Rosh HaShanaTorah Readings& Haftarot
First Day... According to Tradition, Sara Imeinu was "remembered" on Rosh HaShana, she became pregnant, and subse- quently gave birth to Yitzchak, despite her advanced age of 90. On the first day of Rosh HaShana we read perek 21 of B'reishit, from Parshat Vayeira, about the birth and early years of Yitzchak, and about the Sara-Hagar- Yishmael episode. This first section of the reading is contained in a single Parsha S’tuma, is made up of 21 of the 34 p’sukim, and is divided among the first five of the seven Aliyot for Shabbat-Rosh HaSha- na. (When the first day of RH is not on Shabbat, this portion makes up the first three of five Aliyot.)
The last part of this reading is a single Parsha P’tucha of 13 p’sukim and is
about the treaty made between Avraham and Avimelech. This part of the reading
is divided between the last two Aliyot of the first Torah (i.e. Shishi and
Sh’vi’i when RH is Shabbat, and R’vi’i and Chamishi when RH falls during the
week). Commentaries point out that it was in the merit of the prayers of
Avraham on behalf of the people of Avimelech's household, that his (Avraham's)
and Sara's prayers for themselves were also answered. This fits with one of
the powerful themes and messages of RH, namely the power of prayer. The silent nature of the Amida is attributed to Chana. The main connection to the Torah reading and the guiding force, so to speak, as to the choice of haftara for the first day of Rosh HaShana, is the story of a woman who was barren for a long time and then was blessed with a child. Sara in the Torah reading and Chana in the haftara, are joined by Rachel from the haftara of the second day. In a different way, we can add Yosef HaTzadik, who was also “remembered” by G-d. Tradition tells us that he was removed from prison to appear before Par’o on Rosh HaShana.
Mincha...
We stand before G-d on Yom HaDin and we proclaim that we are not only the
biological descendants of Avraham and Yitzchak (and Yaakov), but the spiritual
heirs as well. We are not just telling stories; we are inspired to emulate our
forefathers and develop a total commitment to G-d and Torah.
Am I a good Jew with episodes of sin or am I a wicked Jew who does mitzvot
from time to time. And this is not merely a matter of numbers. It is possible
that we are evaluated as good Jews who slip, even if the slipping is
significant... because we are the descendants of the Avot and Imahot. This is
part of why we mention the Akeida so often on Rosh HaShana.
The readings of Rosh HaShana are not just Bible stories and we shouldn’t take
them as such. We read about an amazing love relationship between G-d and His
people, us. Emotion is the key. We need to “open up” on Rosh HaSha- na, so
that we can see the vital nature of T’shuva and of our membership in Klal
Yisrael. And it is not just we who must warm to the relationship between
HaShem and Am Yisrael. G-d too, so to speak, will hopefully respond to the
feelings He has always had for us, and relate to us as He related to the Avot
and Imahot.
First, the Borei Pri HaGafen (YAYIN) is said over the Kiddush Cup. This is
followed by MELECH AL KOL HA’ARETZ M’KADEISH YISRAEL V’YOM HAZIKA- RON (this
bracha is known as KIDDUSH or Kiddush HaYom). So far, things are like any Leil
Yom Tov. We now switch over to Havdala. No separate wine bracha is said; the
one for Kiddush covers the Havadala as well. We now say BOREI M’OREI HA’EISH
over the Yom Tov candles or an incandescent bulb (we do NOT light a Havdala
candle for the occasion) (NER). This is followed by a modified HAVDALA bracha,
ending in HAMAVDIL BEIN KODESH L’KODESH, He Who distinguishes between one
level of sanctity (the higher one of Shabbat) and another level of sanctity
(the lesser one of Yom Tov). All of the above is concluded with the SHE’
HE’CHE’YANU, known as ZMAN, time. The sequence of these five brachot is known
by the initial letters of the brachot - YAKNEHAZ, i.e. YAYIN (wine), KIDDUSH,
NER, HAVDALA, and ZMAN. B’samim (spices) are not used on Motza’ei Shabbat that
is Yom Tov; the Yom Tov is considered as a spiritual “spice”, rendering actual
spices unnecessary.
