order to be able to turn into shiva to turn toward the best of the new year we hear now from ariela friedman shayna cohen and amy robertson the mamallas hashi vaini the words from which khadesya menu comes return us and we shall be returned [Music] i shaved me [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Applause] [Music] a day [Music] [Music] a [Music] the days [Music] [Applause] [Music] i am [Music] i [Music] am you is [Applause] [Music] [Music] can't [Music] for the sake of the union of the blessed holy one with the shaheena i stand here ready in body in mind to take upon myself the mitzvah you shall love your fellow human being as yourself and by this merit may i open up my mouth mourning blessings on page 161 will go back and forth between english and hebrew blessed are you awaken our our god life of all the worlds who remove sleep from my eyes and slumber from my eyelids i mean [Music] who makes firm a person steps blessed are you the generous our god life of all the world who acts for all my needs blessed are you the mighty one our god life of all the worlds who girds yes israel with strength blessed are you the beautiful our god life of all the worlds who crowns israel with splendor samoa is me [Music] this section of morning psalms and poetic verses serve to prepare us for a deeper connection to prayer we can approach this musical poetry as a way to awaken our awareness what is our need for waking up to our yearning and need for spiritual assistance waking up to our clarity that we have to take care of both ourselves and each other and there is better no better time to do that than right now waking up to our beholding of the beauty in the world and on this very day and our feeling that this is so very big that we hold a birthday party for the world today on rosh hashanah waking up to our need to give thanks and praise and when we come to the end of these psalms the rabbinic liturgy gives us majestic words and images with rising energy increased focus knowing that when our passion for the beauty of life is so elevated so high we enact this moment where we announce god's presence as if by fanfare hamelech and the way we embody all of this is through song to sing fervently about life rene so let's do that will you join the cbh band and sing with us and prepare the way for greater awakening one two three [Music] do [Music] [Applause] [Music] may [Music] my [Music] misery [Music] is [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Music] [Music] my [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Music] mommy [Music] my [Music] i thank you god for most this amazing day for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes i who have died am alive again today and this is the sun's birthday this is the birthday of life and of love and wings and of the gay great happening and limitably earth how should tasting touching hearing seeing breathing any lifted from the know of all nothing human merely being doubt unimaginable you now the ears of my ears awake and now the eyes of my eyes are open [Music] [Music] i [Music] is [Music] my [Music] i [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] i am [Music] oh [Music] i am [Applause] [Music] i am [Music] yo [Music] me [Music] mom [Music] r [Music] there [Music] [Music] she [Music] sure [Music] [Music] is [Music] wow in the toward the end of that unbelievable puke desire versus of song we heard the words let the righteous sing to god for those who are upright in heart it's really good to give praise and their praise is beautiful these words could clearly have been written about will and gaian and our amazing cbh fans we are so lucky to have their unbelievable spirit their unbelievable artistry to embellish and he doer to our prayers we are formally now that our hearts have been brought wide open we are constituting ourselves as a worshiping community with the words bar who we call one another to praise god page 278. i i i i [Music] is we continue on page 278 i'm sorry 280. [Music] with the gyoza blessing you'd we continue now as michelle casper leads us in a beautiful poem by marge piercy on page 292. the new year is a great door that stands across the evening and yom kippur is the second door between them are song and silence stone and clay pot to be filled from within myself i will find there both ripeness and rot what i have done and undone what i must let go with the waning days and what i must take on with the last tomatoes we harvest the fruit of our lives we unite our hearts with the oneness that is underneath and between and among all life all reality we sing a special high holy day melody for this [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign we turn to page 318 for the mikhamoja [Music] [Music] is is they call upon amy lighthill in a moment to read a poem to set the stage for this for the central portion of our worship on this rosh hashanah morning we will say some of the blessings aloud together and have time for silent reflection and meditation there are prayers in the book to inspire us or we can turn inward and allow the promptings of our heart to direct our prayer amy will read for us a poem by rabbi rachel baron blatt i don't want to reckon with my choices feels like that's all we've done for 18 months should i mask is this safe what if we meet outside and never breathe together i don't want to query who will live and who will die cool by wildfire and who by flooded subway who intubated and alone and who will have enough while others lack i just want all of us to thrive our hearts at ease our hopes in reach at last come close to me god comfort me with apples remind me the world is born again each year even if i'm not ready even if this year i'm not sure i know the words to pray thank you amy that was really helpful um we move into the high holy day amidah oh [Music] hey [Applause] [Music] [Music] um ah ah ask lisa barrios to read a beautiful teaching by rabbi sheila peltz weinberg as we move into the second blessing of the um i address the power that underlies all change when i say atagi bore you power then i name the manifestations of change inherent in my observation of nature and humanity the blowing wind and the