A map of the high holidays from Chabad

(Editor’s note: The following article was prepared for The Advertiser-News by Chabad of Sussex County.) Sit back and relax as we take you for a ride through the various customs, laws, and insights that the High Holidays have to offer. (And don’t forget that if you would like to spend the high holidays at a synagogue, our doors are wide open for you.) THE MONTH BEFORE (ELUL) - One of the major accusations often leveled at the CEO of the universe is inaccessibility. These charges are entirely unfounded. G-d is everywhere, and from there He awaits your call. And just to prove it, one month before Rosh Hashana, He devotes an entire month to being as approachable as an Almighty Creator can get. Think of it as though the big boss took a stroll through the cubicles, happily chatting with anyone who approaches, giving each his full attention and a warm smile. That’s what our sages mean when they call Elul the Month of Divine Compassion. During these days, you can repair all that went amiss from the entire year—with study, with charity and good deeds, with meditation and prayer. That is also why we blow the shofar every weekday of this month, as a wake-up call to prepare for the magnificent days to come. THE BOOK OF LIFE - On the first evening of Rosh Hashana, Sept. 22, we bless one another, saying, “May you be signed and sealed in the Book of Life!” This Book of Life is not written on paper, but programmed into the natural order of things. Every year, the program is upgraded and reinstalled. Over the period of ten days until Yom Kippur, the code can still be revised—by revising our own inner code. After that, it is burned in. Rewrites are awkward. SPECIAL FOODS FOR ROSH HASHANA - On Rosh Hashana, our table is a feast of optimism celebrating the sweet and abundant year to come. Instead of salt, we dip our challah in honey. On the first night, Sept. 22, we follow this by dipping an apple in honey. Some will place the head of a sheep or fish on the table. Pomegranates and sweetened carrots are also customary. THE SHOFAR - The core mitzvah of this day sums up all that Rosh Hashana is about. It is to hear the sound of a shofar blown thirty times in the sequence written in the prayer book. A shofar is not a trumpet or a french horn—it’s a plain horn of an animal. We don’t play a symphony or a sonata, just a raw and simple cry. Our sages say it is the sound of a small child crying for his father. If you listen carefully, you can hear that cry inside as well, a simple, primal cry as each soul yearns to return to its essential Father on this day. We hear the sounding of the shofar on the second day of Rosh Hashana, Sept. 24, during the daytime. TASHLICH - Tashlich is a beautiful and ancient custom, full of symbolism and drama. On the second day of Rosh Hashana, Sept. 24, we walk to a body of water containing live fish and recite a prayer that G-d, out of His great compassion, will toss our sins into the sea. The fish, too, take part in the metaphor: Just as fish never close their eyes, so is G-d ever-watchful over us (You can join us at the Lake Mohawk boardwalk at 6:45 p.m.) EVE OF YOM KIPPUR - G-d asks us to fast on Yom Kippur, so that He can clean up our souls. But He is concerned for our health, and so asks us to nourish ourselves the day before, Oct. 1. Parents bless their children today. And people ask forgiveness from one another. G-d cannot forgive as long as the person who was hurt has not been asked forgiveness. And G-d’s forgiveness mirrors our degree of forgiveness. YOM KIPPUR - Yom Kippur (‘Day of Atonement’) which this year is from Sun. evening, Oct. 1, through Mon. night, Oct. 2, is the holiest day in the Jewish Year. So holy that the soul is “at one” with G-d. When you’re at one, all is forgiven. There’s a catch: Nothing must interfere with that oneness. That’s why, in addition to the prohibition of work—just like Shabbat—there are five other off-limits activities: Eating and drinking, anointing with perfumes or lotions, marital relations, washing (for pleasure) and wearing leather shoes. The custom is to wear white on Yom Kippur, mimicking the angels, creatures of light. In fact, the sages tell us, our souls are higher than the angels, much higher. They are an actual spark of G-d, invested within the constraints of a body. An angel could never descend so far and remain connected, but the soul never loses its bond to Above. There is a peculiar notion that Yom Kippur is a sad day. A day to be spent thinking about how bad we are and all we have done wrong. But how could anyone imagine that the holiest day of the year should be spent thinking about sins? Rather, it is a day of tremendous joy, a day of knowing who you truly are and returning to that essence. The mention of sins is swallowed up within a greater context—of the soul’s flight up and away. GOING TO SHUL - Everyone rushes to be in shul as the sun sets and Yom Kippur is ushered in with the heart-rending Kol Nidre. But the most vital prayer—repeated ten times over the 26 hours—is the Vidui. That is when we accept responsibility for every possible human mess-up we may have made, ripping out their residue from within us. Since it is difficult to recall all of them, they are listed in the prayer book in alphabetical order. With each Vidui, the soul is freed and climbs higher and higher, until the day culminates with Neila, as the Gates of Return begin to close and the soul rises to the loftiest heights of the year. People are embarrassed to come to shul because they are not familiar with the prayers or the Hebrew. But what G-d most desires is not the words, but the heart. Make sure you say the important prayers, such as Shema Yisroel and Vidui. Say them at your own pace, in the language you understand and loud enough that you can hear yourself. Try to join in on the songs and responsive readings, even if you just hum and clap along. No Jew should be embarrassed to come home. For more information, and for a list of the High Holiday programs, call Chabad of Sussex County at 973-726-3333, e-mail Chabad@JewishSussexCounty.com, or visit www.JewishSussexCounty.com)