Today is the final day of Hanukkah and this morning was the final Hallel for the holiday.
Each morning of the eight days of Hanukkah, we recite Hallel – the Service of Praise - as we do on other joyous occasions including Rosh Hodesh (the beginning of the new month), and on each of the three Pilgrimage Festivals. Hallel is a collection of psalms that recall the celebration of the Festivals in the temple. The text is filled with expressions of gratitude and joy for Divine providence. I think of the reciting of Hallel as a truly celebratory moment, often sung with upbeat and joyous melodies.
On October 7th, moments after receiving the news from Israel, I stood up in the sanctuary to lead Hallel. I was struck immediately by the tension between the joy with which we typically approach this text and what was unfolding in our hearts in real time. As the Shlichat Tzibur - the prayer leader responsible for honouring the needs of the congregation - I quickly had to figure out what might feel right, what might fit, what shift was needed to bridge these two realities.
I turned to my own heart and tried my best to lead from a steady and true place. I turned to melodies that were more somber, and that would be comforting for their connection to Israel. I also took the opportunity, in the moments of the text that offered it, to call out for Divine help.
אָנָּ֣א יְ֭הֹוָה הוֹשִׁ֘יעָ֥ה נָּ֑א
אָנָּ֥א יְ֝הֹוָ֗ה הַצְלִ֘יחָ֥ה נָּֽא׃
O LORD, deliver us! O LORD, let us prosper! We implore You.
On the days when we recite Hallel, we do not recite Tahanun, personal prayers and supplications included in the weekday services. Our Sim Shalom weekday siddur says, “These are not considered appropriate when one is emotionally focused on personal grieving or celebration.” Since that day when the world changed, however, I have really noticed the moments in Hallel for supplication.
As is clear in the example below, even in moments of prescribed joy, our tradition offers us the space to call out for the Divine in a voice that is true to all that is unfolding: the joy, the suffering, the praise, the yearning, the trust and the hope.
Psalm 116:1-2
אָ֭הַבְתִּי כִּי־יִשְׁמַ֥ע ׀ יְהֹוָ֑ה
אֶת־ק֝וֹלִ֗י תַּחֲנוּנָֽי׃
I love knowing
that Adonai listens to my cry of supplication.
כִּי־הִטָּ֣ה אׇזְנ֣וֹ לִ֑י וּבְיָמַ֥י
אֶקְרָֽא׃
Because God
does hear me, I will call on God in days of need.
We call out and we are in relationship. Then maybe, we feel less alone, less weighted down by holding it all together by ourselves. We may hear the voices of our ancestors as they too celebrated and as they too called out for help.
Whatever may be happening for us in the present moment, we are encouraged and bolstered by our prayer, the Tefilah of our words and tradition that weave together to create meaning, solace, and hope.
Over the course of this year’s theme of Prayer, I encourage all of us to delve more deeply into the liturgy of our tradition and find ourselves within it.
Hag Urim Sameah
And
Shabbat Shalom Shalom,
Aviva
