Patrick Comerford
Thursday was a horrific day for the Jewish community in Britain, Britain at large, and the Jewish community throughout the world, with the frightening attack on Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester. May the memories of those who were killed be a blessing and may those who were injured recover quickly and fully.
Feelings of safety within the Jewish community in the UK have declined sharply in the last couple of years, according to the largest survey of British Jews since 7 October 2023. The Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said this morning that antisemitism has been rising in the UK.
The local synagogue in Milton Keynes has had several telephone calls and messages since the attack from local people wanting to express solidarity with the Jewish community, trying to reassure Jewish people that they are not alone. It was reassuring that the police were at the synagogue in Milton Keynes yesterday morning even before anyone there had heard of the attack in Manchester, and they continued to do regular patrols by the synagogue throughout the day.
Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement is the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar, the climax of the Ten Days of Awe or the High Holy Days. I spent some of these days, including Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year Day, and Kol Nidrei, the beginning of Yom Kippur, in my local synagogue in Milton Keynes, where the services were led by Rabbi Roberta Harris-Eckstein, who used the new Reform Judaism High Holy Days Machzor.
The revised and modernised prayer book has been 10 years in the making. It was produced by an editorial group of clergy – including Rabbi Mark Goldsmit, who chaired the group, and the joint editors Rabbi Paul Freedman and Rabbi Professor Jonathan Magonet – along with inputs from rabbinic and cantorial colleagues and local congregations.
As a companion to the renewed Reform Siddur for daily and Shabbat use, the High Holy Days Machzor incorporates changes and improvements that were needed to reflect today’s Progressive Jewish society and those of the next 30 to 40 years. These changes and improvement include gender neutral language, reflected in the introduction of the Matriarchs: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah were missing on the High Holy Day. One key aim was to demystify the principles, customs and practices of the Yamim Noraim or Days of Awe.
In many places in this two-volume resource, the usual liturgy on the right-hand page is creatively complemented by readings and poetry in a blue typeface on the facing page, either for congregational use or to give permission to the individual to ‘wander’ and find new meaning during a service.
The hope is that the new Machzor allows everyone to take part in Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in a way that addresses their personal needs and reflects today’s Reform and Progressive values and place in Jewish tradition.
The services for Rosh haShanah, Kol Nidrei and Yom Kippur in Milton Keynes this week and last were led by Rabbi Roberta Harris-Eckstein. She has been part-time rabbi of Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community and has taught the Hebrew Bible, History of the Ancient Near East and Biblical History, as well as courses in Judaism for non-Jews.
The Torah readings for Rosh haShanah are a tapestry of stories about children – the rescue of Ishmael, the birth of Isaac, and the birth of Samuel. One engaging reading introduced by Rabbi Roberta is an adaptation of the poem ‘A Prayer for the Children’ by Ina J Hughes:
We pray for the children who put chocolate fingers on everything,
who love to be tickled,
who stomp in puddles and ruin their new pants,
who eat candy before supper,
and who can never find their shoes in the morning.
And we also pray for those who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire,
who never bound down the street in a new pair of shoes,
who never played ‘one potato, two potatoes’,
and who are born in places where we would not be caught dead in and they will be.
We pray for the children who give us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
who sleep with their dog and bury their goldfish,
who hug us so tightly and who forget their lunch money,
who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink,
who watch their fathers shave,
and who slurp their soup.
And we also pray for those who will never get dessert,
who have no favourite blanket to drag behind them,
who watch their fathers suffer,
who cannot find any bread to steal,
who do not have rooms to clean up,
whose pictures are always on milk cartons instead of dressers,
and whose monsters are real.
We pray for the children who spend their allowance before Tuesday,
who pick at their food,
who love ghost stories,
who shove dirty clothes under the bed,
who never rinse out the bathtub,
who love visits from the Tooth Fairy, even when they find out who it really is,
who do not like to be kissed or hugged in front of the school bus,
and who squirm during services.
And we pray for those children
whose nightmares occur in the daytime,
who will eat anything,
who have never seen a dentist,
who are not spoiled by anybody,
who go to bed hungry and wake up hungry,
who live and move and have no address.
