1. What are some of the thematic frames around Elul and the Days of Awe?
2. How might we shift from shame and exclusion to belonging?
3. What is the nature of prayer? How might it relate to this shift?
4. What relational understanding is being communicated in the piyut: כִּי אָֽנוּ עַמֶּֽךָ/"We are your people"?
(1) “Whither has your beloved gone,
O fairest of women?
Whither has your beloved turned?
Let us seek him with you.” (2) My beloved has gone down to his garden,
To the beds of spices,
To browse in the gardens
And to pick lilies. (3) I am my beloved’s
And my beloved is mine;
He browses among the lilies.
(4) You are beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah,
Comely as Jerusalem,
(Meaning of Heb. uncertain.)Awesome as bannered hosts.-a
(א) ואיכא אסמכתא מקרא אני לדודי ודודי לי ר"ת אלול וס"ת עולה מ', כנגד ארבעים יום מר"ח אלול עד יוה"כ, כי באלו ארבעים יום התשובה מקובלת, להיות לבו קרוב אל דודו בתשובה. ואז דודו קרוב לו לקבל תשובתו מאהבה (ועוד סמך: מקרא "ומל ד' אלקיך את לבבך ואת לבב זרעך" ר"ת אלול):
(1) There is a hint in the verse “I am for my Beloved and my Beloved is for me” (Ani L’Dodi v’Dodi Li - Shir Hashirim) that the first letters spell Elul and the last letters have a numerical value of 40. This alludes to the forty days from the beginning of Elul until Yom Kippur for during these forty days repentance is [more readily] accepted so a person should bring their heart near to their Beloved [G-d] with repentance, and then the Beloved will be close to them to accept the repentance with love.
The Mishnah Berurah (Hebrew: משנה ברורה "Clear Teaching") is a work of halakha (Jewish law) by RabbiYisrael Meir Kagan (Poland, 1838–1933, also known as Chofetz Chaim). It is a commentary on Orach Chayim, the first section of the Shulchan Aruch which deals with laws of prayer, synagogue, Shabbat and holidays, summarizing the opinions of the Acharonim (post-Medieval rabbinic authorities) on that work
1. Read the story below. What do you think it's about?
2. This story is told to explain the seeds of the destruction of the second Temple. What about this story that would explain national destruction?
3. Are there stories of our times that might mirror this ancient story?
(ג) מַעֲשֶׂה שֶׁהָיָה בְּאָדָם אֶחָד בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם שֶׁעָשָׂה סְעוּדָה, אָמַר לְבֶן בֵּיתוֹ לֵךְ וְהָבֵא לִי קַמְצָא רַחֲמִי, אֲזַל וְאַיְיתֵי לֵיהּ בַּר קַמְצָא שָׂנְאֵיהּ, עָאל וְיָשַׁב בֵּין הָאוֹרְחִים. עָאל אַשְׁכְּחֵיהּ בֵּינֵי אֲרִיסְטְיָיא, אָמַר לוֹ אַתְּ שָׂנְאִי וְאַתְּ יָתֵיב בְּגוֹ בֵּיתָאי, קוּם פּוּק לָךְ מִיגוֹ בֵּיתָאי. אָמַר לוֹ אַל תְּבַיְּשֵׁנִי וַאֲנָא יָהֵיב לָךְ דְּמֵי דִסְעוּדָתָא. אָמַר לוֹ לֵית אַתְּ מְסוּבָּה. אָמַר לוֹ אַל תְּבַיְּשֵׁנִי וַאֲנָא יָתֵיב וְלֵית אֲנָא אָכֵיל וְשָׁתֵי. אָמַר לוֹ לֵית אַתְּ מְסוּבָּה. אֲמַר לֵיהּ אֲנָא יָהֵיב דְּמֵי כָּל הָדֵין סְעוּדָתָא. אֲמַר לֵיהּ קוּם לָךְ. וְהָיָה שָׁם רַבִּי זְכַרְיָה בֶּן אַבְקוּלָס וְהָיְתָה סֵפֶק בְּיָדוֹ לִמְחוֹת וְלֹא מִיחָה, מִיָּד נְפֵיק לֵיהּ, אֲמַר בְּנַפְשֵׁיהּ אִילֵין מְסָבְיָין יָתְבִין בְּשַׁלְוַותְהוֹן, אֲנָא אֵיכוּל קָרְצְהוֹן, מָה עֲבַד הָלַךְ אֵצֶל הַשִּׁלְטוֹן אָמַר לוֹ אִילֵין קוּרְבָּנַיָּא דְּאַתְּ מְשַׁלַּח לִיהוּדָאֵי לְמִקְרְבִינְהוּ אִינוּן אָכְלִין לְהוֹן וּמְקָרְבִין אוֹחֳרָנִים בְּחִילוּפַיְיהוּ, נְזַף בֵּיהּ.
