READING OF THE TORAH Since the revelation at Mount Sinai, the Jewish people has been a nation defined by a book: the Torah. The Mosaic books are more than sacred literature. They are the written constitution of the house of Israel as a nation under the sovereignty of God, the basis of its collective memory, the record of its covenant with God, the template of its existence as “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:6), and the detailed specification of the task it is called on to perform – to construct a society on the basis of justice and compassion and the inalienable dignity of the human person as the image of God. Just as the Torah is central to Jewish life, so the reading of the Torah is central to the synagogue service. The Tanakh records several key moments in Jewish history when national rededication was accompanied by a public reading of the Torah, most famously in the days of King Josiah (II Kings 23) and Ezra (Neh. 8). According to tradition, Moses ordained that the Torah be read regularly and publicly: a long reading on Shabbat morning and shorter readings on Mondays and Thursdays. Ezra, reinstituting this practice, added the reading on Shabbat afternoon. Thus from its earliest days, the synagogue was a place of study as well as prayer. During the Second Temple and later eras, the reading was accompanied by verse-by-verse translation into the vernacular, mainly Aramaic. In the course of time the act of taking the Torah from, and returning it to, the Ark became ceremonial moments in their own right.

רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם Master of the Universe. The festivals are heightened times of holiness, and the Opening of the Ark a moment when we most intensely feel the transformative energy of the Divine Presence. Thus when these two sacred moments coincide, we say a personal prayer for God’s blessing in our lives and the lives of our family. The version of the prayer on Rosh HaShana emphasizes the idea that at this time the fate of the coming year is under review. The prayer is preceded by the Thirteen Attributes of Compassion, invoked by Moses when praying for mercy and forgiveness, and taught to him, according the Talmud, by God Himself.

בְּרִיךְ שְׁמֵהּ Blessed is the name. This passage, from the mystical text, the Zohar, is prefaced in its original context with the words: “Rabbi Shimon said: When the scroll of the Torah is taken out to be read in public, the Gates of Compassion are opened, and love is aroused on high. Therefore one should say (at this time)...” The words “Blessed is the name” then follow. The custom of reciting it has its origins in the circle of mystics in Safed associated with Rabbi Isaac Luria.

ASCENT TO THE TORAH The original custom was that each oleh, one called to the Torah, would read his own portion. Not everyone was able to do this, so the practice developed of entrusting the reading to one with expertise (commonly, though ungrammatically, known as the ba’al koreh), “so as not to shame those who do not know how to read” (Rabbeinu Tam, in Tosafot Bava Batra 15a). Instead, the oleh says the blessings before and after the portion, and recites the text silently along with the reader.

BIRKAT HAGOMEL This blessing, “Who bestows,” is mentioned in the Talmud (Berakhot 54b). It is to be said after the following four circumstances: (1) release from captivity, (2) recovery from a potentially life-threatening illness, (3) a dangerous journey, and (4) a sea-crossing (nowadays, many also say it after an air flight). It is said in the presence of a minyan (at least ten adult males), usually, though not necessarily at the time of the reading of the Torah, and within three days of the event.

הַגּוֹמֵל לְחַיָּבִים טוֹבוֹת Who bestows good on the unworthy. Reminiscent of Jacob’s prayer (Genesis 32:10), “I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant.”

