On the other hand
We are in the midst of the annual High Holydays marathon.
So far, we have welcomed a new year and hopefully turned over a new leaf on Yom Kippur. Sukkot looms and as we prepare our Arba Minim and put the finishing touches to our temporary dwellings, our prayers for a bountiful rainy season seem very appropriate after a long, very hot and dry summer.
Witnessing destructive floods and hurricanes in other parts of the world, we count our blessings that here in Israel, at least the Feast of Tabernacles can be celebrated in the way it is supposed to be.
POST YOM KIPPUR
In keeping with the spirit of the month of Tishri, here is a wonderful rendition of one of the central prayers of Yom Kippur. The Day of Atonement may have ended but the theme of the prayer still resonates as we face the uncertainties of the new year.
What makes this video of the Chief Cantor of the IDF and IDF choir, so moving are the clips from the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Israel’s citizens rushed from their synagogues while praying, “who will live and who will die, who by water and who by fire”. While reservists rushed to the front and children filled the sandbags the stark reality of life and death could not have been more relevant.
