Ceremony and Celebration Family Edition, The Hagim, Rosh HaShana, Deep Diving into the Tefilla of the Day; UNetaneh Tokef
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Background to the tefilla
No prayer more powerfully defines the image of the Days of Awe than does Unetaneh Tokef. The language is simple, the imagery strong, the rhythms insistent, and the drama intense.
We do not know exactly who composed Unetaneh Tokef or when. A famous tradition dates it to the time when Jews in northern Europe were suffering brutal Christian persecution. It tells of Rabbi Amnon of Mainz, how he was pressured by the bishop, who was also mayor of the town, to convert. Eventually, after repeated prevarication, the bishop subjected him to cruel punishment, inflicting on him wounds from which he would die. On Rosh HaShana, sensing that he was on the verge of death, Rabbi Amnon asked to be carried to the synagogue. As he entered, he found the congregation about to say the Kedusha, and asked for permission to say a prayer as his dying words. He then said Unetaneh Tokef, and died.
The discovery of ancient manuscripts in the Cairo Geniza suggests, however, that the prayer may be older than this. This and other factors suggest that, in its original form, it was composed in Israel several centuries before.
❖ Points to Ponder
- What are the core themes of Rosh HaShana found in the text of this tefilla?
- Why is itteshuva, tefilla, andtzedakathat can avert God’s evil decree?
- Do you think this is primarily a prayer of hope or despair?
Analysis
It is structured in four movements.
The first sets the scene. The heavenly court is assembled. God sits in the seat of judgement. The angels tremble. Before Him is the book of all our deeds. In it our lives are written, bearing our signature, and we await the verdict.
The second defines what is at stake: Who will live, who will die? Who will flourish, who will suffer, who will be at ease, who will be in torment? Between now and Yom Kippur our fate is being decided on high.
The third is the great outburst of faith that defines Judaism as a religion of hope. No fate is final. Repentance, prayer, and charity can avert the evil decree. Life is not a script written by Aeschylus or Sophocles in which tragedy is inexorable. God forgives; God pardons; God exercises clemency – if we truly repent and pray and give to others.
The fourth is a moving reflection on the fragility of human life and the eternity of God. We are no more than a fragment of pottery, a blade of grass, a flower that fades, a shadow, a cloud, a breath of wind. Dust we are and to dust we return. But God is life forever.