After two years of experiencing the oddest High Holy Days of HEA’s history and my career, earlier this week, I watched with eyes of wonder as Rosh Hashanah 5783 rushed into our building and our community.
You came through the north and west doors into the main building. You came off of Hampden Road into Bethany. You brought yourself, your parents, your neighbors, your children, and your friends.
You joined us online. You joined us on You Tube, on Facebook, or on Stream Spot. You watched and let us know that you felt part of the community. It didn’t matter if you watched online due to illness or distance, you were here.
You heard the sermons. Rabbi Shulman expressed the need for chesed, Rabbi Gruenwald expanding the normality of a coffee shop chat into thoughts of Torah and Buber. But did you hear the “to dos”? Did you hear the “action items”? They were plain and simple:
Come to Kol Nidre and be together.
Attend the Yom Kippur services that speak to you.
Come back together at N’eliah and share your Yom Kippur with another soul.
Repeat this process of coming together throughout the year.
Tuesday evening, starting at 6:00 p.m., HEA is offering a unifying evening of prayer in our sanctuary for everyone. Put on your tallit and join us. Whether you show up online or in person, together, we will ignite the lamp of God that is the human spirit and light the flame of healing and forgiveness. One Alliance personified.
Then on Wednesday, step up to the buffet of worship that is offered and be filled. The day offers Traditional, Family, Shir Hadash, Healing, and Yizkor prayers. Each worship service offers different connections to God, different tones, and different messages. Be present wherever you land and take away whatever you need.
At the end of the day on Wednesday, you may feel vulnerable. Prayer is work and the fast is not meant to be easy. You may have that feeling of being all alone with yourself. It is in that state of being and with that mindset that you are asked to come together again in your HEA sanctuary. Bring the day with you and join us as together we watch the gates and the day close with Mincha and Ma’ariv services at 5:30 p.m. and then stay for N’eliah as we gather shoulder to shoulder for Havdalah and to hear the shofar one more time.
Come to share your day of prayer with another human being. Share the thoughts you had as you massaged your heart during the Al Chet prayer, or what stuck out in your mind as you recited Vidui, or how you felt lifted in spirit as you sang Avinu Malkeinu and acknowledged that there is something outside of ourselves that is bigger than the differences between us.
Ask another soul about their experience based on the four questions that Rabbi Gruenwald introduced to us on Rosh Hashanah:
What road did you travel today on your Yom Kippur journey?
How are you feeling at this moment?
How will today affect the upcoming year for you?
How can being together right before the gates are locked and shuttered help to fill your cup?
N’eliah gives us the opportunity to realize the implications of carrying the diversity of our community into our sanctuary walls. May the upcoming Yom Kippur week and year allow us to find peace within us and peace among us. May we accentuate our togetherness to help alleviate our loneliness. And…
“May the One who makes peace in the high heavens make peace for us, all Israel, and all who dwell on earth; and let us say: Amen.”
