## Rabbi Sacks on Rosh HaShana Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings of the Shema

###### Rabbi Sacks on Rosh HaShana Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings of the Shema 2
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SUMMONS TO PRAYER
בָּרְכוּ אֶת יהוה*Bless the*LORD. An ancient formula (see Neh. 9:5) for summoning the congregation to prayer. From this point onward, communal prayer begins. Prayers of special sanctity require a *minyan*, a quorum of ten adult males. The ten spies who brought back a negative report about the land were called a “congregation.” In response to Abraham’s prayer about Sodom (Gen. 18), God assured him that if it contained ten righteous individuals, their merits would save the city. Ten is thus the minimum number to constitute a community. When the Temple stood, sacrifices were offered daily on behalf of the entire Jewish people. Since then, though Jews have been scattered and dispersed, wherever ten gather in prayer it is as if the whole Jewish people were present. The community is a microcosm of the nation.


###### Rabbi Sacks on Rosh HaShana Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings of the Shema 6
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בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה...יוֹצֵר אוֹר וּבוֹרֵא חֹֽשֶׁךְ *Blessed are You…who forms light and creates darkness*. This line, adapted from a verse in Isaiah, was placed at the beginning of communal prayer as a protest against dualism: the idea that there are two forces at work in the universe, the God of good, and an independent force of evil, known variously as the demiurge, the devil, Satan, Belial, Lucifer, or the power of darkness. Dualism entered the West through Persian Manichaeism and Greek Gnosticism and is a constant temptation to those who seek to locate the source of evil in some inhuman or antihuman force – some externalized Other – rather than within ourselves. Those unable to acknowledge the good and evil within themselves sometimes project the evil onto others. That is the root of such myths as the Blood Libel and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and it survives today. Not only is dualism incompatible with monotheism; it is also responsible for some of the great hatreds of history.


###### Rabbi Sacks on Rosh HaShana Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings of the Shema 7
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אוֹר עוֹלָם *Endless light*. A fragment of a prayer composed by the earliest known composer of *piyut* (liturgical poetry), Yose ben Yose, who lived in the land of Israel, probably in the fifth century. It refers to the light of the first day of creation – not physical light, since the sun was not created until the fourth day, but spiritual light.
According to tradition, the light of the first day of creation was so strong and luminous that it was possible to see from one end of the world to the other. God feared that the wicked would make use of it. What did He do? He hid it for the righteous in the World to Come (*Ḥagiga* 12a). Rav Kook said that from time to time there are great men whom God blesses with a vision of that hidden light. They see the world filled with the radiance of God. He believed great artists were sometimes able to convey this in their work.


###### Rabbi Sacks on Rosh HaShana Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings of the Shema 10
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וּבְטוּבוֹ מְחַדֵּשׁ בְּכָל יוֹם תָּמִיד מַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית *And in His goodness continually renews the work of creation, day after day*. Rabbi Judah HaLevi pointed out the difference between divine creation (something from nothing) and human creation (something from something). A human creation, once made, continues to exist. A divine creation, since it is made from nothing, would lapse back into nothingness were God to cease continually to recreate it. Thus, at the deepest level, all things are daily, constantly, made new again. One of the powers of prayer – as with great art – is to allow us to see the world with new eyes and sense the miracle of existence. “Not how the world is, but that it is, is the mystical.”


###### Rabbi Sacks on Rosh HaShana Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings of the Shema 12
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הַכֹּל יוֹדֽוּךָ *All will thank You*. This passage is far longer than its weekday equivalent since Shabbat is a memorial of creation (Roke’aḥ). Thus we devote extra attention to this, the first blessing before Shema, whose subject is creation.


###### Rabbi Sacks on Rosh HaShana Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings of the Shema 13
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בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה...לְחַיֵּי הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא *In this world…in the life of the World to Come.* The prayer sets out the four time-zones of existence: (1) this world that we inhabit now; (2) the World to Come – according to Maimonides (Laws of Repentance 8:1), the realm of the soul after death; (3) the days of the Messiah, when the Temple will be rebuilt, the rule of David restored, and peace and justice prevail in the affairs of mankind; and (4) the resurrection of the dead, the final denouement of history, when those who have died will live again.


