A sweet New Year, a joyous Yom Kippur

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According to the Sages, Yom Kippur was one of two great days of joy in ancient Israel. The Talmud (B. Ta’anit 26b) states: Rabban Simon the son of Gamaliel said: “Never were there for the Jews, days of greater festivity than the Fifteenth of [the month of] Av and the Day of Atonement. For on these days the maidens of Jerusalem would go out in borrowed white garments and dance in the vineyards.” And they would say: “Young man, lift up thine eyes and see what you choose for yourself. Do not set your eyes on beauty, rather on [her] family...”.

The idea that Yom Kippur is a day of joy is challenging for many. What was so joyful?

The Talmud itself comments: “We can understand why the Day of Atonement is the ultimate day of joy, because it is a day when we obtain forgiveness and pardon.” So Yom Kippur is not a sad day, nor a day of mourning, rather a day of joy. But this is only a foundation for understanding what is going on in our text.

Let’s focus on the words that are spoken — maybe sung — addressed to the young men by the maidens of Jerusalem. “SA’ ‘ENEKHA UR’EH” — ‘Elevate Your Vision.’ This phrase is presented as a formula, or text, of a song that accompanied the beautiful dancing in the vineyard. Why did our ancestors 2000 years ago use this phrase?

Three times this phrase is found in Scripture, and it is the preface to a revelation from God, where God asks the individual to look more deeply at the situation at hand and see a special message.

Isn’t this what the High Holy Days is all about? Our liturgy contains numerous prayers, and readings from the Bible. We must, if we are to pray with any sense of meaningfulness, meditate on these texts, let them marinate. Open up these texts so we hear the words speaking directly to us. We give ourselves this gift: time to slow down our thoughts, find moments to be silent inside ourselves. To dream, to contemplate ideas and memories that have long been dormant, and let the fresh air of imagination wipe them clean so we can investigate them more deeply and with clarity.

Returning to the Talmud text, where is the message of this unparalleled joy on Kippur? How is this description of a quaint and dignified setting for boys to meet girls supposed to be a model for us to seek spiritual joy in our lives?

This phrase “SA’ ‘ENEKHA UR’EH,” used by our ancient ancestors to set the tone for a solemn, halakhic, ‘singles dance’, is a sign post, a preface to revelation, where an individual is invited to look more deeply at the situation at hand to glean a special message.

In a nutshell, we can paraphrase the four “prophets” from Liverpool: “And, in the end, the view you take...is equal to the view you make.”

At every moment, even the most secular, we can choose to elevate our vision and gain an exalted perspective that activates our spirit and turns our soul to its Creator.

May the Holy One give us the necessary clarity to Elevate Our Vision and find much joy in the new year. The Sephardic Temple in Cedarhurst wishes you Anyada Buena y Dulce - a Sweet and Good New Year!

Golden is the rabbi for the Sephardic Temple in Cedarhurst.