Yom Kippur Healing & Wholeness Service (Sept. 16, 2021)

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] my [Music] do [Music] do [Music] do do [Music] do [Music] come on [Music] the one who [Music] blesses us [Music] blessed is the blessed one blessed is the giver of blessing blessed [Music] listen in [Music] come on [Music] is [Music] come on [Music] come all of you come on [Music] welcome to our afternoon healing service a chance to bless the one who blesses a chance to come together to find strength and healing and wholeness some of us know exactly why we're here right now we have an ache we have an illness we have a peace that we recognize in need of healing and wholeness on this day some of us aren't exactly quite sure why we're here but we know that there is something that we need that we yearn for on this day of days healing is the restoration of wholeness an alleviation of distress or anguish and our hope is that this service our being together our praying together will help to do that very thing and so we ask that you take a deep breath and that you're willing to share your neshama your soul with us as we share ours with you in search of that which brings healing in our life open my eyes god help me to perceive what i have ignored to uncover what i have forsaken to find what i have been searching for remind me that i don't have to journey far to discover something new for miracles surround me blessings and holiness abound and you are near [Music] a [Music] that my mouth may declare your glory [Music] my mouth may depart your glory [Music] i don't know [Music] i [Music] foreign is [Music] day [Music] [Music] foreign prayer invites god to let the divine presence diffuse our spirits to let the divine will prevail in our lives prayer cannot bring water to parched fields nor mend a broken bridge nor rebuild a ruined city a prayer can water an arid soul mend a broken heart and rebuild a weakened will [Music] our bodies are so complicated and it's nothing short of miraculous that so much goes right so much of the time so often when we struggle with our health we focus on that little broken part on that peace that isn't working right this prayer reminds us of all that goes right the redminster rebbe said we cross an ocean and are rescued from a shipwreck so we give thanks to god should we not thank god if we cross without a mishap i'm cured of a dangerous illness and recite a thanksgiving blessing should i not give thanks when i am well and preserved from illness we continue with a shariatzar [Music] [Music] i thank you for my life [Music] the way i am and a little broken too [Music] i will live each day as a gift i give to you [Music] i thank you for my life [Music] help me realize [Music] i will live each day as a gift i give to you [Music] [Applause] [Music] um [Music] um [Music] i can look at my body as an old friend who needs my help or an enemy who frustrates me and every way with its fragility and inability to cope old friend i shall try to be of comfort to you to the end join me my god let me focus not on what my body cannot do but on what my body can do let me give thanks for what still works let me hope for what does not work for no matter what no matter how my body lapses my soul with each breath i take is like the flicker of a candle within my being we continue responsively as i breathe may i receive may i be surrounded in the protective glow of divine light may i allow myself to feel and absorb this divine presence as i breathe may i receive may it awaken within me the force of my vitality and the strength of my own will as i breathe may i receive may my willingness to believe in my own well-being be enhanced embellished and enriched may my faith and my own healing powers be renewed as i breathe may i receive may i cherish and love myself for who i really am weak and strong selfish and selfless learner and teacher prideful and humble believer and non-believer as i breathe may i receive may this love herself merge with god's love and with the love of humanity as i breathe may i receive may i feel this love acknowledge it and take it in knowing and recognizing that love in god's presence are always there as i breathe may i receive as i breathe may i receive may i feel this love acknowledge it and take it in knowing and recognizing that love in god's presence are always there as i breathe may i receive as i breathe may i receive i want to teach you this chorus i pray for peace i pray for strength i pray for healing let's try that together i pray for peace i pray for strength i pray for healing listen for courage and light through the dark night i pray for healing let's try that together for courage and light through the dark night i pray for he lay i may not be standing before you but i am here and i cannot see [Music] your face but i know you are here [Music] the fight keeps getting even harder it's weighing me down trying to find a way to stand up with my feet on the ground i pray for peace i pray for strength i pray for healing for courage [Music] and dreamed of what life might be [Music] i close my eyes now the tears fall is this still me building up a new foundation inside these walls let there be a restoration won't let me fall i pray for peace [Music] there may be days but then there are days may my life be a celebration all that i am may my life be an inspiration [Music] the love of those who came before me did shape my soul the love of those who surround i pray for peace [Music] i pray for peace i pray for strength [Music] i pray for [Music] oftentimes when we are lost in the wilderness we feel alone the trees are all around us we don't know which way to turn next let this moment remind us that we are in this wilderness together i keep remembering last year's high holy days when we stood in this sanctuary just the clergy alone and although we are not at our full numbers i really feel comforted that we are in the space together for those who are watching online as well just to know that we are together a little a little differently a little more together than maybe last year sometimes in looking out to find the face of another we can be healers and we can be healed we can find strength in knowing we are not alone let us be open and curious let us hold each other gently let us hold each other if i had known what troubles you were bearing what griefs were in the silence of your face i would have been more gentle and more caring and tried to give you gladness for a space i would have brought more warmth into the place if i had known if i had known what thoughts despairing drew you why do we never understand i would have lent a little friendship to you and slipped my hand within your lonely hand and made your stay more pleasant if i had known this past spring the clergy gathered for a clergy retreat four of us and rabbi fixler taught us about a podcast producer delaney hall who moved back to new mexico where she grew up he shared with us that one of the exciting things about moving back is that she got to attend an annual event called the burning of zozobra every fall the city of santa fe comes together to burn a giant marionette effigy in spanish zozobra means anxiety and this effigy has come to represent all the city's collective sorrows once a year those sorrows in the form of old man gloom are sent up in smoke it's an amazing spectacle zozobra stands about fifty feet tall and as a crowd of fifty thousand people chants burn him burn him burn him