Notes of the Shofar

'There are three notes on the shofar-  

Tekiah, “Awake!”,  Teruah ,”Open your heart!”, Shevarim, “Sob with all who suffer!”

Rabbi Arthur Waskow

 

1.    Tekiah/Awake 

“There is a crack, a crack in everything.  That’s how the light gets in.”

Leonard Cohen

 

The light gets in and

Our values are a prism 

Separating light into different colors of truth.

 

Using the tools of ritual and prayer,

We see what there is to be seen.

What wrongs have we done or not done?

 

Broken by suffering,

How do we see it without despair?

We don’t. 

 

There is so much starvation and death,

Rape and repression.

Hate and cruelty.

 

We pray:

Look at this.

Who can forgive this?

 

Shut the blinds but the light insists on itself.

So open your eyes! Listen to the shofar!

Tekiah! Wake up!!

 

2.    Open Your Heart/ Teruah

“Joy doesn’t betray but sustains activism. And when you face a politics that aspires to make you fearful, alienated and isolated, joy is a fine initial act of insurrection. “

Rebecca Solnit

 

No one understands our fury and our hurt,

We’re naked with alienation.

How can we explain it without screaming?

We can’t.

If we’re screaming, can we hear ourselves think?

If we’re screaming, can we do anything else?

 

So stop.  Sit in silence.  Listen.

 

The liturgy tells us that where there is justice 

There must also be mercy.

In this holy time that is Yom Kippur,

We look for redemption and forgiveness,

Freedom and love and 

Joy.

It is fun to change the world!

For this we will need a very big minyan

And all the voices of our lives.

(Don’t forget the bagels and lox).

T’ruah.  Open your heart.

 

3.    Sob With All Who Suffer/Shevarim

“There is nothing so whole as a broken heart.”

Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk

 

Hearts are broken, then

Everything that was hidden comes oozing out.

First comes horror, and then anger, and then vengeance

And then the grief. 

And just when we think it’s over, it’s not.

Let us breathe for all those who no longer can.

 

Even as we count the injured and dying,

Even as we face the fascists and the haters,

We are also counting the helpers and the resistors.

Pouring out all our need for connection,

We beat our chests to atone

And promise to fix it all.

 

Blessed Mystery, Breath of the Universe, giving us 

Tefillah for our holy conversations,

Teshuvah, to return to our true selves and

Tzedukah so we may save the world.
May our hearts be broken open and ready for

When it is time to act.

 

We will sob with all who suffer and

Then feed them and heal them,

Shelter them and love them,

Save them and ourselves.

Shevarim.   

   

 

4.    Tekiyah Gadola 

”Yeah I’ve tried shutting up. Doesn’t work for me. “

Anonymous Facebook meme

Today we don’t pray for God’s help,

Because we know it’s our turn,
And we know what to do:

Agitate, organize, shout,
Write, call, send money,
Rally, march, vote.

We will make lots of noise. 

Happy New Year!

TEKIAH!

 

Amen