ROSH HASHANAH
continued from page 26
28 | SEPTEMBER 2 • 2021
A Time for Self-Care, Too
B
efore last year, I would have taken this
space to share a bit of teaching about
what tradition tells us about the preparation
we can and should take as we near the holi-
est days of the Jewish calendar. In the days
leading up to and immediately
following Rosh Hashanah, we
are invited by our tradition to
spend time setting our inten-
tion as to how we want the
coming year to go, and we are
invited to think about what
we would like to do differently
from last year.
We are given a beautiful opportunity to
own the mistakes we have made in our rela-
tionships with others, and we are invited to
search our souls as we interact with the mis-
steps that remain between us and God.
Alongside the difficult work of trying to
right our wrongs, our focus naturally shifts
to all of the planning and activities that go
along with the High Holidays — attending
services, joining with loved ones for meals,
taking time from work, helping our children
relate to the holidays — observing the High
Holidays takes planning and, together with
our work to mend our wrongs, we can easily
find ourselves caught up in the world around
us, focused outwardly.
This year we find ourselves not just prepar-
ing for the Yamim Noraim (The Days of Awe),
we find ourselves preparing for the Yamim
Noraim during a pandemic. Not just a pan-
demic — a pandemic that has lasted, so far,
for two High Holiday seasons. Preparation
for everything is a bit harder. Relationships
may feel harder. Things we once did with
little thought may require extra attention. We
may find ourselves drawn to the news with
more regularity, looking for the next spike,
the next conflict, the next thing to which we
react.
We have been in reaction mode for more
than a year and a half. As good as our minds
and bodies are about reacting when con-
fronted with a real or perceived threat, our
bodies are not used to being in such a state of
reaction for so long, and it begins to take its
toll on our mental and physical wellbeing.
While preparation for the Yamim Noraim
does dictate that we make right our wrongs
and set our intention for the coming year,
this year I would like to invite us all to add an
additional piece to our High Holiday prepa-
ration: self-care.
Self-care is the practice of caring for all of
the parts of our being — not only our physi-
cal health, but also our mental, spiritual and
emotional health as well. While it sounds dif-
ficult, the hardest part of self-care is making
the time for it.
Self-care can be as simple as taking time
to sit down and eat a good meal with no
extraneous distractions, making time to con-
nect with good friends, walking or hiking in
nature, having a deep conversation, listening
to good music, even taking an extra-long and
extra-hot shower or bath.
Whatever caring for yourself looks like, we
owe it to ourselves to make time to take care
of our whole selves so that we can be pre-
pared to engage with the hard work expected
of us over the Yamim Noraim.
Torah teaches that we were each created
B’tzelem Elohim, in the image of God. Our
bodies are the closest thing to an image of
God that we have — it is our holy work to
care for these vessels and ensure that we are
bringing our whole, intact selves into the
New Year.
Rabbi Matthew Zerwekh serves Temple Emanu-El in
Oak Park.
Rabbi
Matthew
Zerwekh
E
very year on Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur, we recite the piyyut (liturgi-
cal poem) Unetaneh Tokef. You know the
one — “who by fire, who by water.” I have
always struggled with this
piece of text, especially in
the years in which I had lost
someone I loved.
It never made sense to me
that in the 10 days between
Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur, a decision was made
about who would live and
die. I always questioned if this meant that
their repentance was not good enough. I
thought that their fate was to be exclud-
ed from inscription in the book of life
because during the 10 days they cut some-
one off in traffic or were impatient or
took a harsh tone.
These past two years, of all years, the
line “who by earthquake and who by
plague” has taken on new meaning. Over
these past 18 months, we have witnessed
so much death, tragedy, destruction, anger
and sadness. How can we possibly recite
these same words?
It turns out the answer to this conun-
drum is also found in the piyyut, but
just a bit earlier: “The great Shofar is
sounded, the still, small voice is heard …”
This mention of the still, small voice, kol
demamah dakah, alludes to I Kings 19:12 in
which Elijah hears the voice of God after
experiencing a wind so strong it broke
apart mountains followed by an earth-
quake and a fire.
As readers of the text, we, like Elijah,
expect God’s presence to be in these disas-
ters, but it is only after things have quiet-
ed that Elijah experiences God — not on
a grandiose scale, but on a personal level.
Perhaps God’s voice was there the whole
time, but Elijah wasn’t able to find enough
quiet to hear it over his own anger and
jealousy that preceded the raging natural
disasters.
This is the message we must focus on
this year when we recite Unetaneh Tokef.
That throughout the chaos, the justified
anger, the sadness, the devastation, that
God is with us. In moments of stillness,
we can connect with ourselves and with
the Divine. The still, small, voice is here.
It has always been, and it always will be.
May this next year be one that is more
calm and allows us even more moments
to connect to the still, small, voice. May
we find strength in that connection and
in connection with one another.
Rabbi Alicia Harris serves Congregation Shir Tikvah
in Troy.
Rabbi Alicia
Harris
Searching for the Still, Small Voice