U’Netaneh Tokef

On this Yom Kippur Eve… My reflections based on High Holiday liturgy

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(On Rosh Hashanah it is written, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed.

How many will pass and how many will be created?

Who will live and who will die?
Who in their time, and who not their time?
Who by fire and who by water?
Who by sword and who by beast?
Who by hunger and who by thirst?
Who by earthquake and who by drowning?
Who by strangling and who by stoning?
Who will rest and who will wander?
Who will be safe and who will be torn?
Who will be calm and who will be tormented?
Who will become poor and who will get rich?
Who will be made humble and who will be raised up?
But teshuvah and tefillah and tzedakah (return and prayer and righteous acts)
deflect the evil of the decree.)

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This has been a year of Destruction, a year of dissolution, a year of devastation.

We have watched lands crumble, waters rise, air gyrate;
seen friendships disintegrate, families collapse, and lives ruined.

What part have we played in this maelstrom?

People are in pain, loss, fear, sorrow…
What role have we played in their relief?

For any share I have played in their misery…
Forgive me, Pardon me, Grant me Atonement

I want, I try, I need to forgive them in turn for any unhappiness others have brought to me by their actions, words, deeds.

We have allowed people to barely survive in squalor, 

ignored those reaching out in need.

We have not been concerned for those whose lives were nightmares, dying with their dreams unlived.

We have given no thought to those who lived without beauty in their lives, dying with their music unwritten, their art undrawn, or their words unscripted.

We are obliged, as human beings to repair the world, especially as we are the most avid destroyers of her. Tefillah (meditation), Teshuvah (efforts to change ourselves and repair our relationships), and Tzedakah (charity) as well as Gemilut Chasidim (deeds of loving kindness) are our tools for that healing.

Look inward; strive to be, give to others of help and your compassion, and be an enlightened soul…

Ronda R. Scott-Marak
©11 October 2016

10th of Tishrei, 5777