High Holiday Guide

bentching licht Rosh Hashanah is a most opportune time to renew our commitment to G-d's instructions, observe the Mitzvot and pray that He grant us a good and sweet year. We strengthen our connection to our people on the Jewish New Year, and are judged, with all mankind, for the coming year. The synagogue services, listening to the Shofar and festive meals at home are imbued with a spirit of improving our relationship with G-d and man.

The words and narrative of the machzor holiday prayer book help us focus and channel our hopes for health, prosperity an d universal peace. Each person is judged according to his deeds, as we pray to be inscribed in the "Book of the Righteous" and the "Book of Life."

It is customary to eat special foods that symbolize sweetness, blessing and abundance. We dip the Challah bread in honey, and begin the holiday dinner by eating a piece of apple dipped in honey. holiday guide 1

Unlike the regular oval braided Shabbat Challah, the round Hig h Holiday Challah resembles a crown, symbolizing the Divine coronation and our hope for a smooth and easy new year. A popular dish is Tzimmes a stew of carrots, sweet potatoes and prunes. A favorite pastry is taiglach, a pyramid of hollow hardened dough balls covered with a layer of honey, topped by a maraschino cherry. Some serve the head of a fish, and we eat pomegranates, whose abundant seeds represent the multiple merits and good deeds of every Jew.

The highlight of Rosh Hashanah is when we listen to the sounding of the Shofar on Tuesday, Sept. 18 and on Wednesday Sept 19. If one cannot participate in the whole synagogue service, they should at least try to hear the sounding of the Shofar. The call of the Shofar touches the in nermost chords of the soul. Its simple and plaintive cry from the heart, is like a lost child calling for its parent. The Shofar calls: "Awake from your sleep, and arise from your slumber. Examine your deeds, return, and remember your Creator." (Maimonides)

The Shofar proclaims the coronation of G-d as King, and recalls historic events involving the ram's horn, beginning with the Binding of Isaac on Mount Moriah, the sounding of the Shofar at the Revelation at Mount Sinai, and heralding the final shofar gray Redemption with Moshiach, speedily in our days.

At candlelighting on the second night, Tuesday night Sept. 18, a new fruit not yet eaten that season is placed on the table. The new fruit is eaten after reciting the kiddush, before the hamotzi blessing is said on the Challah. Popular fruit choices include fresh (not dried) figs, dates, kiwi, mango or papaya.

The days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, inclusive, are the 'Ten days of Teshuvah.' It is a special time for repentance and forgiveness dedicated to the personal improvement of our spiritual soul and inner self. Rosh Hashanah is the Day of Judgement, but the verdict is not sealed until the final moment of Yom Kippur, during the closing Neila prayer.

Even then, the 'heavenly gates' are not fully closed until the day of Hoshanah Rabbah the following week. Like a loving parent, we are given yet another chance to improve our ways. G-d welcomes our repentance all year round, but these days are most opportune for coming closer to G-d.

The seven days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur represent the first weekly cycle of the New Year. This complete week allows us the opportunity to evaluate each day of the week of the previous year, and plan for improvement in the coming year. During this week we increase our Torah study, giving of charity, and general observance of mitzvot.

For the pre-Yom Kippur custom of Kapparot ("atonement"), a man uses a rooster, and a woman, a hen. Circling the fowl over the head, a prayer is recited, and charity is donated. The Kapparot ceremony can also be observed by using money contributed to charity for needy persons.

On Wednesday Sept. 26, the day preceding Yom Kippur, we eat two festive meals, one at noon, and the other about one hour before sundown. Eating before Yom Kippur prepares us for the fast, and is an important mitzvah.

On Erev Yom Kippur it is customary to ask for a piece of lekach (honey cake) from another person, often the rabbi. Symbolically, it is a substitute for any charity a person may have been fated to ask from others during the coming year. The gesture also represents a wish that the recipient should enjoy a sweet, good year.

After the final meal, the father places his hands on the head of each child, reciting a blessing including the Biblical words: "May G-d make you like Efraim and Menashe (for a son), or "May G -d make you like Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel, and Leah (for a daughter). Yom Kippur is ushered in before sunset Wednesday September 26 with candlelighting and a special blessing.

Yom Kippur, beginning at sundown Wednesday September 26 and continuing until nightfall of September 27, is the holiest day of the year. On Yom Kippur we are prohibited to eat or drink, wash our body or use lotion, have marital relations, and wear leather shoes.

After candle lighting, we rush to the synagogue for the opening prayer Kol Nidrei, when the Holy Ark and the gates of Heaven are opened.

Kol Nidrei is chanted to a historic moving tune going back to the Jewish Marranos in hiding who used this opportunity to declare their faith under the oppression of the Spanish Inquisition. It is customary to wear white clothes symbolizing purity. We spend many hours in the Synagogue in prayer, reflecting on past misdeeds and resolving to improve in the future.

We recite the Viduy confessing our sins, tapping our chest near the heart and asking forgiveness, as we enumerate sins we may have committed. The Viduy is said in the plural ("We have sinned...), for all Jews are as one body, and we are all responsible for one another. Yom Kippur atones only for sins against G-d, but not for wrongdoings between people. It is important to apologize and seek forgiveness from acquaintances for ill feelings during the year.