###### Rabbi Sacks on Rosh HaShana Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings of the Shema 14
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אֵל אָדוֹן עַל כָּל הַמַּעֲשִׂים *God,*LORD*of all creation*. An ancient prayer, influenced by *merkava* mysticism, envisioning God surrounded by the angels and the myriad stars. *Merkava* or “Chariot” mysticism was based on the vision seen by Ezekiel and described by him in the first chapter of the book that bears his name. כָּל צְבָא מָרוֹם *All the hosts on high*: Having mentioned the sun and moon, the Hebrew hints at the other planets of the Ptolemaic system: שֶֽׁבַח נוֹתְנִים לוֹ כָּל צְבָא מָרוֹם – the *shin* of *shevaḥ* signaling Saturn (*Shabbetai*), and so on for Venus (נ for *Noga*), Mercury (כ for *Kokhav*), Jupiter (צ for *Tzedek*) and Mars (מ for *Maadim*).


###### Rabbi Sacks on Rosh HaShana Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings of the Shema 20
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וְיוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי מְשַׁבֵּֽחַ *The seventh day itself gives praise*. A midrashic idea, based on the phrase that opens Psalm 92: “A Psalm, a song of the Sabbath day,” here understood not as a song *for* the Sabbath, but *by* the Sabbath. It is as if, in the silence of Shabbat, we hear the song Creation sings to its Creator, the “music of the spheres.”


###### Rabbi Sacks on Rosh HaShana Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings of the Shema 22
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תִּתְבָּרַךְ *May You be blessed*. Two prophets, Isaiah and Ezekiel, saw mystical visions of God among His heavenly host, the choir of angels. These visions, together with the words the prophets heard the angels sing (“Holy, holy, holy” in Isaiah’s vision; “Blessed is the LORD’S glory from His place” in Ezekiel’s), form the heart of *Kedusha*, the “Holiness” prayer. This is recited three times in the morning prayers: (1) before the Shema, (2) during the Leader’s Repetition of the Amida, and (3) toward the end of prayer, except on Shabbat and festivals, when the third is transferred to the afternoon.
This section of the prayers – the vision of the heavenly throne and the angels – is part of the mystical tradition in Judaism. Prayer is Jacob’s ladder, stretching from earth to heaven, with “angels of the LORD” ascending and descending (*Zohar*). The three *kedushot* represent, respectively, the ascent, the summit, and the descent: the journey of the soul from earth to heaven and back again, transformed by our experience of the Divine.


###### Rabbi Sacks on Rosh HaShana Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings of the Shema 24
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וּבִנְעִימָה *Sweet melody.* The angel’s praise has three elements, and by implication so should ours: serene spirit (*naḥat ruaḥ*), pure speech (*safa berura*), and sweet melody (*ne’ima*). They summarize the ideal elements of prayer: spiritual *tranquility*, cognitive *clarity*, and aesthetic *beauty*.


###### Rabbi Sacks on Rosh HaShana Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings of the Shema 28
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וְהַחַיּוֹת יְשׁוֹרֵֽרוּ The Ḥayyot sing out. An extended version of the passage linking the angelic praise in Isaiah’s vision with that in Ezekiel’s. Rosh HaShana is the anniversary of creation, and since this entire section of the prayers is about creation, most have the custom of saying this more elaborate version in honor of the day. Others recite the usual text said daily: “Then the Ophanim…”
וְהַחֲיּוֹת יְשׁוֹרֵֽרוּ blah blah


###### Rabbi Sacks on Rosh HaShana Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings of the Shema 29
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וְהַחַיּוֹת...וּכְרוּבִים...וּשְׂרָפִים...וְאֶרְאֶלִּים...וְאוֹפָן Ḥayyot…*Cherubim…Seraphim…Erelim… [each] Ophan.* Five kinds of angels seen by Isaiah and Ezekiel in their visions. Ḥayyot are “living beings” surrounded by fire. Cherubim are guardian angels, mentioned in the story of the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:24). Representations of them were above the Ark in the Tabernacle and later the Temple. Seraphim are angels of fire. Erelim are described by Isaiah (33:7) as angels of peace. Ophanim are angels described as “wheels within wheels.” Together they form a heavenly retinue surrounding the divine throne, an angelic choir singing God’s praises.
In Tanakh, angels appear on earth as divine emissaries, but here we speak of them mystically as the prophets saw them in heaven, singing God’s song. The point the poet is making is that, at the height of prayer, we too should aspire to become like angels, leaving our worldly concerns behind, thinking not of ourselves but of God, opening our eyes to the radiance of Being, hearing the music of creation, becoming a voice in the choral symphony of the universe as it sings to its Creator.
Song is essential to understanding the difference between science and faith. Science describes creation in speech, faith evokes it in song. Science is prose, faith is poetry. Science explains, faith celebrates. Faith sings, because music is the language of the soul.