falling rain those who fall down and need support the sick who are becoming well the bound to become free though aware of loss we shift our focus to the power of renewal we call this power flowering of hope yeshua [Applause] [Music] um oh [Music] [Applause] the moment gaian will lead us enchanting give power to this great day this is the prayer that puts within us and really calls on us to realize if we didn't already know how much there is in life that is utterly beyond our control when we champion rosh hashanah it is sealed who shall live and who shall die maybe there was a time when we would read this list who by plague who by fire who by flood and it would seem remote to us now sadly it is as immediate as today's news we cannot control what will be flawless so much of it there is that which we can control but what we can control is how we respond as the late great jewish existential psychiatrist taught victor franco taught between our experience and our response there is a space and the wisdom comes from what we do in that space that determines how we respond and so after we read this terrifying list of what might befall us that we can't control we read it and prayer repentance and acts of justice sweeten salve soften the severity of the decree that's why we say all this on rosh hashanah to remember that it is up to us it is in our power to respond with repentance prayer and acts of justice [Music] [Music] oh [Music] oh oh [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] how many pesos how many shall thrive on rosh hashanah all is written and revealed and on yom kippur the course of every life is sealed shall live on and who shall die whose death is timely and whose is not [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] um [Music] who dwells in peace and who is uprooted who shall live safely and who shall be formed whose life is tranquil and whose is tormented [Music] [Music] who shall be poor and who shall be rich [Music] who shall be humbled and who is raised [Laughter] [Music] oh we continue on page 356 with the kedusha [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] we continue silently pages 364-82 or meditations on 383-386 or the prayers of your own heart may the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be favorable to you god our rock and our redeemer we continue with your kohanim i invite you if you have a talit to reach it toward the edges of your screen so you can be connected if you don't have a talit i bet most of us have arms so just reach out your arms as we bless one another with the oldest jewish blessing the priestly blessing let's let blessings spread through the ends of our tongue tote through our fingers to our spirits to one another to this whole cbh community gathered here this morning on zoom on youtube in georgia and beyond [Music] we may the spirit that surrounds us and nurtures all our dreams bless and keep you underneath her wings may she open up your eyes to see the joy the living brings and blessing keep you underneath her wings bless and keep you safe and holy bless and keep [Music] when the night is at its darkest and you're holding on till dawn may you know grace and know that you are strong the light that you've been seeking was inside you all along may you know grace i know that you are strong [Music] may you know grace and may the source of all that's known lift her face and light your way back home [Music] oh [Music] may you find [Music] who you'll peace tomorrow starts with where you go today may you find peace as you travel on your way [Music] may you find peace [Music] and may the one who lives the night lift her face and light your way back home [Music] i'm really not sure that we need more uh to close that with because that was one of the most beautiful moments i loved seeing you all but we're gonna move to the sephirahim celebrating life even more [Music] um [Music] it is a treat for me to introduce another voice of cvh that of the inimitable amy lighthill sprite she of the beautiful dripping honey background leader of our envisioning cbh team and um absolutely has a testimony about cvh that you're going to want to hear [Music] well i grew up in a waspy household where the only religion was not having one and i was the odd duck the black sheep the warty warthog that went to church looking for something to believe in when i was only 10 years old i cycled through so many churches meditation centers and monasteries i could have won the french open but little did i know that my own grandfather sidney lighthill whose memory is a blessing to some was actually born solomon lichtenberg yes so no wonder i felt a strange kinship with jewish friends i assumed it was the lox but then when i stumbled into chant and i heard the music at cbh i became bewitched i've been living the javareem life for only three years now i think but since the first time that i came to services i felt a strong yearning to jump into this river though so i probably should have gone to the mikvah first i love it here bet havarim's people and the spirit have become the sun moon and stars of my life oddly enough the first cbh event i ever went to wasn't even at cbh it was chant at jessie bathrick's house i knew nothing about it except that i wanted to be in the same room with gayanne when she led the chants i had heard gayan sing i i didn't know nishmat kohlhai from onward christian soldiers really i didn't know a word of hebrew except for schmaltz but when i started chanting i felt this sense of sweetness and poignant relief and feelings of joy and connection that only grew when i joined the chorus it was around then that it dawned on me that i was the only non-jew and the only non-member in the room and so guiltily i joined so i already understood the spiritual power of guilt but as i participated i wanted to get involved so i started volunteering i started with delivering food for the food security team and each step that i took made me feel like i was understanding what judaism was about and i just loved it more and more i think that if i hadn't had mindful moments shabbat chorus learning opportunities like the class i'm taking now with rabbi dale on the new year study group