ROSH HASHANAH

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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