Tonight as Shabbat arrives, so also begins the New Year 5781. Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the ten days known as the Days of Awe, starts tonight.
I can’t even say how many people have told me they completely left the synagogue behind because of the theology they saw in the High Holidays’ liturgy.
On Rosh Hashanah, the Torah portion includes the deeply troubling narratives of the exile of Hagar and Ishamel and the binding of Isaac.
The liturgy includes the Unetanneh Tokef, the prayer from which is drawn a traditional New Year’s greeting: “L'shanah tovah tikatevu v'tichatemu,” meaning, “May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.”
But the prayer’s internal logic depends on judgment. Not the final judgment of Christianity, but a periodic judgment that will be revisited again at the start of the next year. And the results of that judgment are who will live and who will die in the coming year.
“On Rosh Hashanah will be inscribed and on Yom Kippur will be sealed – how many will pass from the earth and how many will be created; who will live and who will die; who will die after a long life and who before his time.”
The phrasing that follows lists ways of dying that were further interpreted by Leonard Cohen in his song “Who By Fire”:
“And who in her lonely slip, who by barbiturate
Who in these realms of love, who by something blunt
Who by avalanche, who by powder
Who for his greed, who for his hunger
And who shall I say is calling?”
It makes compelling music. But in the end, Unetanneh Tokef requires a whole lot of wrestling, and its theology feels distant, obscure, and off-putting to many in the 21st century. We look more for affirmation and hope than we do for judgment –all the more so in this time of pandemic and economic risk.
And so Rabbi Darren Levine of Tamid the Downtown Synagogue, in New York City, and of Positive Judaism, has offered a positive counterpoint to the Unetanneh Tokef, which many of us may wish to add to our Rosh Hashanah lineup:
“Who by Strength?”
On Rosh Hashanah it is written, on Yom Kippur it is sealed.
Who shall thrive and who shall survive?
Who by creativity and who by curiosity,
Who by judgement and who by honesty,
Who by bravery and who by zest,
Who by perspective and who by perseverance,
And who shall we say are thriving?
Who by a love for learning and who by love,
Who by hope and who by humor,
Who by kindness and who by social intelligence,
Who by leadership and who by teamwork,
And who shall we say are thriving?
Who by fairness and who by forgiveness,
Who by humility and who by gratitude,
Who by care and who by discipline,
Who by the appreciation of beauty and who by spirituality,
And who shall we say are thriving?
Enjoy the sweetness of the new year! And may you thrive! Shana tova! Happy New Year!
https://positive-judaism.org/who-by-strength-not-who-by-fire/