if i hadn't had that plus the committee works that i do online in my life this past year um anchoring my week and giving me sustenance i probably would have just moved to boca and play mahjong all day that's really probably what i would have done i mean it would have been tragic the just the vibrancy of the services that we've experienced especially since the pandemic the stole this just the soul stirring beauty of the music that we hear and do and the powerful ruach i feel when we're together these have become the living waters that my spiritual nourishment comes from i i drink it every day fortunately for me because i've had the privilege of being being on the envisioning task force i've gotten to read in the surveys what many congregants are hoping for and people are speaking passionately about their continuing commitment to social justice issues the lgbtqia roots of our community for wanting ongoing jewish learning and the powerful sense of family that we experience at cbh and i echo that too i feel all those things and i'm so thankful that rabbi dale is here to lead us through this transition and my prayer and i guess my hope is that we find the perfect rabbi to continue to build on these strengths with warmth and humor and love and i hope that we'll flourish in ways that we can't even imagine yet whatever it is you love about rcbh be it our devoted hard-working staff our beautiful rituals our powerful and creative high holy days our own eggs if you can remember them or that you get to see your friends here this is the time of year when you need to put your love into action 270 dollars a year as i'm sure everyone already knows is 73.972 cents per day a number whose value actually spells the word value in the kabbalah and furthermore 270 divided by 32 which itself is a jewish lucky number ever since miriam won the holy land lottery of 1 million shekels playing it when moses was on sinai kibbutzing is 8.4375 and this affair yet sierra specifically calls this number quote the one number we don't know anything about but we're pretty sure it has to do with the music at congregation vet hovering if 270 dollars is too high for your budget then give twenty seven dollars or take twenty seven cents from your kids piggy bank and please give of your time really i found that getting involved has enriched my life ridiculously if you want cbh to provide something help make it happen i promise you will love what it will do to 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 forward www.donate2cbh.org 2021 to make your 100 match gift today thank you again for your generous support amy there's no one like you thank you so much yes your clock that was fabulous in a moment we're going to have a chance to talk with each other in breakout rooms and here's the invitation let this song be here now amy was talking about the music so how relevant to have a little bit of music let this song be here now be a time of inquiry personal inquiry and reflection at any moment each of us will find ourselves ranging from content to searching peaceful to conflicted faith-filled to questioning and all of this is our humanity at play and the spiritual go-to that we often hear is be here now and for good reason time is a mind-bender how we utilize memory of the past and attachment to an unknown future is either our healing or our self-torment and we can always return to this spiritual practice of being in the present for grounding and building our faith that the future will take care of itself we are all navigating some sort of chaotic mess and perhaps one of our key navigational tools is kindness towards each other through our inescapable mistakes and in our search of the great mystery where our faith takes us our capacity to be present with ourselves and each other is the treasure on the map we find ourselves given so after you soak in the song we're going to offer each other a be here now if you will welcome when we go to breakout rooms a welcome that invites our soul to greet another soul so here is the question i want you to ask each other and for each of you to answer the question is not hello how are you doing the question is going to be who are you right now who am i right now who am i hiney here i am who am i right now cbh and friends enjoy and get to know one another again be here now [Music] so [Music] don't let your mind get weary and confused your will be still don't try don't let your heart get heavy child inside you there's a strength [Music] so [Music] don't let your soul get a lonely child it's only time it will go don't look for a love that faces plays [Music] me [Music] [Music] don't lose your faith in me i will try not to lose faith in you don't put your trust in walls cause walls will only crush [Applause] me [Music] here [Music] hi folks some of you just entered i think and some of you are not in breakout rooms so i just thought i would say hi to you if you meant to be in a breakout room and are not if anybody wants to unmute and say hello who are you right now we are open for that opportunity so good to see you hi i'm lindsay wolch hi lindsay hi shana tova i'm actually on my way to go get my son he ate from school so he can participate in the children's service in a little bit he really wanted to go to school this morning and tell his friends about the jewish new year so i allowed him to go awesome and now i am on my way to go get him from school so he can participate so i'm about to turn off my camera but i'm still going to be listening if i ask you the question who you are right now i think it would have something to do with what you're doing right now yes i am a mom who is so proud of my son to want to go and share everything about the jewish new year to school and yet still you know still want to participate but wants to excite all his friends about it that's so cool i love that thank you so much for sharing that thank you you're welcome michelle hi uh i'm michelle miller adams i actually live in michigan and i'm um my cousins alan sokoloff and michelle casper are in your congregation and my aunt and uncle and my my cousins are participating so i am i belong to a temple here in in kalamazoo but i i long for um the music