Prayer and Penitence

Plot

An exploration of the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur prayer book.
This book is a guide to the machzor (High Holy Days prayerbook), written from a modern Orthodox perspective- which is to say, it examines ancient legends somewhat more critically than would a similar book by Artscroll, but less skeptically than would a similar book written by a Conservative or Reform rabbi. In addition, Rabbi Cohen examines some of the laws and customs of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Sometimes this book is a bit dry (especially when it examines the grammar of the many acrostic poems dotting the machzor). Nevertheless, it contains lots of little points that I thought were interesting. For example:

\*Why do Jews (well, Orthodox and Conservative Jews) say Psalm 27 every day during this season? This psalm begins "The Lord is my light and my salvation" and an ancient rabbinic midrash (interpretation) treats this language as an implicit reference to the "light" and "salvation" of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, when God makes our good attributes shine forth like "light" and gives us "salvation" by (hopefully) pardoning our sins.

*In discussing the prayer for the welfare of the government (which Jews say every Sabbath, not just on Rosh Hashanah) Cohen notes the following 12th-century Egyptian Jewish prayer: "We also pray for all Muslims, males and females, who dwell in their country, their sons and daughters, male and female believers. May God hasten the healing of their sick, gather in their dispersed ones and let loose and liberate those who have been taken captive. May He spread over them the tabernacle of His peace."

* Cohen notes a difference between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur liturgy. Rosh Hashanah liturgy is more universalistic; part of the Unetaneh Tokef prayer refers to all the world passing before God in judgment; by contrast, Yom Kippur liturgy is more focused on the individual (and to some extent on Jewry as a whole).

*There is a common custom not to nap on Rosh Hashanah. Cohen traces this custom to a mistranslation of the Jerusalem Talmud. This Talmud appears to some commentators to state that "whoever rests (man de-damikh) on Rosh Hashanah, his good fortune will also rest (damikh mazlei)." But in the Aramaic of the Jerusalem Talmud, "damikh" usually means "to die" - thus, this statement means "whoever dies on Rosh Hashanah, his good fortune has run its course." Cohen then cites Rabbi Avraham Gombiner (author of Magen Avraham, a commentary on the Shulchan Aruch, a 16th-c. Jewish law code) to the effect that sleeping is permissible and that Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg (a 13th-c. leading rabbi) used to take naps on Rosh Hashanah. Of course, if you have had a long lunch and are going to evening services, you might not have time to sleep anyhow!

*In discussing the idea of creation, Cohen interprets the Biblical phrase "let us create man in our image" (Gen. 1:26) as a reference to man's own creativity, treating man and God as copartners in creating human destiny.

*Why was ancient Judaism so obsessed with blood? Animal sacrifices involved sprinking blood liberally around the Temple, and the dietary laws focus heavily on prohibiting the consumption of blood. Cohen notes that Maimonides (a leading medieval authority on Jewish law and philosophy) suggests that ancient idolators might have sat around a recently slaughtered animal while eating its roasted flesh, so that demons could partake the blood and the sacrificers could get closer to these spirits. Perhaps Jewish law was designed to prevent this demon-worship by using the blood for another purpose.