Before God You Shall Be Purified

I have been telling myself for the last few days that I was going to post some thoughts about the high holidy season that we are in now, it starts with the Jewish New Years - which is actually two days (last Saturday and Sunday) and spans 10 days. The culmination is Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) which is on Monday. This is a time during the year that is set aside for repenting from sins that one has committed during the course of the year and to commit oneself to improving in the coming year. There are extra prayers that are added during this time of the year and of course the services on the New Year's Days and Yom Kippur span close to the whole day. It is a somber time, one in which we recognize how much we have sinned and how those sins have caused us to become distanced from God. It is a time for evaluating goals and priorities.

The Yom Kippur day is spent mostly in synagogue in prayer. In addition it is a 25 hour fast, that spans from sunset on Sunday to sunset on Monday. Prayers are led by the "Chazzan" or cantor - and in many synagogues each of the different prayers during the day (there are 5 on Yom Kippur) are led by a different individual. I will be leading the morning services on Yom Kippur and Danny has an even more difficult job will be leading the longer services that follow. While this is a huge honor - it is also a tremendous responsibility. During the times of the Jewish Temple - the High Priest would do all the services of the day - which included many different sacrifices. The cantor is considered almost the equivalent of the High Priest during the leading of the services. It is the responsibility of the cantor, so to speak, to bring the prayers of the entire community before God.

I asked the Rabbi of the community where I live to talk for a few minutes on different thoughts that the cantors should have while they are leading prayers. I didn't get any specifics, but he certainly impressed upon me what a huge responsibility I have. I have been preparing for a few weeks now - didn't prepare as much as I would have liked last week because of a rough schedule in the hospital, but I think I caught up this week. I think that the words of the prayer that Danny will recite completely express what I am feeling: "Here I am, impoverished of deeds, trembling and frightened from the dread of Him...I have come to stand and supplicated before You...although I am unworthy and unqualified to do so...Accept my prayer like the prayers of an experienced elder, whose lifetime has been well spent...whose voice is weet and who is genial with other people."

May this coming year be a year of peace in the world and prosperity. May we see great advances in science and medicine and a decline in illness. May we all be blessed with good health and happiness.