(3) There was an incident involving a certain man in Jerusalem, who made a feast. He said to a member of his household: ‘Go and bring me my friend, Kamtza.’ He went and brought his enemy, bar Kamtza. He entered and sat among the guests. [The host] entered and found him among those invited to the feast. He said to him: ‘You are my enemy, and you are sitting in my house? Get up and leave my house.’ He said to him: ‘Do not shame me, and I will give you the cost of my meal.’ He said to him: ‘You will not recline [at the feast].’ He said to him: ‘Do not shame me and I will sit, but I will not eat and I will not drink.’ He said to him: ‘You will not recline [at the feast].’ He said to him: ‘Do not shame me and I will give the cost of this entire feast.’ He said to him: ‘Get up [ and leave].’
Rabbi Zekharya ben Avkulas was there and it was within his ability to protest, but he did not protest. Immediately, [bar Kamtza] left. He said to himself: ‘These who are reclining at the feast are sitting in serenity; I will slander them.’7This was out of vengeance for the fact that the other guests sat by serenely while bar Kamtza was being humiliated. What did he do? He went to the ruler and said to him: ‘Those offerings that you send to the Jews for them to sacrifice, they eat them and sacrifice others in their stead.’
Zechariah ben Abkilus (Hebrew: רבי זכריה בן אבקולס, also Zechariah ben Abqilus, Zecharya ben Avkulas, Amphikalos) was a Jewish scholar at the end of the Second Temple period. He lived in Jerusalem at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple. (Wikipedia)
עולת ראיה
אין התפלה באה כתקונה כי־אם מתוך המחשבה שבאמת הנשמה היא תמיד מתפללת. הלא היא עפה ומתרפקת על דודה בלא שום הפסק כלל, אלא שבשעת התפלה המעשית הרי התפלה הנשמתית התדירית היא מתגלה בפעל. וזהו עידונה ועינוגה, הדרה ותפארתה של התפלה, שהיא מתדמה לשושנה הפותחת את עליה הנאים לקראת הטל או נכח קרני השמש המופיעים עליה באורה, ולכן "הלוואי שיתפלל אדם כל היום כולו".
The Perpetual Prayer of the Soul
Rav Abraham Isaac HaKohen Kook.
We can only pray the way prayer is supposed to be when we recognize that in fact the soul is always praying. While the soul soars and yearns for its Beloved without stop, it is actually only at the time of active prayer that the perpetual prayer of the soul reveals itself actively, outwardly. This is prayer's pleasure and joy, its glory and beauty. It is like a rose, opening its elegant petals towards the dew, or turning toward the rays of the sun as they shine over it with its light. Therefore, “Were it only that one would pray the entire day long” (Berachot 21a).
Rav Kook (1865-1935) was the first chief rabbi of the Yishuv in Palestine. This passage stands at the beginning of his commentary on the Siddur/Prayer Book.
One of the most well-known piyyutim (liturgical poems), of unknown origin, in the High Holidays machzor (prayer book), is known as: ‘ki anu amecha’ (for we are your people). It is recited five times on Yom Kippur, during each of the five prayers: evening service, morning service, mussaf, mincha and ne’ilah, and appears each time in the machzor just before the confession.