(4) while you, who hold fast to the Holy One your God, are all alive today.
This chanting song by the late Rabbi David Zeller is from the teaching of Rebbe Menachem Nachum of Chernobyl. He marvels at the breath of God enlivening us.
And who is this aliveness I am? Is it not the Holy Blessed One?
Have given it great joy;
They have rejoiced before You
As they rejoice at reaping time,
As they exult
When dividing spoil.
“This accords with what Rabbi El’azar has said, ‘It is written: You have magnified the nation; for them, You have increased joy (Isaiah 9:2). You have magnifued the nation —Israel of whom is written Who is a great nation> (deuteronomy 4:7). For them, You have increased joy –because of them, You have increased joy: the moon whose light increases because of Israel. Nations of the world, by the sun; Israel by the moon…...Israel are joined to the moon, linked with the supernal sun, ... as is written, You, cleaving to YHVH your God, are alive, every one you today! (Deuteronomy 4:4). –Zohar, Pritzker edition, 1:236b-237a
Rosh Hashanah is on Tishrei 1, beginning on the New Moon
(15) Turn aside from evil and do good,
seek peace and pursue it.
(This verse of psalms means) Increase your ability to take the yetzer hara which is within you, and invert or transform it into yetzer hatov.
When you do this, your yetzer hara will surrender and your yetzer hatov will emerge triumphant. And then it will be possible for you to really serve the Holy Blessed One, even with those aspects of yourself which feel linked to your yetzer hara.
(Gently adapted from the Degel Machaneh Efraim, the grandson of the Baal Shem Tov by R Rachel Barenblat).
(א) וּנְתַנֶּה תֹּקֶף קְדֻשַּׁת הַיּוֹם כִּי הוּא נוֹרָא וְאָיֹם וּבוֹ תִּנָּשֵׂא מַלְכוּתֶךָ וְיִכּוֹן בְּחֶסֶד כִּסְאֶךָ וְתֵשֵׁב עָלָיו בְּאֱמֶת
(ב) אֱמֶת כִּי אַתָּה הוּא דַּיָּן וּמוֹכִיחַ וְיוֹדֵעַ וָעֵד וְכוֹתֵב וְחוֹתֵם וְסוֹפֵר וּמוֹנֶה וְתִזְכֹּר כָּל הַנִּשְׁכָּחוֹת וְתִפְתַּח אֶת סֵפֶר הַזִּכְרוֹנוֹת וּמֵאֵלָיו יִקָּרֵא וְחוֹתָם יַד כָּל אָדָם בּוֹ
(ג) וּבְשׁוֹפָר גָּדוֹל יִתָּקַע וְקוֹל דְּמָמָה דַקָּה יִשָׁמַע וּמַלְאָכִים יֵחָפֵזוּן וְחִיל וּרְעָדָה יֹאחֵזוּן וְיֹאמְרוּ הִנֵּה יוֹם הַדִּין לִפְקֹד עַל צְבָא מָרוֹם בַּדִּין כִּי לֹא יִזְכּוּ בְּעֵינֶיךָ בַּדִּין וְכָל בָּאֵי עוֹלָם יַעַבְרוּן לְפָנֶיךָ כִּבְנֵי מָרוֹן כְּבַקָּרַת רוֹעֶה עֶדְרוֹ מַעֲבִיר צֹאנוֹ תַּחַת שִׁבְטוֹ כֵּן תַּעֲבִיר וְתִסְפֹּר וְתִמְנֶה וְתִפְקֹד נֶפֶשׁ כָּל חָי וְתַחְתֹּךְ קִצְבָה לְכָל בְּרִיָּה וְתִכְתֹּב אֶת גְּזַר דִּינָם
(ד) בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה יִכָּתֵבוּן, וּבְיוֹם צוֹם כִּפּוּר יֵחָתֵמוּן. כַּמָּה יַעַבְרוּן, וְכַמָּה יִבָּרֵאוּן, מִי יִחְיֶה, וּמִי יָמוּת, מִי בְקִצּוֹ, וּמִי לֹא בְּקִצּוֹ, מִי בַמַּיִם, וּמִי בָאֵשׁ, מִי בַחֶרֶב, וּמִי בַחַיָּה, מִי בָרָעָב, וּמִי בַצָּמָא, מִי בָרַעַשׁ, וּמִי בַמַּגֵּפָה, מִי בַחֲנִיקָה, וּמִי בַסְּקִילָה, מִי יָנוּחַ, וּמִי יָנוּעַ, מִי יִשָּׁקֵט, וּמִי יְטֹּרֵף, מִי יִשָּׁלֵו, וּמִי יִתְיַסָּר, מִי יַעֲנִי, וּמִי יַעֲשִׁיר, מִי יֻשְׁפַּל, וּמִי יָרוּם. וּתְשׁוּבָה וּתְפִלָּה וּצְדָקָה מַעֲבִירִין אֶת רֹעַ הַגְּזֵרָה.
(1) We lend power to the holiness of this day. For it is tremendous and awe filled, and on it your Presence will be exalted, your throne will be established in loving-kindness, and you will sit on that throne in truth.
(2) It is true that you are the one who judges, and reproves, who knows all, and bears witness, who inscribes, and seals, who reckons and enumerates. You remember all that is forgotten. You open the book of records, and from it, all shall be read. In it lies each person's insignia.
(3) And with a great shofar it is sounded, and the sound of total silence shall be heard. And the angels shall be alarmed, and dread and fear shall seize them as they proclaim: behold! the Day of Judgment on which the hosts of heaven shall be judged, for they too shall not be judged blameless by you, and all creatures shall parade before you as a herd of sheep. As a shepherd herds his flock, directing his sheep to pass under his staff, so do you shall pass, count, and record the souls of all living, and decree a limit to each persons days, and inscribe their final judgment.
(4) On Rosh Hashanah it is inscribed, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed - how many shall pass away and how many shall be born, who shall live and who shall die, who in good time, and who by an untimely death, who by water and who by fire, who by sword and who by wild beast, who by famine and who by thirst, who by earthquake and who by plague, who by strangulation and who by lapidation, who shall have rest and who wander, who shall be at peace and who pursued, who shall be serene and who tormented, who shall become impoverished and who wealthy, who shall be debased, and who exalted. But repentance, prayer and righteousness avert the evil of the decree.
(1) The seventh: "G*d will again have compassion on us" - behold, the Holy One of Being does not follow the trait of flesh and blood that if someone angers us - if we are appeased by them, we are a little appeased, but our love is not like the previous love we had for them. Rather if a person did wrong and they repent, they are held in greater esteem by the Holy One of Being than before. And this is the meaning of "In the place that ba'alei teshuvah [masters of return] stand, even completely righteous ones cannot stand" (Berakhot 34b).
(ח) שִׁוִּ֬יתִי יְהֹוָ֣ה לְנֶגְדִּ֣י תָמִ֑יד ...
(8) I have set The Holy One before me continually...
שִׁוִּ֬יתִי יְהֹוָ֣ה לְנֶגְדִּ֣י תָמִ֑יד
G*d, I set you before me continually
I know you in the blessings that come to me each day
Sweetened by Gratitude, deepened by sharing them with You
I feel you in the spaces between me and the people I meet
Help me to know that it's Your light that I see deep in their eyes, deep in their heart
And when I walk in wild places, my head reaching for the skies,
Give me the courage to guard and to keep your beautiful garden
And oh in the darkness, help me find the light
And when You feel so far away, that yearning's all that's left to me
Help me to know that the yearning's OK,
Let it be my pathway home.