One thing you might not get is that all Jewish holidays are comprised of celebration and reflection. There is never one without the other. Even at your Bar/Bat Mitzvah or Wedding, we often invoke the names of those we wish were present and reflect upon their memory. Judaism recognizes that happiness and sadness are attached, that we cannot recognize sadness without happiness and vice versa. It can be a bit depressing, but it also adds a level of poignancy to things, and helps revive memories of our loved ones who have come before us. For those who don't have people they loved that came before, it's probably best to ignore this part. I kid, but it does. I think, make Judaism unique.
I'm not an overly religious Jew. I don't keep Kosher. I don't stop doing everything on the Sabbath (Friday night to Saturday night). I'm even having to work on Rosh HaShanah today (praying my dead relatives don't rise up and kill me for this).
However, this period is slightly different. Starting today, Jews celebrate and then begin a ten day period of reflection. For me, it is a very uneasy period. In fact, I think for a long time I have considered the high holidays a time of dread, for it is written that during this time, G-d above recounts the year past and begins writing all the names down in a book of life for the coming year. The book is closed and sealed on Yom Kippur, the last day of the ten days, the Day of Atonement. During this time the Jewish Prayer, "Unetanah Tokef" (Let Us Speak of the Awesomeness) is recited many times.
It proclaims directly that:
On Rosh Hashanah it is written, on Yom Kippur it is sealed,
Who shall live and who shall die.
I don't know about you, but I don't need a cup of coffee to wake me up after hearing that. It doesn't get more plain. And if you take any of this stuff seriously growing up at all, you look at those that didn't make it the past year and think, G-d actually didn't inscribe them last year. Who will G-d omit this year? Me? My family members? My parents? It's something I don't want to think about. It's something I'm sure they don't want to think about. And this is supposed to be a holiday? What the hell?
Now, I don't take it quite as literal as I once might have as a child. But as my parents have gotten older, it does bring up the question of how many years I have left with them. Will they be at the next Rosh HaShanah?
This ten days between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur can easily put life in perspective for you, depending on how much you want to turn the mirror on yourself. And most people who turn the mirror on themselves at all do so to view their outsides; to see how they look. Or we turn the mirror on others to show other people what is wrong with them. But not this period. This period we turn inward and attempt to see the things we don't want to view about ourselves.
It is also stated clearly that G-d cannot forgive you the sins you committed against another human being. Those you must clear up for yourself by addressing the offended party. So we must not only look inward toward ourselves, but take that reflection and turn it outward to right the wrongs we have committed against others.
It is said G-d is closest to us during this ten days and that the gates of heaven are open to our prayers. And while the Unetanah Tokef prayer begins with an awe-filled statement, the ending is where our focus turns --
Repentance, Prayer and Charity can temper the severe decree.
We hope that by acting as humans should (the word human does form the word "humane"), we can alter what could be our end. That's the fundamental interpretation.
Naturally, I don't believe in the literal translation of this. Time does run out for all of us at some point, no matter how good we act or behave. But perhaps what is to be taken from all of this reflection and repentance, is that not only should we consider acting the part just ten days of the year, but at all times. That at all times, whether G-d actually writes you in a book of life or not, or even if you do not believe in a being that is watching you, our humaneness should move to the forefront of our lives. That life is too short to get caught up in the things that you can't take with you.
And just maybe the decree that it's referring to isn't just simply the physical death of the body. There other types of death, the worst of which may be the death of hope. There is no death worse than that of the human spirit, where a person simply traipses on without direction or desire. And by being aware of our actions, praying for guidance and giving, maybe we can infuse that person or person(s) with renewed zeal.
May we all find meaning in our lives every day, and live every day to its fullest. L'Shana Tovah Umetukah. Thank you for reading.
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