The Book of Life is still open

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Just before I shut down the computer for the next 26 hours of Yom Kippur, let me wish you a gmar chatima tova.

May you be written and sealed in God's Book of Life for a good new year of life! 

For more Day of Atonement posts please see
http://jerusalemhillsdailyphoto.blogspot.com/search/label/Yom%20Kippur

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Hanging in the balance

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Until reading this article by Rabbi Yirmiyahu Ullman, I never realized that our Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur holy days in the Hebrew month of Tishrei coincide with Libra, the seventh astrological sign of the zodiac;  and Libra's symbol is the balance scales. 
The zodiac symbol of the scales is based on the Scales of Justice held by Themis, the Greek personification of divine law and custom.

We now enter into the solemn day of atonement, Yom Kippur.
God will be examining each person.
In the balance are last year's good deeds opposite misdeeds, merits vs. sins.
According to Jewish tradition, next year is also hanging in the balance.

Rabbi Ullman explains it like this:

Each person should think during the entire year, and particularly during the period of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, as if he, his country and people, and the entire world are partially meritorious and partially guilty and that the judgment of all is hanging in the balance.    If he commits one sin, he is capable of tipping the scale of transgression for himself and others, causing their destruction and his.   Likewise, the performance of just one mitzvah can tip the scale of merit for himself and the entire world, bringing salvation and deliverance for all!

  Wishing you all a gmar chatima tova, i.e. that in the final reckoning in tomorrow night's final prayer service,  God will decide to inscribe us in his Book of Life and then seal the good inscription for the entire new year.

Israel is shutting down.  So silent.  No one drives.  The airport and all public transportation is closed.  Broadcasting has stopped.
May we have a painless fast (no food or water for 26 hours).
Now I must do the hard part, shutting down the computer until tomorrow night.
Shalom.
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(More posts about Yom Kippur.)
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A Tzohar Yom Kippur

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Yom Kippur has ended.
The long 26-hour fast has ended.  What makes it difficult is not the lack of food or even the lack of water, but with no coffee it is hard to feel fully awake.

Special prayer services were held inside this school building which is only ten minutes walk from my house (a good thing since it was 37 degrees or 99 F outside, the hottest Yom Kippur in sixty years).
I went  there yesterday evening and today.
I have heard a lot about  Tzohar  but this Yom Kippur was my first experience with the organization.
From Arutz Sheva I learn that
 "As part of its annual effort, the Tzohar organization will be organizing prayers at 250 locations around Israel for Yom Kippur, aimed specifically at secular Israelis who would most likely not attend services otherwise. Some 40,000 people are expected to participate altogether."

Here in Meitar there was a good turn-out, a mix of secular and religious men and women, young people, and even little kids.  (By religious I mean Orthodox Zionist Jews.)
The Tzohar machzor (Yom Kippur prayerbook) was provided.
It seems to be a mixture of Ashkenazi rite with some optional Sepharadi piyutim.
It has helps, like a tiny man printed in the margin who changes back and forth from sitting to standing.
The prayer leader even announces the page number from time to time (otherwise it is easy to get lost in the hundreds of pages). 

What surprised me (dare I say, shocked me) was to hear two of the ancient prayers sung not to their traditional melody but to the tune of "Hatikva" (our national anthem) and of  "Erev shel Shoshanim."
Googling now, I see that it is a trend to adapt recent Israeli song tunes to the words of some prayers.    Neh neh . . .

Tzohar chairman  Rabbi David Stav has said that “Now more than ever we are seeing that Israeli society wishes to deepen its connection to Jewish identity, in a pleasant and non-coercive manner.”

Well, let's hope that today our prayers, no matter how they sounded, were heard in heaven and that we have been "written and sealed" in the book of life for the new year.
A new beginning!
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Lives hanging in the balance

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Our fate hangs in the balance during these Days of Awe, the Yamim Noraim, in more than only  the traditional spiritual sense this year.

The days from Rosh Hashana to Yom Kippur are also called the Ten Days of Repentance, a time of serious introspection where we recognize our wrongs of the past year and go about trying to right those wrongs before Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, hoping to be sealed in God's Book of Life for the coming year.
Yom Kippur falls on Shabbat, Friday-Saturday, this year. 

