New
Machzor
Rosh
Hashana 5777
Rabbi
Larry Freedman
Temple
Beth Jacob of Newburgh
Shana tova! A good year to you. Shana tova metukah! A sweet new year to you. I hope you enjoy the honey to start us off on
a sweet note.
One of the joys of
Rosh Hashana is celebrating the new with the old. That passed down brisket recipe. Gathering with friends and catching up with
family. Opening up the good old red
Gates of Repentance. But not this
year. This year, along with the
familiarity of the tried and true, we have a new machzor, Mishkan
Ha-nefesh. Let’s talk about it and let’s
start with those two words: new machzor. First, a little history.
Because you can’t
fit everything in one volume, synagogues always had two prayer books. One would be the siddur with Shabbat and
daily prayers in it. The other would
have all the prayers for the yearly cycle of annual holidays and that word,
cycle, is translated as machzor. At some
point publishers changed it up. The main
siddur now has Shabbat, daily and holiday prayers and the machzor is the
specialty item with just the High Holidays.
The “cycle” book –machzor- is now only used once a year. Waddayagonnado?
New is the other
word. New is a word both beloved and
feared. Some people enjoy the novelty of
new things and some people like things the way they’ve been. I would guess this is especially true for
those people who only come here once or twice a year: you’re looking for the tried
and true, the comfortable and familiar.
And who can blame you? We all
love that the High Holidays repeat so many favorite foods and melodies and
prayers and themes. I know I look
forward to that. Still, sometimes, it’s
good to have something new.
The red covered
Gates of Repentance first came out in 1975.
Think about that. 1975. Where were you in 1975? Aside from family members or an original Born
to Run concert t, what else is still in your life from 1975?
The innovation of
that machzor was a break from the “thee and thou” style of the Union Prayer
Book and brought Chaim Stern’s glorious poetry in prose that carried us on a
dreamy journey through the days. But,
styles change, people change, the Jewish community changes. Like haircuts from 1975, that machzor had
fallen out of date. What is never out of
date is the fact that although we strive for the best, inevitability we will, from
time to time, fail.
Now, one person
sitting around for a couple hours thinking about personal failures is a
psychological concern. A couple hundred
people doing it together, however, is a healthy expression of personal and
communal accountability. To do that, to
have that personal and communal accountability, we need a guidebook that will
help us. This is our machzor. More than our Gates of Repentance and UPB,
this machzor is designed to highlight and encourage both the communal and
personal experience.
Why don’t you pick
it up while I’m talking? The first
thing you’ll notice is the two page layout on most of the pages. The traditional prayers and a faithful
translation are on the right. Alternative
expressions of the theme of that prayer are on the left. You’ll also notice that there is often more
than one interpretive expression on the left.
And perhaps you’ve noticed some interesting notes along the bottom. In a few places you’ll find a page with a
blue background. This isn’t liturgy as
much as background information for the section it precedes.
And now you’ve probably stopped listening to
me because you are looking at all of the material. And that
is by design. Gone are italics and
instruction. The rigor of when you speak
and when you don’t speak are gone. The
editors actually hope that as we say our prayers, as the cantor sings the
melodies, that you will feel free to explore the text, dwell on the text. The goal is that you follow along but also
drift away. The goal is that you read
those things that speak to you. There is
too much in this machzor and that is
by design. If we want to be mindful of
the amount of time we gather for each service, and I am very mindful of that, then we can’t, we must not read everything
from the bima. That leaves you with the
space to read it yourself, if you wish.
Read the blue pages; dwell on a poem we just read or on some prose we
didn’t read. We’ll all catch up together
at some point.
You may also
notice that some of the left side readings will be contradictory. The editors call it integrated theology. It is an attempt to bring in a variety of
ideas and theologies to capture a sense of where Reform Jews are. We don’t all understand our heritage the same
way, we don’t all understand God the same way.
And a lot of Reform Jews, being the rationally educated people we are,
have problems with the very idea of God.
There are a number of readings that speak to that. Some I’ve chosen for us to read aloud, some
are left for you to discover.
Bottom line, keep
an eye out for the integrated theology and mull it over. Do you appreciate the opposing ideas? Do you find them helpful for your own sense
of spirituality? And, take note, there’s
more science brought in than ever before in a Reform Movement machzor. The Reform Movement has no conflict between
religion and science and we tend to be baffled by the people who do. Science tells you how, faith tells you why,
religion is the attempt to figure out what to do with it. No problem.
So if you know of someone who just can’t abide doing that religion
stuff, have we got a machzor for you.