that you have at your temple so i have been joining your zoom i'm certainly awesome chef but i'm also madly multitasking so i decided not to join a breakout room so but thank you for the beautiful music i got it well you actually did join a breakout room even though you didn't mean to right right delightful to meet you really nice to meet you too welcome so i would say you're someone who loves music i do love music my dad was a cantor for many many years and i did a lot in jewish music over the years so yeah i love your choir anyway nice to meet you manitova oh i'm listening yeah here we are we're all coming back together oh bethan i hear your voice yeah hi i can't i can't do i don't think i can do the video thing right now and i'm very dependent upon ruby beth my family to plug me into this of course um yeah so excuse me um it's shana tova but then beth and we're all starting to come back into the main room now oh okay i'm so glad to hear your voice i'd know your voice anywhere well and yours too and and i'm so glad that you hung out to be with the rest of us doing this because i had a problem with the connection there for good me too i'm so glad welcome back into the larger sanctuary our zoom sanctuary rabbi dale are you back in i am right here can you see me awesome okay great so i think we're going to transition to the torah service yes we are we're going to pray that those gates should open [Music] [Music] [Music] we move into the 13 attributes said [Music] a is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] hey [Music] [Music] i [Music] [Music] yay [Music] i'm [Music] boker tov good morning my name is bev corfin and it is my privilege and honor to serve as gabai roushon a kind of guide for the tourist service today along with shaina cohen who will serve as gabaishini the one who will ensure that we are reading and chanting correctly it is a great honor to chant an aliyah from the torah and to utter the aliyah blessing we recognize many different contributions and life cycle commemorations in bestowing these honors today we read from the book of genesis in the torah chapter 21 verses 1 through 34 found in your moxor starting on page 481 i invite you to follow along in hebrew or english in today's torah portion god remembers sarah and gives her and abraham a son whose name is isaac yitzhak in hebrew meaning will laugh abraham is then 100 years old and sarah is 90. in the further on in the in the torah portion we read about hagar and ishmael who are banished from abraham's home and wander in the desert god hears the cries of the dying boy and saves his life by showing his mother a well the torah portion is divided into five sections each separated by the recitation recitation of blessings known as aliyot or in the hebrew of my youth aliyahs the aliot this year will honor groups of people in our community who have experienced life transitions if you feel called to be part of a particular group please unmute yourself and recite the torah blessings together please remember that there will be two blessings to recite one before and one after each torah reading also please note that the first torah blessings that reconstructionist chant replaces the words who has chosen us from all people or nations and substitutes that with asher kirvanu avo dato who has drawn us to your service the words for both the reconstructionists and the traditional blessings can be found in your moxor on page 479. please recite the blessing you're comfortable with and here is the first aliyah nala mode please rise or today please unmute read meets the class of 5781 the aliyah chateau whenever you're all ready [Music] [Music] until you're ready for the second blessing and our torah chanter for the first aliyah is marla zimmermann [Music] i don't know [Music] elohim [Music] elohim he's unmute for the second blessing ready one two three the one who blessed our ancestors in all of their moments of transitions and becoming and reveling in being jewish people bless all of those who came to the torah as brief mitzvah in 57 81 [Music] just as you've come to the torah today at the beginning of the next year so may you find many opportunities now as responsible quote adult members of our community to read torah to bless the torah to pray with us and study with us and march with us and live a full and rewarding jewish life we look forward to watching you go through many more jewish milestones and you save an omar ahmed [Music] please meet yourself again please unmute anyone who has gotten married this past year la alia for the second aliyah all right just having some trouble there you go [Music] [Music] [Music] um our torah chanter for the second aliyah is miriam carp amen [Music] he [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] abraham [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] hello [Music] [Music] [Music] may the one who blessed our ancestors who created and nourished love between abraham and sarah david and jonathan ruth and naomi les rebecca and sherry and anyone else who was too shy to come up who might have gotten married or come into a loving union this year just as your love has flourished and you came beneath the huppah with commitment and devotion for one another so may your house in israel be a place of learning and love and goodness and joy and health and we say omar amen please unmute those who have contended with with illness this past year the aliyah review eat for the third aliyah [Music] please go ahead i don't have the roof that's hot i don't know [Music] me our tour reader for the third aliyah is michael galcinski michael we can't see your square so if you are here please raise your hand so haley can find you and allow you to unmute shayna maybe you could read from the humash or the ticone would that be okay i'd be happy to um [Music] here michael can you unmute is that michael we see you but we can't hear you okay well we're gonna just turn it over to shaina okay [Music] hey shayna i think we might have michael now is that you good morning [Music] [Music] okay [Music] [Music] email elohim is please chant the second blessing [Music] a blessing for those who have experienced illness this year both those who've