In the stirring words of  the ancient liturgy:

"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 at his predestined time and who before his time;
who by water and who by fire,
who by sword, who by beast, who by famine, who by thirst,
who by storm, who by plague,
who by strangulation, and who by stoning.
Who will rest and who will wander,
who will live in harmony and who will be harried,
who will enjoy tranquility and who will suffer,
who will be impoverished and who will be enriched,
who will be degraded and who will be exalted.
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But REPENTANCE, PRAYER and CHARITY
[tshuvah, tfilah, tzedaka]
Remove the evil of the Decree!
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  This means that by our re-turning, praying, and doing acts of kindness and charity we can change everything, even change God's mind and bring his mercy upon us!
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Entering into Yom Kippur

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In a few hours, just before sunset, Israel's streets will be empty of cars, except for any needed emergency vehicles.
Ben-Gurion Airport is already closed to all air traffic.
Judea and Samaria are under general closure and the Taba crossing into Sinai is closed.
Soon we will have our last meal and last drink of water until Saturday night, when the fast ends.
And soon I will shut down my computer for its yearly day of rest.

Jews will congregate, the religious and the one-time-per-year observant will be praying together in neighborhood synagogues all evening and all day tomorrow until sunset; the seculars will flock to the car-less roads on bicycles or skates or with strollers.

Yom Kippur, the solemn Day of Atonement, God's day of reckoning, our day of introspection and repenting, begins.
This year it falls on the Sabbath, so we get a double dose of holiness.

You can already feel the special hush falling over the land.
This is something you can feel only in Israel.

So I leave you now, until tomorrow night, wishing you all Shabbat shalom and a gmar chatima tova, "a good final sealing," i.e. May you be inscribed (in God's Book of Life) for all good.
May all the world have a peaceful, healthy, and fulfilling new year.
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The shofar's sound of supplication

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For PsalmChallenge, centered at Daily Athens blog, here are selected verses of Psalm 28, the ones that I like to think are illustrated by the photo of my grandson Dean.
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2. Hear the sound of my supplication when I cry out to You, when I raise up my hands toward Your holy shrine.
. . .
6. Blessed is the LORD, for He hears the sound of my supplication.
7. The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him.
I was helped, and my heart rejoiced, so I will give thanks to Him with my song.
8. The LORD is His people's strength; a stronghold for the deliverance of His anointed is He.
9. Deliver Your people, bless Your heritage; shepherd them and raise them up forever.

Dean made the shofar out of a goat's horn.
Incredibly, at his tender age (this was a few years ago), he made soul-stirring sounds.
There is a little video of him blowing the shofar.
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Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is this Friday evening until Saturday night.
May everyone be sealed in the Book of Life.
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Bridging the Suez Canal

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The annual memorial ceremony for the soldiers we lost during the Yom Kippur War was held at Mt. Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem one week ago, the day after Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).

I did not have the heart to come and sit among the families of the fallen.

I came after they had gone home, as the flags, the podium, and the posters of old war photographs were being taken down.

Egypt attacked Israeli positions in the Sinai in full force on October 6, 1973 and took us by surprise.

The Egyptian Army put down several Soviet-made floating bridges and crossed the Suez Canal.

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It took several days for Israel to call up the reserves and get organized and to bring up material to enable a crossing.

Many army engineers were killed by enemy fire while constructing the pontoon bridges and roller bridges that would span the canal.

After more than 140 of our tanks had driven across into Egypt, Egyptian shells hit one of the floating bridges as more tanks were crossing on it, and dozens of our tanks and their crews fell into the water of the Suez.

It was a horrible war with too many mistakes and way too many casualties.

In the 19 days before the ceasefire, 2,521 Israeli soldiers were killed, 293 were captured, and over 7,000 were wounded.

The losses among Egyptian and Syrian troops were several times these numbers.

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The photo above shows not only the seats where the bereaved families had sat for the memorial service but also a group of IDF recruits who were not even born yet during the Yom Kippur War.

The 18-year-olds were being taken on a guided tour of the national military cemetery, being taught the history by their commander.

I always wonder how it makes them feel to see the still empty spaces.

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Mt. Herzl, the cemetery, is like an open book of Israel's history, very moving.

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The photo of a photo of the bridge is for Sunday Bridges over in peaceful San Francisco.

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The sun has set on another Yom Kippur

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Funny how the part of the shadow on the boulder makes my top half look like it's covered with fuzzy fur.

