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The High Holy Day Experience

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Thank you everyone for joining us for the High Holy Day Experience for 2020/5781. Please see the images below. A schedule of the program can be found here and videos can be found on our YouTube page.

The vision of creating new prayer books for these High Holy Days came from the hope that we might provide for our congregation a way to bridge the distance of the virtual services which we are streaming into their homes, by placing in their hands these familiar words of prayer in an accessible and familiar form. The services are designed specifically for our congregation, drawn with Hebrew and English prayers selected from the current and historic prayer books of Reform Judaism, other High Holy Day resources and prayers, and blessings written by rabbis of The Temple as well. Editing these new prayer books was a labor of love – with Rabbi David carefully selecting the prayers to fit well within an online format, while Rabbi Rapport designed and edited each page of the 150-page work. And none of this would have been possible without the support of The Temple Women of Reform Judaism / Sisterhood and The Temple Brotherhood who sponsored the project so that every Temple family could receive a copy of the prayer books delivered to their homes for the High Holy Day experience.

Ha-azinu (Deuteronomy 32:1–52)

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This Week’s Torah Portion: Ha-azinu – הַאֲזִינוּ (Deuteronomy 32:1–52)

This week’s Torah Portion Ha-azinu begins with Moses’ poetic call to heaven and earth to stand as witness to the greatness of God and Israel’s need to follow after God’s ways.

Give ear, O heavens, let me speak; Let the earth hear the words I utter!

The heavens are called to “give ear”, ha-azinu, and the earth is called to “listen”, tishma.
But what is the difference between hearing the sounds, “give ear,” and truly “listening” to the words of one who speaks?

Ha-azinu is a word reserved for poetic pronouncements; heaven bound, such words seem seldom suited for human speech. Tishma is a word more familiar to our earth, from the word Shema it mean to truly listen to the words and take them to heart.

There is a time for lofty words, and there is a time to listen for their meaning in our hears and in our lives. Shanah Tovah, may it be a year of Justice and of Peace.

Parsha Ha-azinu Summary:

Moses sings his last song, a love poem to God and a chastisement of the people, who are not worthy of Adonai. (32:1–6) The poem recounts the blessings that God has bestowed on the Israelites, the wicked deeds they have committed, and the punishments that God then inflicted upon them. (32:7–43) God tells Moses to begin his ascent of Mount Nebo, from where he will see the Land of Israel from a distance but will not be allowed to enter it. (32:45–52)

Yom Rishon shel Rosh Hashanah (Genesis 22:1-19)

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This Week’s Torah Portion: Yom Rishon shel Rosh Hashanah – יוֹם רִאשׁוֹן שֶׁל רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה (Genesis 22:1-19)

Every year, we take part in ritualized ceremonies that are intended to help us repent and become better and more worthy people. The essence of the High Holy Days is the chance we are given each year to engage in spiritual stock-taking, to repair ourselves, and to enjoy a new opportunity in our relations with God and our fellow humans. It is hard to imagine a more optimistic day than one that offers us a chance, every year, to turn over a new leaf in our lives.

Parsha Yom Rishon shel Rosh Hashanah Summary:

Rosh Hashanah Morning, Day 1 (Genesis 21) (Many Reform congregations omit this portion, and read Genesis 22 on Rosh Hashanah, Day 1.) Sarah, who has longed for a child for many years, conceives a child with Abraham and gives birth to Isaac, meaning “one who laughs.” Isaac’s birth fulfills Gods promise that they will bear a son who will grow to be a generation. As Isaac grows into his boyhood, Sarah is conflicted by the presence of her servant Hagar and her son Ishmael that she conceived with Abraham and Hagar is banished from the home. God visits Hagar in the wilderness her, promises that Ishmael will also grow into a great nation, and tenderly provides water for the mother and son. Ishmael grows to adulthood and is married. This portion is a reminder that God’s promises are kept, and God’s compassion extends beyond the tents of our people. Rosh Hashanah Morning, Day 2 (Genesis 22) (Many Reform congregations read this portion on Rosh Hashanah, Day 1.) This portion is commonly known as The Akeidah, or “the binding.” In these terse and tense verses, the subject matter touches upon God, the nature of faith, and the demands faith may make of us. God calls upon Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac as a supreme test of faith. Abraham, God’s loyal servant, agrees. Just as Abraham is about to offer his son up as a sacrifice, an angel calls out to him, instructing him not to harm the boy, and Abraham sacrifices a ram in place of his son. For the ancient reader this may have served as a rejection of human sacrifice, a practice of ancient Israel’s neighbors. For the modern reader, perhaps one is called upon to consider one’s own tests and sacrifices. The haftarah (1 Samuel 1:1-2:10) Tells the story how Hannah prayed to God for a child, and how her prayer was answered with subsequent birth of Samuel.