come up to the torah and those who have not may the one who blessed our ancestors in their moments of trouble and sickness be with all of those in our community who've contended with illness and pain and brokenness a body or a spirit in the past year ah karoshvara fu is who brings healing healer of all flesh bring healing for the body and healing for the spirit may those who are ailing know that they are supported and surrounded by community may they find sustenance for their spirits and may those who care for them find strength be saved [Music] while the torah is out we offer this prayer chant for healing i invite you to put the names of those who you're sending this healing chant to in the chat chant with me [Music] on [Music] [Music] [Music] love [Music] please unmute those who have converted to judaism this past year the aliyah hashtag for the fourth ah oh [Music] [Music] is toby ames sorry and davey's with me [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] he [Music] i'm me the one who blessed our ancestors and impelled them to bring souls along with them on the journey bless all of those who've come into the jewish people in the past year who've come beneath the tent of jacob beneath the wings of shephema may your jewish journeys unfold with blessing and goodness and evermore discovery and excitement and learning and may you be a blessing to yourself to your family and to the whole jewish people and we say omar amen please unmute those who have taken on a new job passion or project in the past year the alley owed hamish for the fifth aliyah [Music] [Music] our torah chanters for the fifth aliyah are susan levy and kenya cable [Music] [Music] [Music] him [Music] please [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] the one who blessed our ancestors who called them to lachlacha to get out and head toward unknown places on their journeys bless those who've taken on a new position a new passion or a new pursuit find great satisfaction and success in all of their endeavors may they be supported and sustained to do what they set out to do and may they find surprises only good ones and may they find sustenance and joy in these new pursuits and may they be a blessing to all they encounter and let us say time to lift the torah everyone please rise in body or in spirit as the torah is lifted and join in singing the second line on page 546 is [Music] da [Music] foreign we have a special haftara for today the first day of rosh hashanah and it's a haftarah that speaks of longing it's a haftarah that speaks of the power of prayer and it's speaks about how sometimes people are denigrated for no good reason and sometimes the most sincere spirit is despised rebecca leary safran is going to say that the and is going to chant the blessings [Music] [Music] [Music] there was a certain man from ramataim tsufim amid the mountains of ephraim and his name was elkanah the son of jeroham who was the son of eliahu who was the son of tohu who was the son of tsuf and ephratite he had two wives the first one's name is hana and the second one was called panina and penina had two children but hannah had no children this man would go up from his town from time to time to worship and to offer sacrifice to the creator of the multitudes of heaven at shiloh there were eli's two sons hophni and pinchas priests to the eternal one and on that occasion elkanah would offer sacrifice and give gifts to panina and to all his sons and daughters but to hana he would give a double portion for he loved hana though her womb was closed her rival used to taunt her and provoke her for the sake of causing her distress about the fact that hannah's womb was closed and so it happened year by year whenever she went up to the house of the eternal one her rival would provoke her and she wept and would not eat her husband elkanah would say to her why are you weeping hannah and why won't you eat and why is your heart troubled am i not worth more to you than ten children and once after she ate and drank at shiloh hana arose and eli the priest was sitting at his station at the doorway of the house of the eternal one and she was in a bitter mood and she prayed to the eternal while she wept and wept she made a vow and said creator of the multitudes of heaven if truly you behold your servant's state of need if you remember me and don't forget your servant if you give your servant woman human seed then i shall dedicate my child to the eternal for a lifelong service and no shears shall touch their head of hair and while she prayed at length before the omnipresent one eli caught sight of her moving lips because hannah was speaking to herself and only her lips were moving while her voice could not be heard eli mistook her for a drunk and eli said to her how can you be drunk like this put away your wine but hannah answered saying no my lord i am a woman sore in spirit and no wine or liquor have i drunk for i was only pouring out my soul to god do not mistake your servant for a wanton woman for i was just now speaking out of great preoccupation and distress and eli answered go in peace and may the god of israel give you what you ask whatever you request from god and she replied so may your servant woman merit favor in your eyes the woman then departed on her way she ate and no longer was she troubled and they arose early the next morning and they worshipped before the omnipresent one and they returned back to their house in ramah and elkanah was intimate with hana and shahina remembered her [Music] how [Music] i mean i want to say yeshikoa to shayna cohen who organized all of the torah readers and gabayot and to bev for doing a masterful job of guiding us through the torah service to all the beautiful laners to all the people who had ishikawa and to rebecca who made hannah alive for all of us and to at the yasha it's time to hear words of torah torah which we will have the opportunity to learn from cliff trammell who is has had an opportunity to dome into the biblical tale of hagar that we read today and to derive wisdom that can guide each of us in this particular moment cliff is coming to us live from new york and cliff we are so glad to have you in your torah