We just came out of a long day of Yom Kippur liturgy and 25 hours of no-food no-water fasting.
I expected to feel like a shadow of my former self or even, as Kurt Vonnegut Jr. once put it, a shadow of my former shadow.
But no!
This year the Day of Atonement brought no hunger and no headache.
It DID bring a good feeling of a new beginning.
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This shadow is offered to Hey Harriet's Shadow Shot Sunday.
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Shepherd and sheep on Yom Kippur

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Two of the stained glass windows of Renanim synagogue in Hechal Shlomo, Jerusalem.
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In a few hours Israel enters into both the Sabbath and Yom Kippur.
Everything shuts down and it gets very quiet all over the country.
This Day of Atonement is a time of intense prayer, total fasting for 25 hours, soul-searching, and repentence for many Jews.
(For many secular Jews, it is a time to stroll down the empty highways and for the children to bike ride or skate in the car-free streets.)
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As the beautiful Yom Kippur window shows, the Gates of Repentence are open.
Above Jerusalem is the traditional image of God's Book of Life, open, with quill ready.
The long liturgy of the evening and of the following day centers on our plea that he will inscribe us in the Book of Life and seal it for another year.
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The Rosh Hashana window (please do enlarge it) quotes from the moving and powerful piyyut (liturgical poem) Unetaneh Tokef which is sung in every synagogue both on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.

כָל בָּאֵי עולָם יַעַבְרוּן לְפָנֶיךָ כִּבְנֵי מָרון. כְּבַקָּרַת רועֶה עֶדְרו. מַעֲבִיר צאנו תַּחַת שִׁבְטו .כֵּן תַּעֲבִיר וְתִסְפּר וְתִמְנֶה וְתִפְקד נֶפֶשׁ כָּל חָי. וְתַחְתּךְ קִצְבָה לְכָל בְּרִיּותֶיךָ. וְתִכְתּב אֶת גְּזַר דִּינָם:
בְּראשׁ הַשָּׁנָה יִכָּתֵבוּן וּבְיום צום כִּפּוּר יֵחָתֵמוּן כַּמָּה יַעַבְרוּן וְכַמָּה יִבָּרֵאוּן מִי יִחְיֶה וּמִי יָמוּת. מִי בְקִצּו וּמִי לא בְקִצּו מִי בַמַּיִם. וּמִי בָאֵשׁ מִי בַחֶרֶב. וּמִי בַחַיָּה מִי בָרָעָב. וּמִי בַצָּמָא מִי בָרַעַשׁ. וּמִי בַמַּגֵּפָה מִי בַחֲנִיקָה וּמִי בַסְּקִילָה מִי יָנוּחַ וּמִי יָנוּעַ מִי יִשָּׁקֵט וּמִי יִטָּרֵף מִי יִשָּׁלֵו. וּמִי יִתְיַסָּר מִי יֵעָנִי. וּמִי יֵעָשֵׁר מִי יִשָּׁפֵל. וּמִי יָרוּם וּתְשׁוּבָה וּתְפִלָּה וּצְדָקָה מַעֲבִירִין אֶת רעַ הַגְּזֵרָה
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"All mankind will pass before You like members of the flock.
Like a shepherd pasturing his flock, making sheep pass under his staff, so shall You cause to pass, count, calculate, and consider the soul of all the living;
and You shall apportion the fixed needs of all Your creatures and inscribe their verdict. "

The piyyut is traditionally attributed to a medieval Rabbi Amnon of Mainz, who spoke the words while he was being martyred. More here.
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You can read its translation in the ArtScroll Machzor.
Here is part of it:
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"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 at his predestined time and who before his time;
who by water and who by fire,
who by sword, who by beast, who by famine, who by thirst,
who by storm, who by plague,
who by strangulation, and who by stoning.
Who will rest and who will wander,
who will live in harmony and who will be harried,
who will enjoy tranquility and who will suffer,
who will be impoverished and who will be enriched,
who will be degraded and who will be exalted.
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But REPENTANCE, PRAYER and CHARITY
[tshuvah, tfilah, tzedaka]
Remove the evil of the Decree!
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Don't you love that idea that by our re-turning, praying, and doing acts of kindness we can change everything?!
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Before shutting down the computer for its yearly day of rest, I leave you with the traditional blessings--Shabbat shalom (Sabbath peace), tsom kal (easy over the fast), and Gmar chatima tova (May you be have a good inscription)!
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P.S. My little grandson made his own ram's horn for these Days of Awe!
Here is a short and sweet video of Dean blowing the shofar.
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Post-Day of Atonement post

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Yom Kippur ends with the Ne'ila (= locking, closing) prayer. You can feel the heightened intensity in the congregation in this last hour of a long day of prayer. We stand before the holy ark and plead

"OPEN UNTO US, O GOD, THE GATE OF MERCY, BEFORE THE CLOSING OF THE GATES, ERE THE DAY IS DONE. THE DAY VANISHES, THE SUN IS SETTING; LET US ENTER YOUR GATES!
We beseech you, O God, forgive, pardon, condone; have pity and compassion, grant us atonement, and subdue our sin and iniquity."