TORAH READING – FIRST DAY: THE BIRTH OF ISAAC The Torah and Haftara readings for the first day of Rosh HaShana form an eloquent pair of witnesses to Jewish values. Rosh HaShana is the anniversary of creation. Hayom harat olam, we say in our prayers: “Today the world was born.” We would surely have expected the Torah reading to be from the opening of Genesis, “In the beginning, God created.” And the Haftara? What better than the great hymn of Isaiah, “This is what God the Lord says – the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it” (Is. 42:5). Logical but wrong. Instead, both readings are about the birth of a child to an infertile woman. In the Torah we read the story of the birth of Isaac to Sarah. In the Haftara we read about the birth of Samuel to Hannah. This counterintuitive choice tells us much about the humane vision at the heart of Jewish life. A single life, said the sages, is like a universe (Mishna, Sanhedrin 37a). *If you seek to understand the meaning of creation, think about the birth of a child. *Faith in Judaism is not a form of science. It is a form of love. To understand the universe as God’s creation, we do not need advanced degrees in cosmology. We need to understand what it is to be a parent, bringing new life into being through an act of love. Judaism was the first moral system to place love – for God, for our neighbor, and for the stranger – at the heart of its values. Its supreme expression is the selfless, sacrificing, unconditional love of a parent for a child. Throughout the centuries, Judaism has been the great child-centered civilization. Only once does the Torah tell us why Abraham was chosen: “So that he will instruct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord” (Gen. 18:19). On the brink of the exodus, Moses gathers the people and addresses them (Ex. 12–13). He speaks about none of the things we would expect – freedom, the journey, the land of milk and honey. Instead he speaks three times about children: “And you shall tell your child on that day…” Children have been the casualties of our age. In the West they have suffered from the breakdown of marriage and the exploitations of a consumer culture. In some parts of the world they have been used as labor, in others they have become the victims of terror or even trained as terrorists, taught to hate. The protests have been too few. There are cultures that live in the present. Eventually, inevitably, they lose their way. There are cultures that live in the past. Nursing grievances, they seek revenge. Judaism is a supreme example of a culture that, while celebrating the present and honoring the past, lives for the future – for its children. The stories of Sarah and Hannah and their joy at the birth of their children are two of the enduring symbols of Judaism. There is no gift like the gift of a child, no responsibility greater than the responsibility of a parent, no miracle more profound than the way love brings new life into the world, and no question a better guide to life than to ask: Will my next act make the world a little better for our children?

וַיהוה פָּקַד אֶת־שָׂרָה The Lord remembered Sarah. According to the sages, Isaac was born on Rosh HaShana. The stories of Sarah and Hannah, two infertile women who longed for and were granted a child, teach us the power of prayer. Even though prayer is not immediately answered, we should not lose hope. וַיִּקְרָא אַבְרָהָם אֶת־שֶׁם־בְּנוֹ Abraham named the son. The name Isaac means, “He will laugh.” Isaac, the first Jewish child, hints at the fact that though we may suffer many trials, we will eventually know the laughter of joy. Jewish history has often been written in tears, but that is neither its essence nor its destiny. The festivals of the seventh month begin, on Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur, in awe and fear – but end, on Sukkot and Simḥat Torah, in joy. So does Jewish life as a whole. There may be tribulation, but in the end, there is celebration.

עַל אוֹדֹת בְּנוֹ Because of his son. Ishmael was Abraham’s son but not Sarah’s. This is the first intimation that Jewish identity follows the mother, not the father. וַיֹּֽאמֶר אֱלֹהִים אֶל־אַבְרָהָם אַל־יֵרַע בְּעֵינֶֽיךָ But God said to him, “Do not think this is wrong.” Isaac was to be Abraham’s heir. Ishmael was also Abraham’s son and would be blessed by God, but Sarah wanted there to be no argument over the inheritance. (J.H. Hertz)

וַיִּשְׁמַע אֱלֹהִים אֶת־קוֹל הַנַּֽעַר And God heard the voice of the boy. Though neither Hagar nor Ishmael were part of the special covenant with Abraham, God heard their tears and answered their cry, for God is the God of all humanity and is close to all who truly call on Him. בַּאֲשֶׁר הוּא־שָׁם There in the place where he is. The angels accused Ishmael, saying that his descendants would one day persecute the children of Israel. “What is he now?” asked God, “innocent or guilty?” “Innocent,” replied the angels. God then said, “I judge a person only on the basis of where he is in the present: there, where he is.” (Rashi, following Bereshit Raba 53:14) וַיִּפְקַח אֱלֹהִים אֶת־עֵינֶֽיהָ God opened her eyes. Sometimes blessings lie all around us, but we do not see them. “The world is full of the light of God, but to see it we have to learn to open our eyes” (Rabbi Naḥman of Bratslav).

וְהוֹכִֽחַ אַבְרָהָם אֶת־אֲבִימֶֽלֶךְ And then he reproached Avimelekh. Abraham reproved him for tolerating violence in his country (Seforno).

HAFTARA – FIRST DAY: THE BIRTH OF SAMUEL Hannah, childless, provoked, misunderstood, became an eternal symbol of Jewish prayer. To this day when we say the silent Amida, we do so in imitation of her: “She was speaking in her heart.” From here we learn that one who prays must direct his heart. “Her lips were moving”: one who prays must frame the words distinctly with his lips. “Her voice could not be heard”: one must not raise one’s voice (Berakhot 31a). Hannah’s intimate, passionate prayer teaches us how to pray.

