Untetaneh Tokef Insert

The Jewish High Holy Days are still over a month away, but I received a version of a classic prayer that I think is worth sharing. The Unetaneh Tokef presents those days as days of judgement when all of us human beings are judged in a court-on-high where the judge is God’s Self. The record of our lives is before The Judge and so are two books – A Book of a Good Year and a Book of a Bad Year. During this season of repentence we seek to make things right in this world so that we can be forgiven and written in the Book of Life for the coming year. The traditional greeting among Jews is “May you be written for a good year.”

Some reading this may be familiar with Leonard Cohen’s extraordinary song, “Who By Fire.”https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=Leonard+Cohen+Who+By+Fire+youtube&refig=10665064ce0f486f9e73c593ba257557&pc=DCTS&ru=/search?q=Leonard+Cohen+Who+By+Fire+youtube&form=ANNTH1&refig=10665064ce0f486f9e73c593ba257557&pc=DCTS&mmscn=vwrc&mid=C7103F4E6079B81ED3FBC7103F4E6079B81ED3FB&FORM=WRVORC

Today, in my inbox, I got a new version by a colleague who is also a distant cousin, Rachel Barenblat. What I really like about it, is that she included a positive verse. I have never seen that before.

B’Rosh Hashanah yikateivun,uv’Yom tzom Kippur yeichateimun:

בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה יִכָּתֵבוּן, וּבְיוֹֹם צוֹֹם כִּפּוּר יֵחָתֵמוּן.

(on Rosh Hashanah it is written, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed)

Who will live, and who will die? 

Who by wildfires and poor air, and who by lack of medical care?

Who by flood and hurricane, and who by the power outages that follow?

Who by polar vortex cold, who by heat that makes asphalt burn?

Who by lack of a place to live, and who arrested for being unhoused?

Who by the hands of those whom we entrust to protect and to serve?

B’Rosh Hashanah yikateivun,uv’Yom tzom Kippur yeichateimun:

בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה יִכָּתֵבוּן, וּבְיוֹֹם צוֹֹם כִּפּוּר יֵחָתֵמוּן.

(on Rosh Hashanah it is written, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed)

Who by bombs and rocket fire, who by starvation or disease?

Who by pandemic that’s not over yet, who by the next pandemic to come?

Who by polio or measles, resurgent because some fear vaccines?

Who by the greed for power and money driving decisions everywhere?

Who by bigotry, subtle or clear? Who by loneliness and despair?

B’Rosh Hashanah yikateivun,uv’Yom tzom Kippur yeichateimun:

בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה יִכָּתֵבוּן, וּבְיוֹֹם צוֹֹם כִּפּוּר יֵחָתֵמוּן.

(on Rosh Hashanah it is written, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed)

Who will live to the fullest, no matter what they don’t have?

Who will take joy in simple things, and who will savor complexity?

Who will uplift others’ hearts? Who will find blessings in each day?

Who will build and create and plant? Who will tend the seeds of hope?

Who will do what they can to help, and know that they are enough?

U’t’shuvah u’t’filah u’tz’dakah  ma’avirin et ro’a hag’zeirah.

וּתְשׁוּבָה וּתְפִלָּה וּצְדָקָהמַעֲבִירִין אֶת רֹעַ הַגְּזֵרָה.

Teshuvah, and spiritual practice, and justice 

Together sweeten every decree!

Our lives are written by our actions 

And signed by our own hands.

Help us. We can’t fix this alone. Mere human beings

Are a broken urn, withering grass, a fading flower, a fleeting dream.

We are dust and ashes, yet we dare to believe the world

Was made for us. For every other creature, too.

You are slow to anger, ready to forgive.

Are we ready to turn from our ways and live?