I created this set of kavannot statements and questions to accompany a close friend’s performance of Kol NidreiA prayer recited Yom Kippur evening, widely known for its mournful, haunting melody.. The pieces are meant to support thinking about the themes of that night as I see them. As a student of Zen Buddhism, it’s easy to feel the similarities between a Zen koan and the text of Kol Nidrei, both of which rely on contradictory or self-negating statements. Writing this piece has helped me appreciate a whole new dimension of the liturgy and the relationship between Judaism and other spiritual practices.
To be read before Kol Nidrei, either to oneself or aloud to the audience
- In the beginning there was everything. Then, that everything contracted so that there was space for something else. Emptiness was the first creation. What does it feel like to be empty?
- All torahThe Five Books of Moses, and the foundation of all of Jewish life and lore. The Torah is considered the heart and soul of the Jewish people, and study of the Torah is a high mitzvah. The Torah itself a scroll that is hand lettered on parchment, elaborately dressed and decorated, and stored in a decorative ark. It is chanted aloud on Mondays, Thursdays, and Shabbat, according to a yearly cycle. Sometimes "Torah" is used as a colloquial term for Jewish learning and narrative in general. is an imperfect human effort to understand and house this divine emptiness which was revealed to us at SinaiAccording to the Torah, God, in the presence of the Jewish people, gave Moses the Torah on Mount Sinai (Har Sinai).. What is the benefit of this effort and what are its disadvantages?
- Our prayer, the ShemaThe most central prayer in Jewish liturgy, the Shema states: "Hear O Israel, the Lord Our God, the Lord is One." These words are written inside mezuzot and t'fillin. It is traditionally said during all major services and when waking and going to sleep., begins with the injunction to listen. In order to truly listen, we have to create space within ourselves, releasing our own toxic narratives about the world. What stories are living in you that block your listening?
- Only an act performed without desire for blessing or fear of punishment can be considered a mitzvahLit. Commandment. It is traditionally held that there are 613 mitzvot (plural) in Judaism, both postive commandments (mandating actions) and negative commandments (prohibiting actions). Mitzvah has also become colloquially assumed to mean the idea of a “good deed.". When was the last time you acted in this way?
- On Yom KippurThe holiest day of the Jewish year and the culmination of a season of self-reflection. Jews fast, abstain from other worldly pleasures, and gather in prayers that last throughout the day. Following Ne'ilah, the final prayers, during which Jews envision the Gates of Repentance closing, the shofar is sounded in one long blast to conclude the holy day. It is customary to begin building one's sukkah as soon as the day ends., Kol Nidrei proclaims of our vows: “All of them are undone, abandoned, canceled, null and void, not in force, and not in effect. Our vows are no longer vows, and our prohibitions are no longer prohibitions, and our oaths are no longer oaths.” What is the role of negation in the journey toward holiness?