###### Rabbi Sacks on Rosh HaShana Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings of the Shema 32
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כִּי הוּא לְבַדּוֹ For it is He alone. There follows a veiled reference to the seven heavenly bodies: פּוֹעֵל גְּבוּרוֹת *Does mighty deeds* is a reference to the sun spoken of in Psalm 19 as “rejoicing like a champion [*gibor*].” עוֹשֶׂה חֲדָשׁוֹת *Creates new things* refers to the moon which renews itself each month. בַּֽעַל מִלְחָמוֹת *Master of battles* refers to Mars, the planet symbolizing war. זוֹרֵֽעַ צְדָקוֹת *Sows righteousness* is a reference to Jupiter, called *Tzedek*, righteousness, in Hebrew. מַצְמִֽיחַ יְשׁוּעוֹת *Makes salvation grow* refers to Mercury – *Kokhav* in Hebrew – since Bilaam predicts the Messiah will “step forth as a star [*kokhav*] from Jacob” (Num. 24:17). בּוֹרֵא רְפוּאוֹת *Creates cures* refers to Venus, *Noga* in Hebrew, the “brightness” which brings healing in its wings (Mal. 3:20). נוֹרָא תְהִלּוֹת *Revered in praises* is Saturn, whose name *Shabbetai* is like praise, *shevaḥ*. (Rabbi Jacob Emden)


###### Rabbi Sacks on Rosh HaShana Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings of the Shema 35
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אַהֲבָה רַבָּה אֲהַבְתָּֽנוּ *You have loved us with great love.*One of the supreme expressions of love in the liturgy. Having spoken of God’s relationship to the universe, we now speak of His relationship to us, moving from cosmic grandeur to spiritual intimacy. The phrase “Our Father, compassionate Father, ever compassionate, have compassion on us,” with its twofold repetition of “father” and threefold mention of compassion in the space of six Hebrew words, is one of the most concentrated expressions of the love and trust we feel for God – the God who said, “My child, My firstborn, Israel” (Ex. 4:22). The channel through which this love flows is the Torah, God’s covenant with His people. This contains “the laws of life” in a double sense: laws that *guide* us in life, and laws that *give* us life.


###### Rabbi Sacks on Rosh HaShana Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings of the Shema 39
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שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל *Listen, Israel*. The greatest, simplest, briefest statement of Jewish faith: the faith that God is One. For those who believed that there were many gods, there was no meaning to history. The gods clashed. They were at worst actively hostile, at best indifferent to humanity. “As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport.”
For those who believe there is no god, equally there is no meaning to history. The universe is the result of blind forces. It and we came into being for no reason; for no reason we exist, for no reason we will die, and it will be as if we had never been.
We believe, to the contrary, that the God of love created the universe and us in love, and calls on us to live a life suffused with love: love of God, love of neighbor and of stranger, the love of husband and wife, parent and child. There have been many civilizations in history and many systems of ethics but none has placed love – personal love – at the heart of its values and at the epicentre of being.
יהוה אֶחָד *The*LORD *is One*. This has many meanings, depending on context: (1) There is only one God; (2) God is a unity, indivisible; (3) God is the only ultimate reality; (4) God is One despite the many ways in which He reveals Himself, through creation, revelation and redemption; (5) God is One despite the different ways He has revealed Himself in history, in war, in peace, in tragedy and triumph; (6) God is One despite the different ways He relates to us, sometimes in judgment, sometimes in compassion, mercy, grace and forgiveness; (7) God alone is our King and our only object of worship. According to the Ba’al Shem Tov the meaning is: The universe is filled with God’s glory, and there is nothing devoid of His presence.