We pray for the children who like to be carried
and for those children who have to be carried,
for those who give up on and for those who never give up;
for those who will grab the hand of anyone kind enough to offer it
and for those who will find no hand to grab.
For all these children, Adonai, we pray today,
for they are all so precious. Amen.
As I pored over the new Machzor in moments of silence and reflection, I was taken by many of the resources it offers ‘All Our Grudges’ by Trisha Arlin is described as an ‘Alternative Kol Nidrei’:
All grudges, resentments, and vows of vengeance and bitterness,
All undying hatreds or annoyances that we may hold onto
Or talk endlessly about, boring our friends,
Or lose sleep obsessing over
Or write bad poetry about
Or bring up at family dinners to the consternation of all present;
From the previous Day of Atonement until this Day of Atonement
For the benefit of our mental health
And the peace of mind of all who surround us;
Regarding all of this that we have refused to let go,
Despite the fact that they are long past
Or pointless
Or one-sided
Or ridiculous
Or destructive of the innocent
Or hurting ourselves more than anyone else;
Regarding all of them, these intrusions on the Holy Wholeness,
we repudiate them.
All of them, we let them go,
Give up
Wave away
Acknowledge as stupid
Declare null and void
Because we are done.
Our grudges are no longer our grudges,
Our silent resentments are no longer silent,
Our eternal vows of vengeance are no more.
The entire community acknowledges and takes action
So that everyone we have been angry at is forgiven,
Every hurt we did not speak about will be dealt with,
Every relative will be loved for who they are rather than who they are not,
Every change in the world that needs to be made will be made rather than contemplated.
Holy Wholeness!
We need help to step back into connection with the One.
We look for the compassion and mercy
That is always there
If we but pay attention.
Wearing a tallit at the evening service is a tradition associated with Kol Nidrei. Normally, a tallitis worn at services during daylight hours, and tradition says the tallitis not worn at night. The exception to this rule is the night of Yom Kippur or Kol Nidre, and it is customary for those who wear the tallitto wear it throughout Yom Kippur, for all prayer services, including Kol Nidrei.
‘A Tallit Poem’ by the late Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai depicts some of the symbolism, feelings and emotions captured by memories of the tallit:
Anyone who puts on a tallit when young
will never forget:
taking it out of the soft velvet bag,
opening the folded shawl,
spreading it out,
kissing the length of the neckband
(embroidered
or trimmed in gold).
Then
swinging it in a great swoop
overhead
like a sky,
a wedding canopy,
a parachute.
And then winding it
around your head
as in hide-and-seek,
then wrapping
your whole body in it, close and slow,
snuggling into it like the cocoon
of a butterfly,
then opening would-be wings to fly.
And why is the tallit striped
and not checkered black and white
like a chessboard?
Because squares are finite
and hopeless.
Stripes come from infinity
and to infinity they go
like
airport runways
where angels land and take off.
Whoever has put on a tallit
will never forget.
When stepping out of a swimming pool
or the sea,
wrapping yourself in a large towel,
and spreading it out again
over your head,
then you snuggle back into it
close and slow,
still shivering a little,
then you laugh
then you say a blessing.
The prayer Vidui Zuta, also known as the Short Confession or the Ashamnu, is recited during the High Holy Days, particularly on Yom Kippur, when it is recited ten times. It is a familiar acrostic in which the first letter of each sin named corresponds to a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, with the final letter of the alphabet repeated, for a total of 23 sins. Many people, as they confess these sins, beat their chests with their hands to signify the admission of their misdeeds.
But the new Machzor includes an interpretation of Vidui Zuta, with an English-language acrostic from A to Z:
We have abused and betrayed. We were cruel.
We have destroyed and embittered other people’s lives.
We were false to ourselves.
We have gossiped about others and hated them.
We have insulted and jeered. We have killed. We have lied.
We have misled others and neglected them.
We were obstinate. We have perverted and quarrelled.
We have robbed and stolen.
We have transgressed through unkindness.
We have been both violent and weak.
We have been xenophobic.
We have yielded to wrong desires, our zeal was misplaced.
Shabbat Shalom, שבת שלום