And let me also say, rational science minded people also make mistakes
and hurt others. The idea of taking some
time off to reflect, admit error and plan for a better tomorrow is hardly in
conflict with science. Reflection isn’t
all that empirical, I know, but then again, neither is hubris. No one is beyond needing a little teshuva in
his or her life.
Back to the
machzor. The biggest change is the
shofar service. The shofar service
tomorrow has always been in three parts.
Mallchuyot speaks to the theme of God’s kingship, a primary theme for
the day. Zichronot is about God
remembering and then Shofarot has the theme of the shofar itself. These three were always together and are always
a highlight. Adults look forward to the
sound. Parents bring their children in
to see it. Because it’s a great moment,
the editors of the machzor decided to break it up and spread the three sections
throughout the morning. Sounding the
shofar at three different times allows the flow of the morning to have more
peaks and valleys. Pay close attention
tomorrow and you’ll see that Malchuyot comes in after the declaration of God’s
kingship, Zichronot after the Torah readings that feature God remembering and
Shofarot coming towards the end as another aural and visual crescendo before
the prayers resolve and we end our tefillot.
As I’ve tested
pilot versions, participated in mock services, and sat in on feedback sessions,
I’ve enjoyed the freeing aspect of the new machzor. Secular culture prizes a more DIY approach
and doesn’t care for one size fits all.
The internet has made freedom to follow one’s own path so second nature
that it seems odd to me when I can’t rewind the radio. We have grown accustomed to letting ideas
lead us to wherever we wish to go. This
machzor reflects that by having us all be together but not always on the same
page and I hope you’ll embrace that.
I’m hoping for a
second benefit as well. The old machzor,
because it was strictly uniform, had turned in to a bit of a slog. We read, we sang, we read, we sang. Sometimes the glorious themes of a prayer
were obvious, sometimes not so much. I’m
hoping the new machzor helps us feel more deeply the themes of the holiday. One theme is just the exuberance for the
start of the new year. New school year,
new fiscal year, new football season, autumn leaves, a joyful or not so joyful
conclusion to the baseball season. A new
Jewish year celebrates coming together with friends and family and celebrating
another year, another chance to do great things.
Another theme is
recognizing God’s kingship which is designed to bring humility. If we accept the metaphor of God as the king
and ourselves as the subjects, doesn’t a loyal subject want to please the
king? Doesn’t the simple man or woman
want to present him or herself as best we can to the monarch? Imagine the 90 year old Queen Elizabeth
II. Americans aren’t supposed to even like
the concept of royalty but given the chance to meet the queen, we all get wobbly
knees. Don’t even get me started what we
would do before William and Kate. We
want to dress up, present ourselves well.
Inform them of the best we can be, give them a tour of our town, our
home which has been cleaned and polished to make a good presentation. Do we think Queen Elizabeth doesn’t know that
our kitchens can be messy, that our towns can have a bit of litter? Of course she does. It is not the perfection she seeks but rather
that we aspire to be the best we can be, that we make a good showing, that we
say, here are my goals and I work every day to make them real not just on this
day but every day. Thus it is before the
very King of Kings on Rosh Hashana.
This machzor is
designed to help us identify and embrace those themes and make them our own.
This new machzor
wants to remind us that Rosh Hashana is joyful; it is a day captioned #goals. It is not a sullen day to feel bad but a day
of “inspo” as the kids say. #be a better
person. #don’t be such a jerk. #life is good. #you got this. #take the day off and focus. This new machzor is a corrective to that feeling
of laborious page turning. The new
machzor hopes to inspire you to find joy in the day beyond our time in this
room. The day is yours, a gift of our 4000
year-old heritage so take the day off.
Take control of your life and join your family and friends. Come to Tashlich down at the river, make
bubbie’s secret brisket recipe, join us on our hike tomorrow. This year it’s very easy, a walk along the
river. But with us on the hike or not, just
spend time with family and friends and embrace the energy of a new year. If you haven’t figured out, I’m not big on
guilt but I am big on you taking advantage of the best Jewish living has to
offer you. It’s there. It’s at your feet. Just pick it up. It’s a new year.
A new year. What will you do with it? What will you accomplish? What will you get done? Just imagine the possibilities. On Yom Kippur we’ll talk about the rough
stuff of apologizing and feeling bad about mistakes we’ve made. Can’t be avoided but for now we
celebrate. We have a new year ahead of
us, an uplifting, bracing story told in our prayers and a new machzor to bring
those ideas to you. I hope you’ll be
open to the change and embrace the vision of our new machzor and embrace the
joy of this uplifting day.
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