Where The Heart Is
At Yom Kippur, a heads-up about
chest thumping during Viddui prayer.
Edmon J. Rodman
JTA
0
n Yom Kippur, when we beat
our chests during the confes-
sion, maybe we should be
knocking instead on our heads. After all,
isn't that where all the trouble starts?
On this most physically demanding of
Jewish days, Jewish tradition has us beat
the heart side of our chests, as if to say
this is the source of our falling short.
During the Viddui — the confessional
portion of the service composed of the
Ashamnu and Al Chait — some of us
tap, some of us rap, some of us pound
really hard. Many do
nothing, perhaps won-
dering if this is some
kind of Jewish self-
flagellation.
Those who tap are
reminded, without
leaving marks, of the
connection between
spirituality and
physicality. But are we
choosing the right body
part to make our con-
fession meaningful?
In the Bible, it is
widely accepted that the heart — in
Hebrew, lev — is the seat of emotion.
Maimonides even linked the heart with
the intellect.
However, in the brave new science guy
world in which we live today, while we're
standing in shul tapping our hearts, our
focus could easily turn from confession
to hypertension.
So what about lightly tapping the side
of our heads instead with a why-did-
I-do-that kind of knock? Isn't the head
the place where, working in discord, our
mouths and minds create the tsouris we
confess?
Beginning with Rosh Hashanah — lit-
erally head of the year — our heads are
in our rituals. During the year, we put
tefillin on our bicep, next to the heart —
unless you're left-handed, like me — but
we also wear tefillin on our head, before
our eyes. On Friday nights when parents
bless their kids, their hands are placed
on the heads of their children.
Confusing head and heart even
more, in Psalm 90, an ideal is held up of
obtaining a "heart of wisdom:'
So which to tap, heart or head?
To Rabbi Goldie Milgram — the
founder of Reclaiming Judaism, an
organization seeking Jewish innovation
and "maximal involvement:' and author
and publisher of a number of books
on creating a meaningful Jewish life —
striking one's chest on Yom Kippur is an
acknowledgment that "I am out of align-
ment:'
Tapping on the chest is a way to
realign, Milgram said from the Alliance
for Jewish Renewal Aleph Kallah in New
Hampshire, where she was teaching.
When I asked Milgram about my idea
of tapping on one's head, she wondered
why I would want to do that.
"It would remind me of the source
I responded, seeing yet again that my
ideas were getting me in trouble.
"In Judaism, the heart
is the seat:' she remind-
ed me. "Your awareness
of ahavat Hashem [love
of God] starts in the
heart:' the rabbi added,
explaining that seeing
the head as the center is
a Western tradition.
Striking the chest is
"a form of dancing one's
prayer; Milgram said.
Offering perhaps a
new dance step, she sug-
gested I try moving my
finger in a circular motion slowly over
my heart. I tried, it was definitely sooth-
ing, and I could see how the continuity
of motion might help me through the
more personally applicable "we have
sinned against you's" — but wondered if
it would look weird.
"People are doing it:' she offered,
pointing out that in her work, she has
encountered a diversity of customs.
"What should I think about while I'm
doing it?" I asked.
"Ask yourself, 'What is my resistance
to aligning with the mitzvah of caring for
myself?"' Milgram said, also suggesting
that I make a list, noting aspects of body,
family and Judaism where I would like to
be more in alignment with the mitzvot.
"Tapping on your chest, the door of
your heart flies open," she observed.
"That's the beginning of teshuvah,"
she said, mentioning the Jewish concept
of returning, or asking forgiveness, that
beats through the Yom Kippur liturgy.
The Viddui, she said, is written in the
"we:' We take responsibility.
For that I would need both heart and
head.
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JTA columnist Edmon Rodman writes on
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September 12 • 2013
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