הֲלֽוֹא אָנֹכִי טוֹב לָךְ מֵעֲשָׂרָה בָּנִים Am I not better to you than ten sons? Elkana was wrong in not understanding Hannah’s longing for a child. Marriage partners are required “not only to give to and accept from each other but also to make it possible for the other partner to fulfill his or her desire for a child” (Family Redeemed, p. 52). Rabbi J.B. Soloveitchik, Family Redeemed, eds. D. Shatz and J.B. Wolowelsky (Jersey City, NJ: KTAV Publishing House, 2000). וְהִיא מָֽרַת נָֽפֶשׁ And she was bitter within. Hannah now knew that she was alone and had only God to whom to turn. וּבָכֹה תִבְכֶּה And wept – wept. Even though all other gates of prayer may be closed, the gate of tears is never closed (Bava Metzia 59a). In an orphanage at night there are no tears. Children only cry when they know there will be someone to answer their cry. We are told that there is a gate of tears to teach us that our tears are heard and to give us the strength to cry (Rabbi Menaḥem Mendel of Kotzk). לֹא אֲדֹנִי No, Sir. From this we learn that if we are wrongly suspected, we should clear our name (Berakhot 31b). וַתִּקְרָא אֶת־שְׁמוֹ שְׁמוּאֵל כִּי מֵֽיהוה שְׁאִלְתִּיו And she named him Samuel, “because I asked him of the Lord.” The phrase can also be translated as “I borrowed him from the Lord.” Our children do not belong to us, but to God and to themselves. “In the covenantal community, the urge to love is purged of its egotistical, instinctual elements and turns into a need to serve, to sacrifice… [The mother] teaches, educates, trains, and consecrates the child to God” (Family Redeemed, p. 112).

Special Prayers. A series of prayers for Jewish communities and their leadership. As Lord Jakobovits pointed out, they originate from different centuries and locations, they use three languages, Aramaic, Hebrew and the vernacular, and thus “mirror more faithfully than any other part of the Siddur the diversity and versatility of the Jewish experience.” יְקוּם פֻּרְקָן May deliverance arise. A prayer for the religious and lay leadership of Babylonian Jewry, dating from a period – the Talmudic and Geonic eras – when Babylonia was a major center of Jewish life. The phrase “and all the lands of our dispersion” was added to make the prayer relevant to other centers. The next two blessings – one in Aramaic and based on the previous prayer, the other in Hebrew – are for all those who work for and sustain the congregation.

תפילה לשלום המלכות Prayer for the Welfare of the Government. This prayer echoes the instruction of Jeremiah (29:7) to those dispersed at the time of the Babylonian exile (sixth century BCE): “Seek the peace of the city to which I have carried you in exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because in its peace, you shall find peace.” Similar guidance was given at a later period (first century CE) after the Roman conquest of Jerusalem: “Rabbi Ḥanina, the deputy High Priest, said: Pray for the welfare of the government, for were it not for fear of it, people would swallow one another alive” (Avot 3:2). To be a Jew is to be loyal to the country in which we live, to work for the common good and for the good of all humankind, to care for the welfare of others, and to work for good relations between different groups.

PRAYER FOR THE STATE OF ISRAEL Composed on the birth of the modern State of Israel by its then Chief Rabbi, Isaac HaLevy Herzog. The prayer is notable for its theological statement that the birth of the State was not just a political event in secular time, but “the first flowering of our redemption,” a spiritual event in religious time. The return of Jews to the land of their ancestors in fulfillment of the vision of the prophets, their recovery of independence as a sovereign nation after two thousand years of dispersion and powerlessness, and their reaffirmation of life after the Holocaust: these form a new and epoch-making chapter in the narrative begun in the book of Genesis, when Abraham and Sarah heeded God’s call and set out on the journey “to the land that I will show you” (12:1).

PRAYER FOR ISRAEL’S DEFENSE FORCES Though the prophets of Israel – Isaiah and Micah especially – were the first visionaries of peace, the Jewish people throughout history and the State of Israel in modern times have known all too little peace. This prayer ends with the words said in biblical times by the priest “anointed for battle” (Deut. 20:3–4), reminding us that Israel’s strength is its faith: “Not by might nor by power, but by My spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 4:6).