with us thank you it's good to be with you friends and if it gets really loud with car noise going by i'll pause and let the noise pass um i just want to take a moment and say thank you for opening your homes and hearts this entire year of everything we've been through and here we are again and let's learn some torah together it's clear to me that the traditional texts we read on the first day of rosh hashanah is not about the binding of isaac but rather the story of hagar the maidservant of sorrow and her son ishmael whose father was avraham genesis chapter 21 tells us that on the night of yitzchak celebration of being weaned his father threw a mistake a great feast in the roar of the festivities sarah saw ishmael mocking his younger half-sibling yitzhak and she was worried that ishmael would cause harm by taking her son's place in her scarcity panic she told abraham to be rid of both his son ishmael and hagar according to the text god told abraham shema listen in sarah's voice had abraham slowed down to really listen rather than do what she said perhaps he would have addressed sarah's worries reassured her of her and yitzhak's place and thus soothed her upset state instead he took her words at face value and the next morning he loaded hagar and ishmael with skins of water and bread and sent them to wander away alone in a wilderness what does this story have anything to do with the beginning of a new year the tale of hagar and ishmael ejected from their home resonates with a shared human experience we face times of abandonment when we become exiles from the life we once knew one night we're dancing and celebrating the next morning our lives are completely upended maybe we lose our job maybe someone we love dies maybe a pandemic sweeps through the world but our lives can go from celebration to morning in one night and when those moments happen like hagar we scrape together what we can find to survive in an emotional wilderness we try to make the skins of water from our last memory of security outlast the psychosocial socioeconomic politically charged angst in our hearts and sometimes it feels like it's not enough and our souls are without water without hope heartbroken like us in that place of despondent rejection hagar laid down her son who was fainting with thirst and she went far away so that she wouldn't have to see him die in that place of utter brokenness alone she lifted her voice and wailed perhaps then we begin rosh hashanah with hagar's tale because new beginnings are often wrapped in sad endings perhaps it is her wailing and her son's cries echoing through the shofar like a portal into our own lived experiences and not just the cries of a mother afraid of her child dying like hagar but also the cries of mourning mothers like hannah begging for the chance to even have children indeed the complimenting haftar portion for rosh hashanah is the story of hana weeping and also rejected by religious patriarchy and that story that we just heard at lee the high priest hears her weeping and accuses her of drunkenness again someone not slowing down to really listen the tale of hagar doesn't leave us only with her wailing call there is a response someone is listening the torah reads and god opened her eyes and she perceived a well of water she went and filled the skin of water for the youth to drink she did not hear a voice telling her where to look it was her own perception opening that showed her the way forward hannah's tale also teaches us that her cry was heard she had a son named schwell the root meaning to seek and also to listen because she felt that someone listened to her when she was seeking just as their stories continued so can ours these two sacred myths of hagar and chana begin our communal time of introspection during the days of all through yom kippur they are guide posts that point the way into the heart of new beginnings slow down listen listen to your heart listen to the person next to you listen to the other side of whatever aisle we may have fabricated in the confusion of believing in the illusion of separation and return to oneness this is the work of the high holidays can we listen beyond the fearful stories woven in our minds and connect with the person who is afraid including ourselves can we respond rather than react can we listen to our own heart to find connection to ourselves to others to the heart of the universal i am when we slow down like hagar did we can we move more wisely and can perceive more clearly what perhaps has been in front of us all along but couldn't see in our grief and our desperation we couldn't recognize support the very well of water we were seeking a poem called the well by david white speaks about what happens when we realize that we have arrived at the inner fountain be thankful now for having arrived for the sense of having drunk from a well for remembering the long drought that preceded your arrival and the years of walking in a desert landscape of surfaces looking for a spring hidden from you for so long that even wanting to find it had gone from your mind until you only remembered the hard pilgrimage that brought you here the thirst that caught your throat the taste of a world just missed and the driest of that throat that came from a love you remembered but had never fully wanted for yourself until finally after years making the long trek to get here it was as if your whole achievement had become nothing but thirst itself but the miracle had come simply from allowing yourself to know that you had found it that this time someone walking out into the clear air from far inside you had decided not to walk past it anymore the miracle had come at the roadside and the kneeling to drink and the prayer you said and the tears you shed and the memory you held and the realization that in this silence you no longer had to keep your eyes and ears averted from the place that could save you that you had been given the strength to let go of the thirsty desolated pilgrim self that brought you here walking with her at bent her bowed head and her careful explanations no the miracle had already happened when you stood up shook off the dust and walked along the road from the well out