“A Message from Passover for Rosh Hashanah,” Rabbi Elaine Zecher’s Shabbat Sermon/Shabbat Awakenings
September 20, 2024 | 17 Elul 5784
Welcome to Shabbat Awakenings, a weekly reflection as we move toward Shabbat. You can listen to it as a podcast here.
It is almost time for Rosh Hashanah, but our weekly Torah portion, Ki Tavo, brings us to Passover. How could this be so?
Both holidays demand that we are present. On Rosh Hashanah, we recite a prayer entitled, Hineini, originally meant for the prayer leader but now we all hold the responsibility. It means, “I am present.” By offering this prayer at the beginning of the service, we set our intention to focus our attention on the work of the holiday to examine our deeds and behaviors.
Our Torah portion also helps to clarify and respond to the question of how we can be present. It has the familiar passage we recite around the seder table as we tell the story of our people. The Torah provides those who would bring the first fruits of the land a specific script of what to say as they offered their bounty to the priests:
When you enter the land that the Eternal your God is giving you as a heritage, and you possess it and settle in it, you shall take some of every first fruit of the soil, which you harvest from the land that the Eternal your God is giving you, put it in a basket and go to the place where the Eternal your God will choose to establish God’s name. You shall go to the priest in charge at that time and say to him,
“I acknowledge this day before the Eternal your God that I have entered the land that the LORD swore to our ancestors to assign us.”
The priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down in front of the altar of the Eternal your God…[and tell the story of being freed from Egypt]
[And you shall say,] “Wherefore I now bring the first fruits of the soil which You, Eternal One, have given me.”
You shall leave it before the Eternal your God and bow low before the Eternal your God. And you shall enjoy, together with the Levite and the stranger in your midst, all the bounty that the Eternal your God has bestowed upon you and your household.
— Deuteronomy 26:1-4, 10-11
It is true that the farmers had to show up to deliver their crop to the priests as their offering, but the liturgical formula offers something more than physical presence.
Intention and attention play a greater role. The farmers had to make sure that what they brought was actually the first fruits. The Talmud described how they tied a red ribbon to the first fruit so they would know exactly which ones to select. In addition, they don’t just place the basket down, they have to hand it over to the head priest with the specified recitation. They had to pay attention to their words and actions so that their intention played out in this beautiful ritual.
That ritual we share on Passover assists us as we enter Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur with the specific liturgy we offer. We bring the harvest of our lives as we consider and confront our actions. What kind of person will we be? This takes attention and intention as well. The focus is on how—internally — we will be present. Therefore, being present remains accessible to us all, onsite or online, wherever we find ourselves for these Days of Awe.
Shabbat Shalom!
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Rabbi Elaine Zecher