Cortesy of: © 2004, The AishDas Society

RABBI MICHA BERGER

Sefasai Tiftach
"... open my mouth to pray ..."

The piyut, "Unesaneh Tokef" consists of two paragraphs added immediately before Kedushah in the Chazan's repetition of the Amidah of Mussaf on these days. As a piyut, it is not technically part of the Amidah, and in some communities - for example, the personal synagogue of Rabbi Chaim Brisker - it was not said on Rosh Hashanah on a weekday, as it would be an interruption in the middle of shofar blowing. (The Amidah itself is an inherent part of the same mitzvah as shofar blowing, a very interesting, and long, topic.) It is part of Ashkenazic tradition only.

The prayer opens: Unesaneh tokef  kedushas hayom - let us convey the sanctity of the day, for it is awe - inspiring and frightening.

And on it we will carry Your Kingship. The word is "tinasei," we will carry. It is for us to declare Him king. As David wrote: "ki Lashem hamluchah umoshel bagoyim - For G-d has the kingship, but he is a dictator over the nations." Until the day we describe in Aleinu "and they will all accept the yoke of your kingship." The difference between a king and a dictator is the acclimation of the people. The king, because his rule is accepted, rules through kindness. A dictator must impose his will by force.

Rabbi Eliyahu Shaviv, of Yeshivas Har Etzion, creates a fascinating mental image. Rosh Hashanah is on Rosh Chodesh, the day of the new moon. It was up to Sanhedrin to accept two witnesses who saw the new moon, and then they sanctify the month.

We cannot picture the heavens, but traditionally we use imagery to convey the events on an emotional level. In this light, Unesaneh Tokef draws a picture of G-d "sitting" on His throne, which, we are told, is His kindness. The kindness a king can afford beyond that of even a benevolent dictator. All the tzeva'os hashamayim, the legion of angels of the heavens, stand ready to declare G-d's kingship over the universe(s). Malkiel (the angel whose name means G-d is my king) stands ready with "crown" and "scepter." And they stand there, and wait. For what? For two pushete yidden, two simple Jews, to say "we have seen the new moon" so that Sanhedrin will declare the day the first of Tishrei.

A little later it describes, "a great shofar will be blown, and a quiet, thin sound will be heard." "Quiet, thin sound" is a reference to a lesson Hashem teaches Eliyahi in 1st Book of Kings. First the prophet is buffeted by a powerful wind, and G-d says, "I Am not in the wind", then he hears a loud crash, "I Am not in the crash", then a fire, and G-d says that He is neither there. Then "a small thin voice." G-d's voice in this world is within us, if we would only listen.

The great shofar is blown - today is judgment day! And finally, we can hear the voice of G-d calling within us. This sets the angels atremble. They have no free will, no consciousness nor conscience, they are automata, pushed and pulled like leaves in the spiritual wind.

Uvo sinasei malchusecha - on this day we will carry Your Kingship. It is the task of the Jewish people alone. People, human beings with free will, loftier than angels because we have the potential for growth, to hear and head that small thin voice. It is our task to bring that message to the rest of humanity. If two Jews do not declare it so - it is not coronation day!

This is the theme of Aleinu, which we say daily, and which is taken from the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur Mussaf.

Then, the prayer seems to shift theme. It goes from G-d's Kingship to that of Divine Justice. That shift, though, is the entire purpose of this period on the calendar. The days upon which we accept G-d as King, as Melech, and not a Mosheil, a Dictator, are the days of mercy - because of our acceptance of his role in running the universe(s).

G-d counts us, lovingly, as individuals; the way a shepherd counts his flock as he lets them pass single file past his crook and through the gate.

On Rosh Hashanah we are inscribed, and on Yom Kippur we are sealed into the Book of Memories that reads itself, as the poet describes it. And this Book of Memories has each deed in it, signed by the hand that did it. G-d doesn't judge by evidence, but weighs the actual facts. All is known with certitude.

Not just in the actuarial manner of a community - how many will be born, and how many will die. Not just the major life events, the ones that people often think of as "fate": who will die in their destined time, and who will die early, who in their sleep and who will (G-d forbid) die a violent death. But even exactly how they will die, how much money they will earn, who will get sick, who will get honor, who will be humbled. The Chassidic masters teach that even when you stub your toe, or don't find your money until you search your second pocket as opposed to getting it right away, G-d is trying to tell you something.

But in Judaism, nothing ends with philosophizing. We focus on halachah because the primary question should always be: what does this situation empower me to do?

Three things "pass through" the evil decree: Teshuvah, tefillah and tzedakah. Now, when you are in the throes of accepting G-d as a willing subject, use that chance for mercy, and change yourself, improve the things you've been weak in.

Teshuvah - a return. The UK Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, likens teshuvah to the waves of immigrants to Israel. The Yemenites, the Moroccans, the Russians and the Ethiopians. They stepped off the plain to a land they never saw before, and suddenly "We are home!" Teshuvah is return to a religious home. Even if you've never been there before.

These three things, teshuvah, prayer and charity (which, we should remember, Jews call tzedakah - justice), parallel the three relationships that dominate our lives.

Teshuvah - improve your self. Are you too quick-tempered? Haughty? How much Torah do you know? How much Torah do you feel?

Tefillah - pray to G-d. Remind yourself that you have a Third Parent, Someone Who wants you to grow, be more than merely a sentient animal.

Tzedakah - How are you doing in your relationships to other people? Do you give charity? Do you speak charitably? Do you help a neighbor? Smile when you greet people? Say hello to the old man sitting on the porch that you pass on the way to the train station? Thank your parents or your spouse lately? Let your children know when they've done well?

High Holidays resources:

Month of Elul	What is it? (Russian) About Teshuvah (Russian) Fall Holidays (Russian) Why Slichoth? (Russian)	Teshuva & Simcha: Can They Coexist? (English)
Rosh HaShanah	What is it? (Russian) Traditions (Russian) Hearing the Shofar (Russian) Apple in the Honey (Russian)	What is it? (English) Traditions (English) Laws of Rosh HaShanah (English) "... Open my mouth to pray ..." (English) Rosh HaShanah recipes (English)
Yom Kippur	What is it? (Russian) Preparing to Yom Kippur (Russian) The Jewish Prayer (Russian) Day before Yom Kippur (Russian) Elegy about Yom Kippur (Russian) The book of Yonah (Russian)	What is it? (English) Preparing to Yom Kippur (English) Kol Nidrey & Yizkor (English)
Sukkoth	What is it? (Russian) Themes of Kohelleth (Russian) Shmini Atzereth & Simchath Torah (Russian)	What is it? (English) Arbah Minnim - 4 species (English) Ushpizen (English) Simchas Bais HaShoevah (English)

Last update: September 21, 2005
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