Part of the observance of the high holidays is the recitation of “Slichos” (סליחות). The word literally means pardons and it is basically a collection of liturgical poetry with themes relevant to the Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. One of the poems, במוצאי מנוחה, asks the Holy One, blessed be He, to tend to the people who tend to Him and seek His face, and He should listen to their cry and their prayer.
This differs from the typical theme of the days of awe, which is confessions of guilt and requests for mercy. The idea here is the suffering of the righteous. This is the type of person whose sins are few and small, but nevertheless less endures great travails. Even though some of the travails are atonements and purifications, most all of them are the suffering of a holy warrior who is championing difficult issues in a world which often is ignorant and malevolent.
Says the Talmud, “on Rosh HaShana Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah were tended to by God and conceived; on Rosh HaShana Joseph came out from prison”,(Rosh Hashana 10b). Concerning this Rashi explains “tended to (נפקדה) Sarah”, as, “came the memory (זכרונם) of them for good and conception was decreed upon them”. Similarly one of the descriptions in the Chumash for Rosh Hashana is the day of remembrance and this is its typical name (יום הזכרון) in the liturgy. Likewise a section of its additional service is called zichronos (remembrances - זכרונות). It mentions God remembering things for the good during difficult times like Noah during the flood, the groaning of Israel during bondage in Egypt, and their following after Hashem in a barren wilderness.
To be exact the idea of remembrance on Rosh Hashana is a reckoning of past good and bad followed by a decision as to what the next year will be like, for example to quote the poem U’nasana Tokef (ונתנה תוקף): Who will rest and who will wander; who will have quiet and who will be disturbed; who will be serene and who will suffer; who will rise and who will fall; who will become rich and who will become poor.
It is possible for a good person to believe that this world is nothing but toil and punishment. There is no joy, rather as soon as one evil is defeated another battle arises. That is not true. It may be a long and rocky to heaven but there are roses along the way. Therefore it is appropriate to yearn to finish this year and its curses and hope for the new year and its blessings.
לע"נ האמא מלכה בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע טז ניסן תשנ"ח
העלון ניתן לקבל בדואר אלקטרוני וגם באתר http://dyschreiber.blogspot.com
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