###### Rabbi Sacks on Rosh HaShana Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings of the Shema 41
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וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם לְבָנֶֽיךָ *Teach them repeatedly to your children* (previous page). In Judaism, a parent is, first and foremost, a teacher, and education itself the conversation between the generations. In Jewish law, the obligation to learn is subordinate to the obligation to teach (Maimonides, Laws of Torah Study 1:1–5).
לְמַֽעַן יִרְבּוּ יְמֵיכֶם וִימֵי בְנֵיכֶם *So that you and your children may live long*. Strong nations are impossible without strong families. “Those who plan for one year, plant crops. Those who plan for ten years, plant trees. Those who plan for centuries, educate children.”


###### Rabbi Sacks on Rosh HaShana Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings of the Shema 42
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וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם...וּקְשַׁרְתָּם...וּכְתַבְתָּם *Teach them…bind them…write them*. Judaism is supremely a religion of words. By words, God created the natural universe. By words we create the human universe. By words, the prophets transformed the horizon of human hope. It is through words that we relate to one another, words that express, inform, thank, encourage, inspire. Conversation is the defeat of existential loneliness. Through honest words, words that come from the heart, we cross the abyss between soul and soul. Words are the vehicles of meaning, and because Judaism is the world’s greatest statement that life has meaning, we have enthroned words at the heart of our faith. More than a religion of holy places and holy objects, Judaism is a religion of holy words.
וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם לְבָנֶֽיךָ *Teach them repeatedly to your children* (previous page). In Judaism, a parent is, first and foremost, a teacher, and education itself the conversation between the generations. In Jewish law, the obligation to learn is subordinate to the obligation to teach (Maimonides, Laws of Torah Study 1:1–5).


###### Rabbi Sacks on Rosh HaShana Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings of the Shema 43
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לְמַֽעַן יִרְבּוּ יְמֵיכֶם וִימֵי בְנֵיכֶם *So that you and your children may live long*. Strong nations are impossible without strong families. “Those who plan for one year, plant crops. Those who plan for ten years, plant trees. Those who plan for centuries, educate children.”


###### Rabbi Sacks on Rosh HaShana Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings of the Shema 48
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יהוה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם אֱמֶת *The*LORD*your God is true.* The linking of the last words of the Shema with the word “true,” as in Jeremiah 10:10, constitutes an affirmation of everything we have said in the Shema, which is less a prayer than a declaration of faith. According to the *Zohar*(*VaYera* 101a), these three words are repeated to bring the total of words in the three paragraphs to 248, the number associated in tradition with the organs of the body, as if to say that our faith in God suffuses every fibre of our being. Faith has an effect not only on the soul but also the body.


###### Rabbi Sacks on Rosh HaShana Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings of the Shema 50
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אֱמֶת *True*. The basic structure of holiness in Judaism is six, followed by a seventh that is holy. So there are six days of creation followed by the Sabbath. There are six years of labor followed by the Sabbatical year. There are six paragraphs (three blessings plus the three paragraphs of the Shema) leading to the Amida, the holiest of prayers. Thus the sixfold chime of the word “true” in this prayer gives notice that we are approaching the supreme holiness of prayer, the Amida, when we take three steps forward as if entering the Holy of Holies, and stand in the presence of God Himself.


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גָּאַל יִשְׂרָאֵל *Who redeemed Israel.* The sages placed great emphasis on there being no interruption between redemption (the conclusion of this blessing) and prayer (*Berakhot* 4b; 9b). We move directly from God’s presence in history to His presence in our lives.
An analogy: imagine visiting a historic building without knowing its history. The experience will be flat and vague. You may know that something happened here long ago, but not what or when or how. Now imagine visiting it having read its history. You now know that great people once stood here and epic events took place within its walls. You feel the strong, indefinable thrill of being linked with the past, a past that shaped the world in which you now live. So it is with God. You are about to enter the presence of a Presence that is not a mere abstraction, but the One who delivered our ancestors from danger, divided the sea, brought them through on dry land, and led them across the desert to the Promised Land. It is this Presence to whom we draw close when we pray, and prayer should never be devoid of a sense of awe.