A treasured Rosh HaShanah poem from 13th century Spain – Ahot Ketana, “Little Sister,” by R. Avraham Hazzan of Gerona – prays תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ/tikhleh shana v’kileloteikha, “may the accursed year end,” and תָּחֵל שָׁנָה וּבִרְכוֹתֶיהָ/tahel shana u’virkoteiha, “may a year of blessings begin.”
Have these phrases ever resonated so strongly as they do now, as 5785 approaches?
That’s why we at Ansche Chesed asked a number of members to reflect on how they approach these holidays, trying to shut the door on a year of terrible suffering, trying to pry open the door on a more promising future. Each weekday of Elul, we’ll post our fellow members’ thoughts on how to greet 5785. May their hope give us hope. May their strength give us strength.
I’ll begin our Elul series with a reflection on “le’David Ori,” Psalm 27, which we say during the High Holiday season, beginning today, Rosh Hodesh, through Hoshana Rabbah, at the end of Sukkot. It is a beautiful text that describes how faith should overcome fear. And maybe it should. But maybe that’s easier said than done. The Psalmist claims that armies do not scare him.
אִם־תַּחֲנֶ֬ה עָלַ֨י ׀ מַחֲנֶה֮ לֹא־יִירָ֢א לִ֫בִּ֥י אִם־תָּק֣וּם עָ֭לַי מִלְחָמָ֑ה בְּ֝זֹ֗את אֲנִ֣י בוֹטֵֽחַ׃
Should an army besiege me, my heart would not fear; should war beset me, still I would trust.
Sadly, this year, enemy armies do frighten me. Bound to the people of Israel, you bet I am afraid of those who would slaughter our elderly and our babies, who would rape and kidnap and kill in cold blood. Coward that I am, I’m afraid of rockets falling on our homes.
So is Psalm 27 just a fantasy, whistling past the graveyard? I hope not. To greet the new year, I want an authentic faith that is not afraid to be afraid. I’m not asking for a guarantee that everything will always be rosy. It won’t. I am asking for courage to face overwhelming challenges.
The psalm started off by professing to be fearless. But it ends by keeping it more real: “Hope in the Lord. Be strong and courageous. And hope in the Lord.” As we approach a new year, when I davven this psalm, that’s all the emunah/faith I need: to keep walking faithfully in a frightening world.