The Days of Awe are upon us

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Dear Temple Members,

The Days of Awe are upon us. Rosh Hashanah begins this Friday night and Yom Kippur just ten days beyond that. We have been preparing for this High Holy Day experience for so long it has seemed at times as if this moment would never arrive. But now we have all but arrived at our day of days.  We have prepared New Prayer Books for our hands, Streaming Services for our eyes, the haunting melodies of these days through the voices of our socially distant choir for our ears, and now it is time to prepare our hearts for repentance and return.

Planning for the High Holy Days was always the plan. The entire month of Elul was to be dedicated to day-by-day reflection in preparation for the shofar’s call to return. This age old tradition has not traditionally included prerecording a video message from the governor, sending an HDMI cable to connect your computer device to the flat-screen TV, figuring out a way to gather your beloved collection of family and friends without actually physically gathering, or gathering all the ingredients for a holiday meal from touchless delivery at the grocery store. 

These High Holy Days we have prepared in different ways, we know they will not feel the same once they arrive, but it is our hope that these days might be memorable for more than the pandemic which has created the need for all these preparations, but rather for the message of unity amidst adversity, and the strength of a community of faith which they have taught.

Shanah Tovah, from your rabbis, your Temple leadership, and from all your Temple staff who have worked so hard to make this High Holy Day experience one we will remember: for blessing and not for curse, for sweetness and not for sorrow, for beginnings and not for its end. May the One who has opened the gates of repentance and welcomed us in love through generations of our people, bless you all and those you love in this New Year and for many years to come. 

L’Shanah Tovah, may it be a year of goodness and blessing for us all.

Rabbi Joe Rooks Rapport
Rabbi David Ariel-Joel

Nitzavim – Vayeilech (Deuteronomy 29:9–30:20, 31:1–30)

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This Week’s Torah Portion: Nitzavim – Vayeilech- נִצָּבִים – וַיֵּלֶךְ (Deuteronomy 29:9–30:20, 31:1–30)

“Then Adonai your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you” (Deuteronomy 30:3).

Adonai our God evolves through history and our relationship with God continues to develop.

As we approach the end of the Torah and the end of the book of Deuteronomy, we find a new concept in the Torah, repentance. We can return to God, we can mend our ways, we can repent and God is now a compassionate God.

Parsha Nitzavim – Vayeilech Summary:

Moses tells the assembled people that God’s covenant speaks to them and to all of the generations who will follow. (29:9–14) God warns the Israelites that they will be punished if they act idolatrously, the way the inhabitants of the other nations do. (29:15–28) Moses reassures the people that God will not forsake them and that they can attain blessings by following God’s commandments. (30:1–20) Moses prepares the people for his death and announces that Joshua will succeed him. (31:1–8) Moses instructs the priests and the elders regarding the importance of reading the Torah. (31:9–13) God informs Moses that upon his death, the people will commit idolatry and “many evils and troubles shall befall them.” God tells Moses to teach the people a poem that will “be My witness.” (31:14–30)

“Then Adonai your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you” (Deuteronomy 30:3).

Adonai our God evolves through history and our relationship with God continues to develop.

As we approach the end of the Torah and the end of the book of Deuteronomy, we find a new concept in the Torah, repentance. We can return to God, we can mend our ways, we can repent and God is now a compassionate God.

Ki Tavo (Deuteronomy 26:1–29:8)

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This Week’s Torah Portion: Ki Tavo – כִּי-תָבוֹא (Deuteronomy 26:1–29:8)

“You have declared this day that Adonai is your God … And Adonai has declared this day that you are God’s people …” (Deuteronomy 26:17-18)

We choose God and God chose us. It is a mutual relationship we have with God. As the rabbis interpret in the Talmud.  The people of Israel crown Adonai every day when we say at our Temples and synagogues, “Hear Israel Adonai is your God, Adonai One”

Parsha Ki Tavo Summary:

The Israelites are instructed to express their gratitude to God for their bountiful harvests and freedom from slavery by tithing ten percent of their crops for the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow. (26) The people are told to display on large stones God’s commandments for all to see. (27:1-8) The Levites are to proclaim curses upon those who violate God’s commandments. (27:15-26) The Israelites are told that if they obey God’s mitzvot faithfully, they will receive every blessing imaginable. They are also told that if do not fulfill their brit with God, many curses will descend upon them. (28:1-69) Moses reminds the Israelites of the miracles they witnessed in the wilderness and commands them to observe the terms of the covenant so that they may succeed in all that they undertake. (29:1-8)