Jewish Holiday Reflections

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur: Tempering Life’s Harshness

Many people are troubled by the High Holy Day liturgy that describes a celestial book in which it is written “who shall live and who shall die” in the coming year.

No matter what our theology or belief, this passage reminds us that we don’t really know what the next year holds for us. Despite our best efforts (or perhaps despite no special efforts) to live long and healthy lives, we simply cannot know or guarantee that good fortune will come (or continue to come) our way. Neither can we predict or assure that illness or tragedy will stay away from us or from the ones we love.

Having raised such awesome questions-of what we may deserve or of what we remains truly uncertain for us-what does our tradition offer to guide or comfort us?

The passage concludes, “U-teshuvah u-tefillah u-tzedakah ma’avirin et ro’a ha-gezeirah - Yet return (or ‘repentance’), prayer, and just action temper the harshness of the decree.”

Some people understand this to mean that we can change what has been “penciled in” for us in the Divine calendar of the coming year-that we can become more deserving of good and less deserving of a harsh corrective or punishing decree. Some people take this as a statement less about changing what comes down the pike for us, and more about how our intentions and our actions can significantly alter our outlook. In the second view, the state of our hearts affects our experience (i.e. “the harshness”) of whatever life brings.

How can this recipe help avert or temper the harshness of suffering or of life-and-death uncertainty in our lives?

Let us look at each ingredient, and what it may bring.

Teshuvah - returning to what has been most important, most meaningful, most sacred in our lives and in the world. Think about reconnecting (or connecting more strongly and cleanly) with the highest part of ourselves and with God, with what the Divine asks of us. How can that change what we do, what we say, what we think about the world and ourselves, how we experience the vicissitudes of life?

Tefillah - heartfelt prayer and reflection. Tefillah can draw on the words of praise, yearning, and thanksgiving in the prayer book, or the internal promptings of our hearts. What happens when we dedicate time for our spirit; when we honor the sacred; when we are reminded of what is truly eternal and we strive to be in greater alignment with our deepest hopes and beliefs?

Tzedakah - giving of our resources, helping others in need, acting justly. In Jewish tradition, anyone, no matter how impoverished, has something to offer to another person in the world. What happens when we are giving?

Think about how any of these ingredients-or better yet all of them together-may, if stirred in your heart or incorporated into your actions, give you strength, perspective, or comfort when you are suffering or facing uncertainty.

Wherever you find yourself during these Days of Awe, you can reflect on the ways your engagement with teshuvah, tefillah, and tzedakah may affect your life and the lives of those around you.

No matter what we may face in the coming year, may our heartfelt efforts bring relief, comfort, and healing in our own lives and in the lives of others.


© Bay Area Jewish Healing Center, Rabbi Natan Fenner

This Torah Reflection was written by Rabbi Natan Fenner of the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center. It is brought to you by the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center (a beneficiary of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties), in collaboration with the United Jewish Federation of San Diego, and the Jewish Healing Center, a program of the San Diego Jewish Family Service.

This article is provided to you by the Twin Cities Jewish Healing Program. Through the wisdom and traditions of Judaism, The Twin Cities Jewish Healing Program offers comfort, hope and strength to people experiencing loss, life challenges, illness, dying and grief. For information about our resources and volunteer visitors, please call 952-542-4840.