Reflections from a Wet and Dry Selichot©By Rabbi David Baum
In the darkness, you cannot see the clouds…your eyes are heavy, you hear no sound; you are half-asleep…
It is in the darkness when you don’t know what will come, good or bad… It reminds me of the feeling people have when they realize that there is a problem with their bodies, or their loved ones. It is in the darkness, the unknown, where we are most frightened.
When the light comes, the situation becomes more real; one can develop a plan – hope comes into focus.
And then, a picture of sun and shade; dry and wet; light and darkness. In the Shacharit service, we bless God as yotzer or uvoreh chosech – who fashions light and creates darkness …oseh shalom, u’vorei et ha kol – God makes peace, and creates everything. The words are a version of a quote from the book of Isaiah (45:7) – oseh shalom, u’vorei et harah – makes peace and creates evil.
As the lightening and thunder descended, as the winds pushed us back, we reminded ourselves that God was not in the mighty wind that we know is powerful enough to split mountains and shatter rocks; nor is God in an earthquake, or in fire…but in the Kol D’mamah Dakah – the soft and silent murmuring sound (1 Kings 19:12). God was in our prayers as we offered our hearts to God.
As the rains came, we were brought more and more to the center of the pavilion – huddled together, seeking shelter in each other’s presence, in the presence of God.
One thing I ask of God – this I seek: to dwell in the House of God all the days of my life, to behold God’s beauty and visit in God’s sanctuary…
Were God to hide me in God’s Sukkah on this evil day, were God to enfold me in the secret recesses of God’s tent…(Psalm 27)
Everyone around us, those who came to see the sunrise, who wondered what we were doing, who heard a strange and unfamiliar language, and unrecognizable tunes…they scattered. The rain was too much for them. But we persevered, standing together until the end of the service; until the last prayer was uttered;
Tears may linger for a night; joy comes with the dawn (Psalm 30)
When the sun comes out, what faces us focuses…it becomes clear – will it be a year of light, will it be a year of darkness? Actually, it will be a year of both. We will have moments when we will bask in the glow of the sun, and moments when we will be pelted by rains under the darkness of clouds. And through it all, we say, Gam Zeh Ya’avor – this too shall pass, both the good and the evil, and we are at peace with it.
In the light, our eyes were open, and we saw the clouds, in the darkness, we felt the rain…and they made us whole. And then, we heard the shofar…and then, we were awake.
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