Thank you all for your expressions of solidarity and blessing for this long day of fasting and introspection.
This morning I woke up to a surprise. Father Adam created a lovely post of Yom Kippur wishes for his Jewish friends, complete with a closing (or opening?) stained glass gate!
Thank you, FA. God bless you and all the new possibilities of interfaith learning that blogging opens for us.
FA is a Carmelite monk and priest in California and his Monastery Daily Photo is a welcome look behind the monastary walls. And he answers comment questions too!
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Sefer Torah

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Welcome to That's My World Tuesday. For the past 26 hours my world has been the solemn Jewish holy day, Yom Kippur, complete with fasting and lots of ancient prayers.
You can see more about the Day of Atonement and a video of my grandson blowing the shofar in yesterday's post.
You may not take pictures in the synagogue on a day like today because "work" is forbidden on Yom Kippur. So in order to show you the beautiful Sephardic-style Torah cases, I took these photos in a store in Jerusalem a couple weeks ago.

The parchment of the Torah scroll would be attached to the two wooden rollers.

The first five books of Moses--Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy--are carefully written on the parchment (animal skin) by a special scribe.
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In Ashkenazic congregations the Torah scroll is covered with a velvety mantel instead of being housed in the wooden case.

All the beautiful ornamentation is our way of honoring the Torah.

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Sound the shofar!

OK, in a few minutes we will enter into the Day of Atonement. I will be shutting down the computer until tomorrow night. Israel has closed the border crossings with Jordan and Egypt, the country's airspace is closed to all flights, a closure is imposed on the West Bank. No mode of transportation moves. Nothing is open except the synagogues. It is silent, in expectation of our entering the "gates of repentance" and hopefully being inscribed and sealed in God's Book of Life for the new year.

At the closing prayer service tomorrow night, a blast of the shofar will be heard and will enter the soul of every Jew.

Dean, my dear grandson who lives in Australia, made his very own shofar at a neighborhood Chabad workshop for kids. It is very hard even for an adult to get any sound out of a ram's horn. But Dean has a great gift for blowing the shofar. Listen!

Shalom and gmar chatima tova!

Crocs too comfy?

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Our Ynetnew.com has characteristically taken an old and odd bit of religion news and blown it out of proportion. If you want to read the article, read the talkbacks too; they are the funniest part.
A young yeshiva student asked his elderly ultra-orthodox Jerusalem rabbi if Crocs were OK to wear on Yom Kippur. The rabbi reportedly decided: "It is permissible legalistically, but it is inadvisable."
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To quote Ynet,
"The rabbi further explained his ruling saying that he ruled according to the halachic authorities who believe that the prohibition against 'wearing sandals' refers to not wearing leather shoes.
Despite this, the rabbi added, he took into consideration the interpretation of halachic rulers who see the prohibition against 'wearing sandals' as referring to creating a level of discomfort. As such, any shoe that is not from leather but is comfortable to wear is forbidden on Yom Kippur. "

Well, I have no Crocs and my sandals are of rubber and fabric. Will they be kosher enough for my village synagogue tomorrow night?
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All it stipulates in the Bible (in Leviticus 16:29, 31; 23:26, 29, 32; and Numbers 29:7) is that on Yom Kippur "You shall afflict yourselves,* and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you: for on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you . . . ."
*Actually the Hebrew says וְעִנִּיתֶם, אֶת-נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם -- You shall afflict your souls.
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The rabbis in ancient times then interpreted this to mean that on Yom Kippur eating and drinking, and washing (with water), and anointing (with oil), and putting on leather sandals, and marital intercourse are forbidden.
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"In the Talmud's terms, for a brief time we elevate ourselves to the status of angels, who have no corporeal needs and whose sole role in the universe is to serve God. (The rabbis also explain that the things we abstain from are all those that make the soul comfortable in the body. By engaging in activities that make it uncomfortable, the soul is more likely to rise up from the body, taking us to a higher spiritual plane.)" -- This is how artist/writer Lesli Koppelman Ross expains it.
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For interesting ideas on the footwear please see her article at MyJewishLearning.com.
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One thing for sure: Life in Israel and in Judaism is never boring!
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