During the High Holidays, we spend a lot of time in synagogues. Many who do not attend synagogue all year round come to the High Holidays, and even the regular residents of the synagogues devote much more time to prayer and the recitation of Tehillim. Perhaps it is time to reflect a little on the power of prayer.
All year long we are preoccupied with the problems of life. We are all troubled by the daily difficulties of personal and public life. And now we are given an opportunity to change, to open the door to new hope, to ask for and receive a better year. This power is given to us on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. During the holy days, God, the Holy One, awaits the prayers of the people of Israel, and He is ready to fulfill the desires of our hearts. All that is required of us is to ask, to ask truly.
May the new year and its blessings begin.
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On New Year's Eve, it is customary to wish, "May the year end with its curses, may the year begin with its blessings." We had more than enough of the first part of the wish in the past year. It was a year of deep internal discord that deteriorated to abysses we have never known before, a year of stoking hatred and breaking tools.
Now is the time to act to realize the second part of the wish, that a year with its blessings will indeed begin, a year of unity and bringing hearts together, of searching for common ground and joining forces to build our future in this country. The real reality at the end of the year does not bode well for optimism, but now we have the ability to introduce an unconventional element into the campaign.
On Rosh Hashanah, the events of the coming year are determined. During these days, the fate of every individual is written and the affairs of every country are also decided. Thus we say in the holiday prayer: "And concerning the countries it will be said, 'Which for the sword and which for peace, which for famine and which for satiety.'".
All the events we experienced during the past year were actually already determined during the High Holidays last year. If we were given the opportunity to peek into Ma'ale's "books," we would have seen there a year ago everything that happened in the past year. Now it is up to us to determine what will be written there about the new year.
Sometimes it seems to us that we manage things, with our decisions and actions. Indeed, there is great importance to human initiative and human activity, but the true centers of decision are not here but above. We need to act and strive, but God, the Almighty, is the one who determines whether we will see success in the works of our hands. For this, prayer is necessary, in the hope that we will be written and sealed for good in the Holy Days.
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The High Holy Days are the time to ask truly. To turn to God, as a son turns to his father, and to ask with all his heart and soul. To ask for health, longevity, a dignified livelihood, peace in the home, and happiness from his children. We are given a golden opportunity to stand before the King of kings and ask for the desires of our hearts. Shall we not seize the opportunity?
This is the time to also ask for the wishes for all, for our people and for our land. We pray for peace with Israel, for the destruction of the enemy's schemes, for the return of the Shekhinah to Zion, and for global unity around the kingdom of God. And above all, we pray for the coming of true and complete redemption: "And a horn shall sprout for David your servant, and a lamp shall be lit for the son of Jesse, your anointed, in our days.".