the figure is slowly engulfed in flames writhing and groaning in agony the zozobras framework is made of wood and is covered with rolls of chicken wire and muslin cloth before being stuffed with bushels of shredded paper it's supposed to be a kind of cathartic ritual because zozobra represents gloom it's this way that the city purges its collective sadness anyone with excess of gloom is encouraged to write down the nature of their sadness on a slip of paper and leave it in the gloom box that is found in the offices of the santa fe reporter and the weeks leading up to the burn participants can also add documents on the day of the burning of visiting a gloom tent where they can contribute paper for the marionette's stuffing people contribute police reports mortgage documents divorce papers anything they might want to destroy in a fiery blaze and so on this day i'm inviting you to think about what you want to let go of what would you write on your slip of paper for the gloom box to be discarded and never seen again what weight and heaviness would you leave behind i invite you a few moments to consider what we're letting go of on this yom kippur so [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] hey [Music] m [Music] comfort us as we struggle to take care of one [Music] as we struggle with this world oh [Music] comfort us comfort us in our wilderness comfort us as we struggle to take care of one another comfort us comfort us in our wilderness comfort us as we struggle with this world [Music] [Music] hey there's a hasidic teaching that says a general received a message telling him that his main line of defense had been broken by the enemy he was greatly distressed and the expression on his face showed it his wife hearing the message came to him and said you've received bad news i know but i've just received worse and what is that he asked i have just read discouragement on your face she replied loss of courage is the worst of news every time we pray we pray in song the words of misha bera it is courageous to pray for healing in times of sickness it is courageous to ask for that which we do not have that we don't know if we were evil have so we reach out to god praying god to be a source of healing and comfort in our time of healing [Music] may the source of strength will bless the ones before us help us courage to make our lives a blessing and let us [Music] [Music] the [Music] the renewal of body the renewal of spirit and let us [Music] we take a moment for silent prayer for just the prayer of our hearts [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] healing doesn't just happen it isn't just the result of magical interventions outside of ourselves a key part of healing comes from within real healing is physical spiritual and emotional and it's a process one that we help to create and cultivate within ourselves we must bring some pieces of our own healing into the universe and we do that by way of the love the kindness and the compassion that others show to us as much as we need that from others to light the spark of healing within ourselves others are waiting for us to be that light that spark sometimes it can be helpful to give ourselves a pep talk to know especially in these days when we're feeling run down where we're feeling exhausted from what's going on in the world to give ourselves a pep talk to have a mantra and so i've learned a mantra from rabbi fixler that i wanted to share with you today we're doing the best we can with what we've got which doesn't feel like much but is enough we're doing the best we can with all we are which is a lot and will be enough maybe try it with me we're doing the best we can with what we've got which doesn't feel like much but is enough we're doing the best we can with all we are which is a lot and will be enough i feel like we should do it one more time we're doing the best we can with what we've got which doesn't feel like much but is enough we're doing the best we can with all we are which is a lot and we'll be in we are called unto life destiny uncertain yet we offer thanks for what we know for health and healing for labor and repose for renewal of beauty and earth and sky for that blend of human holy which inspires compassion and for hope eternal promising light [Music] i am light i am light i am light i am light i am light i am light i am light i am not the things my family did i am not the voices in my head i am not the pieces of the brokenness inside [Music] i am i am [Music] i am light [Music] i'm not the mistakes that i have made or any of the things that cause me pain i am not the pieces of the dream i left behind [Music] i am [Music] [Applause] [Music] i am the god on the inside i'm a star piece [Music] am light i am [Music] i am [Music] am light i am i wanted a perfect ending so i sat down to write the book with the ending in place before there even was an ending now i've learned the hard way that some poems don't rhyme some stories don't have a clear beginning middle and end like my life this book has ambiguity like my life this book is about not knowing having to change taking the moment and making the best of it without knowing what's going to happen next when i panic god teach me patience when i fear teach me faith when i doubt myself teach me confidence when i despair teach me hope when i lose perspective show me the way back to love back to life back to you [Music] dear god of our ancestors [Music] help us renew our faith help us us a perfect healing grant us a perfect healing bring peace to all our days bring peace [Music] restore our strength of body restore our strength of body health clarify our minds help clarify our minds refresh our tired spirits refresh our entire spirits rejuvenate our light our night [Music] thank you for all these blessings thank you for all these blessings throughout our days and nights throughout our days and nights we celebrate the journey we celebrate the journey this precious gift of life [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] the zozobra was a symbol of what we wanted to let go so as we conclude our healing service time together just as important is to figure out what we need to hold on to what is the source of our strength and our courage as we pray for healing what is it that lifts us up what is it that reminds us that our courage our courage will lead us to what comes next oh god we ask help us to find those pieces to guide us forward in wholeness and in healing [Music] i hope you'll sing with me [Music] to a place you do not know on your journey i will bless you and you shall be a blessing you shall be a blessing you shall be a blessing that he loves [Music] and i shall make your name great bless your name [Music] [Music] and you shall be you shall be a blessing you shall be a blessing let me [Music] thank you for joining us our yusker service begins at 4 30 here in the bearer sanctuary if you'd like to take a few moments of a break from this room there are tables and chairs set up in the ashman multi-purpose room we'll see you shortly [Music] good work you

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Keywords: Yom Kippur, Healing Service, Healing & Wholeness, Emanu El, High Holy Days, Yom Kippur 2021, HHDs 2021, HHDs, Congregation Emanu El, Emanu El Houston, Cantor, Cantor Rollin Simmons, Reform Judaism, Houston Jewish, 2021 Yom Kippur

Id: iwkvZYnSvMM

Length: 55min 58sec (3358 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 16 2021