The Yizkor memorial prayer is recited at the end of the morning service. People who have lost a parent remain in the synagogue during this prayer (Yizkor may be said at home if necessary) and money is pledged to charity in memory of our beloved.

A highlight of the Yom Kippur service is the Avodah, recounting the Yom Kippur service by the High Priest in the Holy Temple.

Following the solemnity of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we prepare for the happy exuberance of Sukkot- the 'Season of our Rejoicing.'

holiday guide 2a The Sukkot holiday lasts eight days. The first two and the last two days are full fledged holidays, when we refrain from work, attend Synagogue, light the holiday candles and recite the Kiddush on a cup of wine. The intermediate days of Sukkot are known as Chol Hamoed, when travel and limited work is permitted. We make the blessing over the Four Kinds each day, eat in the Sukkah, and it is generally a time for family visits and outings.

"Sukkah" is a booth or tent. When the Jews left Egypt and wandered in the wilderness, they lived in rough huts made of foliage. The Sukkah also recalls the protective 'clouds of glory' which surrounded the people of Israel during their forty years in the desert.

All meals are eaten in the Sukkah, weather permitting. Spending time in the Sukkah is a delightful experience. Some decorate and ornament the Sukkah; others preserve its unadorned natural simplicity. A Sukkah lacks the comforts of a house. No roof, the weak frame and foliage as frail and temporary as life itself. But the natural and rustic Sukkah suggests basic survival with Divine Providence. It is nice to look up to Heaven for a change, rather than a plastered ceiling, for Divine protection is our most enduring shelter. Money cannot buy this spiritual sense of security, and even the richest mansion doesn't offer such protection. The Sukkah is a great home improvement idea to remember all year round.

Each day of Sukkot (except Shabbat) we make a blessing and shake the 'Four Species' -the Etrog (citron), Lulav (palm branch), Hadassim (myrtle branches) and Aravot (willow branches).

Some of the four species are fragrant and tasty, while other are plain and simple, representing different types of Jews. Holding them together symbolizes our unity as a people: we need each other. The four species are waved in all directions, signifying that G-d is everywhere.

Special Hoshanot prayers "Help us O G-d," are said during the Synagogue morning service, as we encircle the bimah seven times with lulav and etrog.

We ask G-d to seal us for a good year, and beat the aravot (hoshanot)- five bound willow twigs- on the floor five times.

On Hoshanah Rabbah afternoon, we eat a festive meal in the sukkah. Kiddush is not recited, but we begin the meal with Challa dipped in honey, and delicious Kreplach symbolize the covering of severity with loving-kindness.

On Saturday, Shmini Atzeret, Yizkor is recited for departed family members.

On the evening of Simchat Torah (some also do so on the evening of Shemini Atzeret), we make seven hakafot encircling the bimah platform of the Synagogue, singing and dancing with the Torah scrolls.

The final chapter of the Torah is read on the morning of Simchat Torah, completing the yearly cycle. Young and old are called to the Torah for an aliya, and we then start reading the Torah all the way back from the beginning.

The Torah should be celebrated with joy, not as a burden. Joy is vital to doing a Mitzvah. A Mitzvah that is dry rote and routine, without joy and spirit, is like a lifeless body without soul.

This parable by the Dubner Magid illustrates how a joyless mitzvah misses the point: A diamond merchant once gave his son a hefty sum of money to purchase stones. When the son returned home with his purchase, the father saw him sighing and sweating under a heavy load on his back.

He realized his son's terrible mistake: "If he is 'kvetching' so much he must be carrying the wrong merchandise. I meant PRECIOUS stones, and he bought worthless rocks. Had he obtained what I really wanted, he would not have suffered it as a burden, but enjoyed it as a delight!"

"Although all the holidays are joyous, Sukkos is an added celebration...The joy of doing a mitzvah, and the love of G-d who commanded it, is a great service. It is unfortunate for a person to deprive himself of this joy, as it is written, 'Because you did not serve G-d with joy and good heart'...

One who remains aloof, considering the joy beneath his dignity...is foolish...All who participate in this joy are dignified and honored, serving G-d with love, as David, King of Israel, says, "I am humbled, for the true greatness is to dance and sing before G-d." (Maimonides)

Every part of the body has its mitzvah, and every mitzvah has its day. On Simchas Torah, the feet have their day, as we march and dance with our feet, elevating and uplifting our whole body.

A Beautiful Mitzvah

Each Sukkot morning, after he personally performed the mitzvah of holding the Etrog and Lulav, the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, would give his etrog to the rest of the community, allowing all who wished to use his lulav and etrog. esrog color

Many of the chassidim availed themselves of the opportunity. Although they had their own set of 'Four Kinds', they regarded it a special privilege to perform the mitzvah with their Rebbe's set.

One day, after the Rebbe's etrog was returned bruised and stained from being handled by hundreds of hands, someone asked him: "Why do you allow so many people to use your etrog? Look at what has happened to it! It has lost its 'hiddur' beauty!"

"This is still the most beautiful etrog in the world!" replied the Rebbe.

"What greater hiddur can an etrog have than the fact that hundreds of Jews performed a mitzvah with it?


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