High Holy Days are both solemn and celebratory
COURTESY PHOTO No champagne toast at midnight. No chorus of “Auld Lang Syne.” No resolutions to quit smoking or start exercising. Rosh Hashanah — the Jewish New Year — is a very different observance than its secular cousin.
“For starters, what are we celebrating? What’s going on? What’s the occasion?” Rabbi Dovid Vigler asks, rhetorically, and then answers himself: “The head of the year, literally; that’s what Rosh Hashanah means.
“Why in September, not January? Because Rosh Hashanah is the first day of the Jewish calendar, when Adam and Eve were created, the day man was created. And the world without mankind was purposeless because mankind was empowered by God to bring goodness and kindness to this earth.”
So the Jewish New Year is more than a mere turning of the page. It is the Day of Remembrance (in Hebrew, Yom Ha- Zikaron) and the Day of Judgment (Yom Ha-Din), when God judges each individual based on that person’s deeds and misdeeds.
This year, Rosh Hashanah marks the Hebrew year 5773. It begins on the eve of Sept. 16, a two-day celebration for Orthodox Jews, often just one day for Reform Jews. Ten days later is Yom Kippur. Together, they compose the High holidays or High Holy Days, the year’s most important and holiest days, a time both solemn and celebratory.
“Rosh Hashanah is imbued with introspection, meditation and reflection,” says Rabbi Vigler, Chabad rabbi of Palm Beach Gardens. “It’s a joyous beginning. Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement. We are asking God for forgiveness for our sins and misdeeds. There are five prohibitions: No eating or drinking for 25 hours, no bathing, no wearing of leather shoes and no marital relations.
“In reality, the deeper, more mystical dimension, is actually that Yom Kippur is the happiest day of the year.”
A contradiction? No, the rabbi explains. He thinks of Yom Kippur as “a day of complete and absolute amnesty” — as if, he says, all the country’s illegal immigrants acknowledged their trespass and were granted permission to stay; as if, he says, prison inmates admitted to their crimes and were pardoned. “A day God would forgive,” he says, “if we come clean, confess and commit to changing the future.”
For his High Holidays message, the rabbi will explore the idea of change and the challenge it poses.
“It’s hard for people to come to terms with turning around,” he says. “A leopard doesn’t change its spots. People think, ‘I am what I am. How can I commit to change?’”
He expects an expanded attendance for the services, almost as much of a tradition as baking challah, a braided bread eaten on the Sabbath (Shabbat) and holidays. Regular Shabbat candlelighting services draw between 60 and 70 people on a typical Friday evening; the High Holidays tend to quadruple those numbers. Just as ordinarily nonobservant Christians flock to church for Easter and Christmas services, he notes, many ordinarily non-observant Jews find their way to synagogue for the High Holy Days.
Another tradition that will play a part in the rabbi’s message: eating apples dipped in honey, symbolic of the hope for a sweet year ahead.
“Why honey?” he asks, then answers: “Honey is a very, very powerful bit of symbolism. It’s the only food that is kosher but comes from a creature that is not kosher. No insect is kosher. A bee is a creature that stings and hurts, but it produces a luscious food, honey.
“This is what we say to God: Look, should you trust us, that we can change? Even the stinging bee can produce honey. We are the masters of our own destiny. As long as we desire it, we can achieve great things.”
Postcard invitations to High Holiday services do NOT rely on tradition, but they do stop short of soliciting a Facebook-ish “like us”: a picture of an iPhone and the message, “God is calling.”
In his online invitation, Rabbi Vigler seeks to reassure potential attendees that his welcome extends to all, regardless of their degree of religious affiliation. “Our goal is that you should be comfortable,” he writes, “even if you don’t read Hebrew or aren’t familiar with a traditional Shul setting. Our English explanatory service is sure to keep you inspired and entertained, maybe even laughing!”
Chabad members receive complimentary High Holiday tickets; for non-members, the ticket cost is $108 per person, but, the rabbi promises, “No one will be turned away for lack of funds.”
Grumbling about the price of High Holy Day tickets has itself become a near-tradition, but, Rabbi Vigler says, “Grass needs water in order to grow.” The Chabad’s day-today location at the former Loehman’s Plaza on PGA Boulevard can’t accommodate the anticipated High Holy Days turnout, which meant renting space at the Borland Center. “We officially do not have a pay-to-pray policy,” he says, “so we charge just to cover our costs.”
Learning more about the High Holidays is cost-free, and the rabbi recommends tuning in to Schmooze Radio – hosted by none other than Rabbi Vigler — Sunday mornings from 9 to 10. (Seaview Radio 960 AM or 95.9 FM or 106.9 FM). The program and its host welcome calls and questions from listeners.
Shanah Tovah: Happy New Year. ¦