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The code of Jewish law, known as the Shulchan Aruch, states that we need to prepare the prayers of the High Holy days in advance so that when it comes to the actual moment to pray on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur we are fully prepared and familiar with the prayer.
Of course, this sounds totally reasonable. After all, when preparing for an important meeting we often go over in our mind precisely what it is we wish to say. So that when we come to the pivotal moment when we ask for what we want or what we envisage for the next year, we need to have thought about it in advance. Since the prayers of Rosh Hashanah differ from those we say the rest of the year it would be good to familiarize ourselves with them.
But Rabbi Ashlag takes this requirement of the Shulchan Aruch in a different direction. He asks us to be clear that what we say with our mouths is what we really mean with our hearts. We have to really want what we are asking for. And the chief prayer that we say is ” Write us for life” .
Why wouldn’t we mean it? When we cry out, “Write us in the book of life,” surely we mean it with all our hearts?! But Rabbi Ashlag teaches us that hte prayer “Write us in the book of life” is not referring to our physical life but to the desire to be connected in affinity of form with the Source of all Life. This involves letting go of our will to receive for ourselves alone, our egoistical desires, and living a life of unconditional giving. This certainly is a proposition that we need to consider and discover honestly what we feel about it!
So Rabbi Ashlag encourages us to prepare in advance, to think about it, realize where our resistances are and to habituate ourselves to the idea of living a life of unconditional giving that will bring us to the untold delight of a life united with the Creator but which involves entering a different paradigm for our existence, giving up our egotistical desires. We need to get used to the idea now in the month of Elul so that when we reach Rosh Hashanah we can say, ” Write us in the book of life ” with all our heart and soul!
This podcast is dedicated to the ilui nishmat of Feiga bat Rivka z”l and Aharon and Sara Kotler z”l
Material taken from HaShem Shamati Shimecha vol. 2 (Or Baruch Shalom) article 15
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