Yom Kippur Family Service

Call to Prayer
Listen to the Prayers!

The "Main" of the Service: The Amidah
Blessing G-d
Remembering our Ancestors
Remember we are Jewish
Remembering We Miss the Mark
How Can We Be Better in the Upcoming Year?

Standing on the parted shores of history
we still believe what we were taught
before we ever stood at Sinai's foot
that wherever we go, it is eternally Egypt
that there is a better place, a promised land;
that the winding way to that promise
passes through the wilderness.
That there is no way to get from here to there
except by joining hands, marching
together.

....of distancing ourselves from the hasids...
...of turning away from the beggar with disgust....
...of ignoring the pain of the Palestinians...
...of whining to get what we want...
...of growing weary of hearing of climate change...
...of ignoring a neighbor's need because it is inconvenient...
...of saying "nothing can be done" when something can be done...
...of not being kind to to the outcast...
...of snapping at my parent instead of listening...
...of becoming annoyed when the bus stops to pick up someone in a wheelchair...
...of being a people-pleaser...
...of wasting what should be conserved...
...of pretending that the resources of the Earth are free...
...of thinking that my age means we can't change the world...
...of not getting enough sleep...
...of not listening to another...
...of thinking we need more money than we do...
...of losing patience with an elderly relative...
...of worrying too much about college admissions...
...of praying for forgiveness of sins we know we don't want to stop doing

V'al kulam Eloha S'lichot. S'lach lanu, m'chal lanu, kaper lanu

We’ve experienced many deaths in our local community – especially last year and this year. In the U.S. and the larger world, war, racial and ethnic violence, poverty, exposure to toxic chemicals, preventable car accidents, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc., cause countless deaths.
I have zero inclination to speak of meaningful deaths. Death is not the point. Life is.
Does it take talking about death to bring us to awareness that our time to do good here on earth is limited? Maybe so. And if so, OK.
Because life is the point. Life, the renewal of life, the deepening of life – this is the point of Yom Kippur.
Rabbi Tarfon said: The day is short and the work is much, and the workers are lazy and the reward is great, and the Master of the house is pressing.
Eleh mah she’ani ezkor… this is what I will remember… ha yom katzar v’ ha-malakha me’rubah – The day is short and the work is much – we dedicate ourselves anew to living deeply.
Eleh mah she’ani ezkor… this is what I will remember…