By the way, it is only the transition from a higher Kedusha to a lower that is
accompanied by the recitation of Havdala. That includes Shabbat to weekday,
Shabbat to Yom Tov, Shabbat to Chol HaMoed, and Yom Tov to Chol HaMoed. It
does not include Yom Tov to Shabbat or Chol HaMoed to Yom Tov or Shabbat. When you daven on Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur... take your time. No one is rushing you. If your shul is faster than you are, and you are still saying your Amida when the chazan has begun the repetition — so what? Let them go. Your private, silent Amida is your priority. It takes concentration. The shul sounds in the background can be distracting. Don’t let them be. You’ve got work to do. Find yourself a good spot to stand for your Amida. A place where you won’t be bothering anyone else, especially if you are taking a long time with your Amida. If you are still in your Amida when the congregation is ready for Kedusha, then you have to stop, wait, and listen - but you do not say Kedusha with everyone else. Don’t worry. Your listening is considered “K’ILU”, as if you are saying it. Except that you are not saying it, because you cannot interrupt your own Amida. Nor can you continue davening while the KAHAL is saying Kedusha. Stop, look, and listen. It is important not to inconvenience others in your attempt to daven better. Violating interpersonal mitzvot while seeking to fulfill a Jew-to-G-d mitzva is kind of counter-productive. What you will mostly miss out on are the many PIYUTIM, liturgical poetry, that was added to the siddur and machzor over many centuries of Jewish life and experience. The PIYUTIM are beautiful and precious to us, but they do not supersede the basic text of the Amida. Also, there is nothing wrong with davening in Hebrew and looking over to the English translation to help you understand what you are saying. It is even permitted (and maybe preferable) to daven in English, if you don’t understand the Hebrew at all. On the other hand, a tremendous amount of thought and work went into the Hebrew wording of our prayers, and if you can handle davening in Hebrew (especially with the ability to read the English at the same time), it is preferable.
Bottom line: Daven well.
One of the ideas behind saying HN before the Yamim Nora’im is this: Believe it or not, eating that cookie for that person is the same (sort of) as eating a cheese burger or ham sandwich. Sounds like an exaggeration, but it really isn’t. Eating ham violates the prohibition against eating the meat of non-kosher animals. Eating that cookie violates (for the one who took the vow) the prohibition of profaning one’s word. And, we can suggest, that the one who eats the CCC (that's chocolate chip cookies, not to be confused with CCR, chocolate covered raisins) is even a little worse! Eating ham is a sin. Eating a cookie isn’t a sin, except for the one who swore he wouldn’t eat them. So the vow-taker creates upon himself the possibility of sinning, where none need have existed. You want to abstain from something, do it. But don’t swear to it. You want to do good things? Do them. No need to swear and put yourself in a difficult situation. A person who undertakes (without the protection of saying B’LI NEDER) to, let’s say, give Tzedaka every day has created new pitfalls for himself. Every day that you don’t give Tzedaka constitutes a violation of pledges. Serious offense. And it could have been avoided. Saying HN is not meant to stop you from doing mitzvot. By all means, give Tzedaka every day. Say T’hilim, learn Mishnayot, visit the sick, etc. Just don’t turn such beautiful mitzva- practices into potential sins. HN works retro-actively. Swear off coffee on Sunday, have a cup on Monday - sin. Nullify the vow on Tuesday and it takes away the oath from Sunday. What you did on Monday is now not a sin. Powerful. Don’t misuse it.
And now we turn to HaShem and ask him to dissolve the rest of our sins as only
He can - like our Hatarat Nedarim. There's a big difference, even though the same word is used for both hearing and knowing (or understanding). LISHMO'A. The hear. And sometimes it means to understand. Our commitment at Sinai, for example, was NAASEH V'NISHMA.
"We will do, and we will understand (what G-d wants of us)". Not just "we
will hear". Remember several years back when we were first introduced to
"call waiting"? Until then, we had learned to distinguish between a "no
answer, nobody home" kind of ring, and a busy signal. It is not enough to
HEAR those telephone rings. You must understand what they mean. Along comes
call waiting and a third sound. It took us all time to learn that this new
sound meant, [1] that the person we wanted to call is talking to someone
else. [2] That the person heard a beep in his ear telling him that someone
else is trying to call him. See how important knowledge of the sounds is?
How many people used to (and maybe still do) hang on as the call waiting
sound continues, without realizing that the beep in the other person's ear
stops after three rings. Or what about think- ing that the person is not
home when he actually is. Add to that the sound, different from the
abovementioned ones, that indicate that a call didn't even go through. You
think the other person heard your attempted call, when that is totally not
the case. Everyone except for the profoundly deaf, can HEAR the sounds of the shofar. But do you straighten with pride of membership in the Jewish people when you hear the T'KI'A? Are you humbled and broken when you hear the broken, wail of the T'RU'A or the sob of the H'VARIM. Does the T'KI'A remind you of the experience of MATAN TORAH? Do the broken sounds inspire you to introspection and set you on the path to T'shuva. Not enough to hear the sounds. You have to understand them. If a blind person hears the slow click and fast click at an intersection, but does not KNOW what each means, he cannot take a step in safety. [The Rosh
Hashanah Homepage]
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