of the desert toward the mountain as if already home again as if you deserved what you loved all along as if you as if just remembering the taste of that cool clear spring could lift up your face and set you free again and again throughout illegal and into yom kippur the shofar calls us home to freedom to ourselves and to one another from wherever we may be wandering whether by way of wilderness like hagar or barrenness like hana be mourn what has happened and somehow the human spirit can simultaneously hold space for what can yet be perhaps there is someone on the receiving end of our cries that someone can be ourselves and we can also be that someone to one another i've heard a midrash that teaches that the story arc of the cosmos and of our individual lives are in the vibrations of the shofar we hope to hear a taqiyya a blast that heralds our own tikkun our healing but before we can arrive at the kia gedola the great blast we travel through many shivering broken places perhaps then we begin the rosh hashanah with hagar and chana's tales because sad endings can be new beginnings in disguise especially when we slow down to listen to ourselves and to one another may the depth of sorrow we have known this last year as individuals and as a community be proportional to the sweetness that we can create together in 5782 may it be willed a main for that beautiful searing torah may we all be able to find access to the well with your guidance amen we return forward to the ark it's the tree of life thank you cliff for letting us feel the tree of life that the torah is it's a a [Music] m we continue now with the moose off service the additional service for rosh hashanah we are going to share three sections that are interconnected and punctuated by the blasts of the shofar that kyot the full notes the broken notes and the true oat the alarm notes and finally the great takiyah the center of this musaf is these three sections which teach of sovereignty on the one hand and humility on the other note which teach us of memory and compassion and shofar shofar shofar blasts heralding a healed world the prophet micah taught us the god has told you human being what is good um and what the eternal demands of you to do justly love mercy and walk faithfully and humbly with your god so we're going to experience these three themes in reverse order the three things that that micah talked about malchuyot is learning to walk humbly is remembering mercy or compassion and shofar wrote is the path through justice to the repaired and redeemed world each part of the journey is sealed inscribed in our souls by the sound of the shofar we'll spend a few minutes of reflection or meditation on each theme and then seal them in with the shofar which brad will glow kingships or sovereignty this is the day when we envision the divine being enthroned on high so what does that make us if god is exalted in high we then are aware of our loneliness we're aware that we're not all that as my kids say and humility is reality we are connecting today to the reality of how little we control of our powerlessness we are connecting to the importance of seeing our smallness in order to be real in this world so i want to ask you to spend a few minutes reflecting on one or more of these questions first was there a moment this year when you felt powerless second was there a moment when you found you needed help and finally was there a moment when you fell short of your aims we invite ourselves with great softness into our own humility take a few moments [Music] [Music] blessed are you eternal ones sovereign power all over all the earth who raises us up to holiness the people israel and the day of memory we rise in body or spirit for the blowing of the shakar uh ikea [Music] sovereign god may you receive with mercy and with favor this declaration of your sovereignty and our humility zikr note memory the note memory prompts us to consider facet compassion we use our memories to connect to compassion we remember who we are we remember the very capacity to connect with compassion i invite you in a couple of moments of silence to think of a moment when you were treated with compassion this year savored that feel how it felt in your heart and think of a moment when you offered compassion savor that notice how good it felt to be able to find compassion for another human we remember with compassion you age 642.00 [Music] [Music] i [Music] mercy mercy let us find mercy [Music] [Music] with the bless of the shofar age 652. today the world is born today shall stand before you all beings of the cosmos whether it's your children or your servants if as your children show them mercy like a mother toward her children if as your servants then our eyes are turned toward you in great anticipation that you may be gracious rendering judgment for the good on our behalf clear as the light of day are the call to do justly or as it says in the elenu which has been translated by rabbi arthur wasco as healing the world through the majesty of nurture in the few moments of silence ahead think about one hope you have for the world one hope you have for the world and think about one deed no matter how small or how large that you commit to take on in the coming year to repair the world toward the repair of the world so one hope you have for the world because we can't take action if you don't find hope and one deed you commit to do toward repairing the world for you are the one who listens to the shofar's call and hearkens to its blast [Music] as we listen to this final set of blasts of the shofar which are on page 664 i invite you if you like to write in the chat the one deed that you are committing yourself to remember no matter how small something that you will do in 5782 to heal the world through the majesty of nurture tiki ikea ah [Music] [Music] [Music] new we continue with elena h220 i think we've got gaian it's wonderful to see in the chat all of those beautiful commitments and i know that the world will be repaired and healed through the actions of this community i'm so sorry i can't hear you dan i'm muted but it's not they're very quiet but yeah just loud loud in yourself [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] now we can't hear you again wow we heard you beautifully when you were singing hey i'm going to talk really loud can you hear me now yeah okay i was thanking you rabbi dale um jenny i'd like to invite jenny hoffner to lead us in the prayer for the end of i'm still muted okay i'm not muted i'm good okay great as lgbtq jews we are aware of the loss of integrity we suffer due to the pressures of the larger society we often feel forced into a dishonest presentation of ourselves to ourselves and others the lb lgbtq individuals who feel they must pretend to be something they are not the jews who feel they must be alienated from their tradition and community to win larger acceptance both are victims of a theft of identity and integrity committed by the sexual gender identifying or religious majority creator of the universe we ask that our hiding draw to an end that we no longer feel we have to pretend to promise falsely to renounce ourselves and that our fullest creative expression as jews and as lesbian gay transgender bisexual and queer people be among the blessings you bestow upon us yeshua thank you jenny we continue by honoring the memories of those who've died at this time in years past and recently we hallowed them with the words of kaddish on page 12 16 and if you are saying kaddish for someone you like to put their name in the chat so that they can be included in our communal prayers please do so again that's 12 16. so [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] may god send peace to all whom born and comfort to all the bereaved well there are a few things going on in our cbh community these days actually there are a lot of things going on and we're going to hear about some of them from our board member marcy alt marcy thank you for being with us again welcome my name is martial i'm a member of the cbh board we are thrilled to host so many friends from around atlanta the country and of course the globe for our visual holiday services as we celebrate rosh hashanah 57-82 every year whether in person or virtual cvh is proud to provide high holiday services to our community without the traditional tickets for purchase as a result we rely heavily on your generosity to help raise our annual funds if you haven't already done so we do encourage you to please support the high holiday appeal by visiting donate to cbh.org [Music] 21 and again 2021 is very very important to add you are invited to rejoin us online for rosh hashanah day two services tomorrow morning at 10 30 a.m for a special chat service and a 2 30 for an e-touch leak service all are invited back for cold madre on wednesday september 15th at 8 pm and yom kippur day on thursday september 15th at 9 30 a.m we want to conclude your rosh hashanah observance with a prayer for healing or an opportunity to recite the mourner's kaddish the 15-minute evening minion will meet on the evening of rosh hashanah day two wednesday september 8th at its regular scheduled time of 8 p.m it'll be on the zoo the zoom link can be found on our website at cbh atlanta.org again for the locals we have a new offering it's our multi-generational shabbat shiva picnic at the local park on saturday 11 september 11th at noon reserve your spot on the high holidays offerings page on our website on sunday september 12th at 9 00 a.m join us at a local park for a reverse tushley park cleanup as we partner the atlanta chambers sorry the atlanta chapters of the jewish climate action network and repair the world register on our high holiday offerings page on our website there are still spots open to register your elementary age kids in our renowned innovative cbh community school our school meets weekly every sunday morning at the french school in decatur for more information visit us at cbh.org for all of our members who we loaned whom we loaded a lot high holiday prayer book please return them 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 the cbh following when you return your prayer book or anything you come to the cbh um or when you come to cbh this september please bring non-perishable food items that can be donated to operation isaiah food drive if you enjoyed the music today at the service you can delve deeper into this awesome professionally produced collection of cbh music on our website a big thank you to all who took part in the envisioning cbh congregational survey whether or not you participated please be on the lookout for the communication regarding our upcoming focus groups we will meet for uh we will meet once during october we invite all the community members to share during one of these um important online meetings that'll help shape our cbh's future our deepest gratitude to all the volunteers the staff the chorus the internet instrumentalists and anyone and everyone else that helped with the cbh high holidays and bring them to life we couldn't have done it without you but shouldn't have to have have a sweet new year yes mercy and i just want to say what a privilege it is to be in this community and to be colleagues with gay and and will and brad and the cbh band and the cbh chorus and all of the incredible volunteers as as marcy said who participated in services who helped to share the joy of the holiday with our rosh hashanah boxes and i particularly want to call out haley monet who is the tech wizard behind our zoom we would not be able to see each other and hear each other and uh feel intimate with each other we're not for haley's amazing work thank you hayley so let's conclude with hi young today this is it this is the day page 12 22 4 6 33. or oh you're singing i'm singing go ahead i own my right we can't have enough today right not enough today this is it 12 22. hi yo my yummy yum i am [Music] [Music] [Music] i am [Music] [Music] may we be renewed for a year of sweetness and goodness and health kill feel free to unmute yourselves and say shannatovahd thank you

Channel: Congregation Bet Haverim

Views: 456

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, Challenge, TikTok, Eliad Cohen, Asher Angel, Noah Schnapp, torah

Id: 2Sk0S7eYRxI

Length: 163min 10sec (9790 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 07 2021