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Shema' Kolenu: Hear Our Voices
and May Our Prayers Be Answered
By Rabbi Frank Varon
The liturgy that is specific to Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur rings with tonal brilliance when sung in unison
by our community; the warm, inviting music that signals the High Holidays have arrived. This is especially
true concerning the ancient Sephardic poetry, or Piyutim. Composed by some of the greatest rabbinic personalities
in our history, this music has been a part of the Sephardic holiday experience for centuries. Similarly,
although technically not considered liturgy, the portions publicly recited from the Torah, as well as the
Haftarah, the portion that is recited from the Prophets during the High Holidays, elicit a kind of familiarity
and nostalgia that reminds us of the beauty and majesty inherent in these holidays.
With regard to the Torah and Haftara readings, consider the following.
On each Shabbath and public Festival (Yom Tov), we usher in a Sefer Torah (sometimes more than one) and recite
from it either the portion for the week if on a Shabbath, or a portion specifically designated for a holiday.
For the latter, the intended reading usually contains a very clear reference to an aspect of the holiday at
hand. For example, on Passover, we read the portion from the Book of Exodus calling out the commandment of
Matzah; on Shavuoth we read the portion containing the Ten Commandments.
Upon completing the Torah portion, we then embark on an additional reading referred to as the Haftarah - a
portion from the Prophets that is directly related to the theme contained within the Torah reading of the day.
With regard to Rosh Hashana, the Torah portion we read hails from the Book of Genesis. The narrative tells
the famous incident of Abraham's willingness to offer his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice to God. At that point
in our history, the commandment of observing Rosh Hashana hadn’t even been an official mandate, the Shofar
was probably an instrument of the public address system, and the idea of a national holiday of judgment,
as well as national repentance and accountability to God, were probably foreign to the culture at that time.
This begs the questions, what then, is the reason for reading such a story on so important an event as the
Jewish New Year? Furthermore, how does the associated Haftarah relate to our observance of this day?
The answer to the first question becomes fairly clear after one delves into the subject matter of the
portion. We are directed to the merit and attributes of our patriarchs throughout the liturgy of the High
Holidays – no less so than in the very Torah portion we read on that day portraying Abraham’s ultimate
expression of obedience to the will of God. Leading up to this reading in Genesis, we are told of the
birth of Isaac to the very faithful Abraham and his wife, Sarah, who was well into her old age and was
childless up until Isaac's birth.
As for the Haftarah, I Samuel 1:1, we are told of Hannah's dedication to God by devoting her son, Samuel,
to the service in the Temple while he was just a young lad after she, too, lived many years childless
prior to his birth. It is this portion, the Haftarah that we read on the first day of Rosh Hashana,
that may very well shed light back to the two main themes of the associated Torah portion in Genesis
of Isaac's long awaited birth, and the ultimate devotion of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice him.
Briefly, the Haftarah tells us of the anguish felt by Hannah as she was unable to bear a child. Finally,
after long and devoted prayer she and her husband, Elkanah, were blessed with a son, Samuel (a future
great Prophet among the Jewish people). The apex of the Haftarah is the poem expressed by Hannah that
transcends her own experience of happiness and joy upon her prayer being answered by God. Her expression
in the famous biblical poem (VaTithpalel Hannah) takes the form of heartfelt
praise to Almighty God as she declares His complete sovereignty in the world – a humbling and truthful
account of God's complete providence over everyone and everything in the universe. In her poem, she
states the very verse that our sages have inserted into our liturgy when we escort the Torah to the
Tevah each time we read from it, "There is none as holy as God, for there is none except for Him,
nor is there any rock like our God." Hannah goes on to proclaim gratitude to God; she also cautions
the arrogant minded and over confident ones among us, while encouraging, uplifting and providing hope
for those experiencing difficult times in their lives. Through her poetry of praise to God, she acknowledges
God as the One who can obliterate despair, hunger and poverty, as well as the God who can cause the mighty
to fall, and the satiated to yearn for sustenance; she further states that it is by God that our actions
are weighed.
As Hannah realizes that God had created "something from nothing" – her prayers answered –
she is aware that anything can change at anytime, and that people can and do transform.
So too, with regard to Teshuva, repentance. This is the time of the year when we are called to task
and take inventory of ourselves via introspection that only the "self" is capable of
conducting. Our sages were wise to designate these readings as the Torah and Haftarah portions for
Rosh Hashana. Faith, Divine providence, adherence and the ability to transform command the theme of
the day.
Indeed, it is no wonder that both of the above narratives, from the Book of Genesis, and the Book of
Samuel, are also recited in the text of our daily prayers, seven days a week, as the introduction to our
morning prayer service – most likely, the potential life-altering messages are not limited to our
collective and personal consciousness just on Rosh Hashana, rather they are intended for all of us
each and everyday.
May God hear all of our prayers and provide our families blessings of long life, with health and prosperity.
On behalf of my wife, Rena, and our entire family, we wish you all Anada Buena y Dulce, Tizku LeShanim Rabboth,
Mo'adim LeSimha.
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