17 Sep 2020
By Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah
I decided to create a booklet for aseret y’mei t’shuvah (the ‘ten days of return’), because I was aware that since High Holy Days services will be held online, they will not be accessible to those who do not have the requisite technology.
Meanwhile, I will be retiring at the end of April 2021, and so these are my last High Holy Days services as rabbi of Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue.
The booklet includes my sermons for Rosh Ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur and reflections for each of the days in between the New Year and the Day of Atonement, since the whole period from Rosh Ha-Shanah through Yom Kippur constitute aseret y’mei t’shuvah.
Considering the eight days ‘between’, my mind turned to key liturgical refrains that mark out these sacred days, all of which, come in threes.
I chose to explore them as follows:
- T’ki’ah, T’ruah, Sh’varim – the three different sounds of the Shofar (2nd Tishri).
- Malchuyyot, Zichronot, Shofarot – Sovereignty, Remembrances and Blastings – the themes of the three Shofar blowing sequences in the Musaf (‘Additional’) service on Rosh Ha-Shanah (3rd, 4th, 5th Tishri).
- T’shuvah, T’fillah, Tz’dakah, Return, Prayer, Acts of Justice – the three core features of aseret y’mei t’shuvah that are proclaimed in the K’dushah, the blessing of ‘Holiness’ in the Amidah, the central prayer of Jewish liturgy, in the Musaf service (6th, 7th, 8th Tishri).
- S’lach lanu, m’chal lanu, kappeir lanu – ‘Forgive us, pardon us, grant us atonement’ – the threefold refrain that accompanies the Al Cheit, the confession of our failings and misdeeds on Yom Kippur (9th Tishri).
Some very significant Jewish teachings take the form of threes. We might think of each set of three as an equilateral triangle, recalling that when two triangles intersect, they form a Magein David, the Shield of David.
L’shanah tovah!