For the past two days, I’ve been at High Holiday Family Services. They were the full nine yards-apples dipped in honey, shofar blowing, and a story about a very big fish. Well, maybe they were the whole eight and a half yards, considering the chips and salsa during Yom Kippur. As sixteen educators, rabbis, and song leaders from around the country gathered in Durham, NC to explore how we welcome families into the High Holidays, I was awed by the power of these sacred days to hold individual reflection and communal strength at the same time.
Our cohort began in song with one single Hebrew word: Hineni. A central word of our tradition, Hineni translates as here I am. In the Torah, hineni is how our ancestors answered the call of g-d. And as our students today wrestle with these same stories, we do so through the lens of Hineni- where do they find themselves in these ancient words? Hineni is a word that time and time again invites us to be fully present in our lives.
Singing Hineni at the start of our journey was a gentle invitation, welcoming ourselves and one another to the experience. And it was also how we ended our time together two days later, only this time with our arms wrapped around one another as if we had been friends for years. In between these two hineni moments, we learned with Eliana Light-musician, educator, spiritual guide, who shared her philosophy of prayer as an invitation to act with purpose. For example, when we recite Or Hadash, acknowledging the beauty of the natural world, it’s so that perhaps the next time we are actually outside, we can experience a tree, the grass, the sky with awe and wonder. Prayer becomes the exercise for strengthening our spiritual cores.
During our Yom Kippur Service (the first one I’ve worn white to since it’s a dress for summer!), we sang hineni again, only this time it felt much more individual. The kavana – intention – here was to acknowledge that only each of us alone can decide when and how to be present- whether it’s in a prayer service, with our families, at work, or anywhere. For me, the hineni melody we sang did what the High Holidays do best-it allowed us to be reflective and focused on our personal choices, journeys, and hopes in a fully communal experience. The melody is a mix of call and response with group singing. I hope to share it with you soon. And that is RSNS 101, and why I so love being a part of this community. While we are all traveling through life with our own joys, challenges, disruptions, simchas, and milestones, we take the journey together. We call one another, we are present for one another, and we are here for each other.
During the High Holidays, I invite you to find your hineni moment. Perhaps yours will be listening to the blasts of the Shofar and thinking about how your own voice can be a force for good in the year to come. Maybe our children will find their Hineni moment through a multisensory retelling of the Jonah story, complete with spray bottles, tiny rubber feet, and giant blue cloths. Some Hineni moments might happen during yoga or at our art experience, or in bringing a service to our healing neighbors at the Sands Point Rehab Center. And for others, a heneni moment might be found in the music between the prayers, the underscore (a new term I learned!), where the melody lives without words, allowing us to fill in the space with the words of our hearts. Because ultimately this is what prayer is – the work of the heart. And the work of the heart is exactly where RSNS lives. What a gift to have been able to begin my High Holiday preparations with such compassionate educators. We were told at the start that “what we say stays here. What we learn leaves here.” I am beyond excited to share these ideas with all of you soon. May we all experience the High Holidays as an invitation to reflect, to share, and to act with gratitude, belonging, and love.
Rebecca Hirschwerk
Director of Congregational Education
