Happy High Holidays

While looking for sources for the origin of a ceremony called Tashlich, where we go to a body of water (preferably with fish living in it) on Rosh Hashana to symbolically “cast away” our sins of the past year, I learned something interesting. There’s no question that Jewish communities in different parts of the world, and even in the same area, have developed their own customs around a particular ritual, and one stood out. According to the website www.myjewishlearning.com, “Kurdistani Jews threw themselves into the water and swam around to be cleansed of their sins.”

Somehow, I don’t think that would fly at Hall’s Pond! But think about it, water is cleansing and refreshing–remember the commercial, “Calgon, take me away”? Actually getting into the water gives us an opportunity to physically embody what’s happening in our minds and spirits. During the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we’re praying that we move God, the ultimate Judge, from kisei din, the seat of Judgment to kisei rachamim, the seat or throne of Mercy. In our prayers, we ask that God forgive transgressions against God, and do our best to right the wrongs we may have done to others, and to ask for their forgiveness.

The Tashlich ritual as most of us practice it today, originated in the Rhineland in Germany sometime around the 13th Century. However, there are stories of Babylonian Jews sending “sin-filled containers” into the water for this same purpose. The biblical origin of this is a verse from the prophet Micah, who said (7:19), “God will take us back in love; God will cover up our iniquities. You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”

During the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashana and leading up to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, we pray for the Holy One to inscribe, and then seal us, in The Book of Life. We think about the times when we’ve made mistakes, missed the mark, inadvertently hurt another person, or behaved in a way we imagine doesn’t fit the criteria of “walking in God’s ways.” We’re human; even though we were created in the Divine Image, we weren’t made to be, nor expected to be, perfect.

Saying prayers and reading biblical verses while throwing breadcrumbs into the water, or shaking out our pockets, to have our sins carried away by the fish or the current, doesn’t replace the hard work of teshuva, of “turning back” and returning to our better selves. For this reason, there were rabbis over the centuries who tried to ban the ritual, fearing that either people were being superstitious, or taking an easy way out.

There is power in ritual, especially when we gather with others in community. I look forward to going to Hall’s Pond on the second day of Rosh Hashanah to reflect on my year and to see people I haven’t seen in a while, and to acknowledge the awesome power of these Holy Days.

Rabbi Susan Elkodsi is a spiritual leader at Malverne Jewish Center.