Finding Your Prayer Voice

So I hope that you had a prayerful Rosh Hashana and did not solely measure your davening experience on the time that your service concluded.

One of the big themes that I personally thought about was centered around the shofar and the word "קול" or "voice".  Voice and shofar are often linked in the verses cited in the musaf section and it is pretty obvious to think of voice within the entire concept of prayer.  Even the big there elements that are advised by the liturgy to remove the potential evil decree, "Teshuva, Tefilla, u'Tzedaka - Repentance, Prayer, and Charity", need a voice to enable them.  The Rambam writes that one who repents but has not verbally confessed the sin has done teshuva.   Tefilla is simply a verbal expression of one's inner most desires, whether we move our lips to our silent prayer or sing and scream aloud with the chazan.  Finally, tzedaka - giving charity gives voice to those who are needy and helps balance the burdens within a society.

I think that for parents and educators, our goal is to allow our children to discover their own voice within our value system.  Not to just mimic lessons learned in school or opinions overheard at the dinner table, I want my students to feel an authentic call to daven and know what they need to bring to this moment.  This is a mature goal and I think that a synagogue is a perfect crucible for it.

My diagnosis on why so many young people prefer to hang around outside the shul, on the playground or in the 'groups' is because they do not feel this authentic call to prayer, with or without the traditional liturgy.  It is my prayer for the upcoming year that I can share more resources and successful practices on how to engages this population.  Here's to a great year!

לשמוע אל הרינה ואל התפילה

This is the sentence that captures the essence of the beginning of selichot!  For me, it is as powerful as the trumpeting of the shofar.

How can we get our students to listen, to hearken and actively attach themselves to the joy and the tefilla of this season?  

Sound of the Shofar

What do you think of when you listen to the shofar?

While used in ancient times to rally the troops for war (Joshua 6:4) or in a musical accompaniment (Psalms 98:6), Rosh Hashana is referred to has Yom Terura, a day of blowing the shofar, which begs to ask the question, what's the meaning of this sound?

The Rambam highlights a greater purpose to the sounds of the shofar:  "Awake, sleepers from your sleep, and slumberers arise from your slumber!" Once could summarize this approach as the alarm clock for spirituality.

Exodus 19: 16 mentions the blast of the shofar causing the Israelites encamped under Mt. Sinai to tremble in awe.  The shofar also acts like a trumpet to announce the arrival of the King of Kings, bringing the Judge into judgment on Yom Hadin.

I remember hearing from one teacher that the call of the ram's horn is like a primal cry - a plea for repentance or desire or pain.

What do you think of when you listen to the shofar?