I have no idea if I will be going to shul this Rosh Hashanah. I have no idea where I will hear the shofar, and even if I did go, I would have little sense of what the experience would look like.
What I do know is that no matter where I pray, it will be up to me to make the experience meaningful. I know further that if it isn’t, the responsibility is purely mine.
This is why I thought to create loose guidelines ahead of time, that could assist on the day:
- Daven at the same time as the shul minyan. The schedules are easily available, and instead of ignoring it because we are not going, I suspect that it’s a good idea to align with the community.
- If there are a number of people in a home who are not going to shul, it’s a good idea to pray together as family. If possible, and if the neighbours are kind or deaf, try to sing some of the songs from davening. Assuming the tunes are known.
- The advantage of staying home is that it provides the opportunity to go through the davening in more detail. The ArtScroll machzorim in particular has very interesting notes at the bottom at the bottom of each page. These can be extremely enlightening and provide a completely different perspective into the history and meaning of the prayer.
- Dress the part. One of the lessons that we learned early in lockdown when remote working became the norm, was that, although it might have been exciting to spend all day working in pyjamas, it didn’t take long for the novelty to fade, and for misery and depression to set in. Dress matters. And not only for work. In order to appreciate the significance of the day, it would be helpful to wear smarter clothes and shoes, and still treat the day as something special.
- For those who are able to, it’s useful also to go through the Torah reading for the day. And to do this in its normal spot, which is between Shacharit and Mussaf. The Rosh Hashanah portion is particularly meaningful and speaks of the time when Abraham was asked to sacrifice his long-awaited and precious son, Isaac. It speaks of commitment to G-d and to the challenges that we each endure, in our own way. It contains some of the most moving and beautiful lines, and it would be a real pity to miss out on the opportunity.
- Prepare your own sermon. This has multiple benefits. Worst case, it’s a fantastic opportunity to spend a few minutes daydreaming, and best it will engage and inspire. There is so much available online or from the different shuls. It will be worth investing the time to have something to read.
- If you’re not generally shabbat or yom tov observant, I would also encourage people to put away technology and cell phones. They’re distracting at the best of times, and will undoubtedly reduce the quality of the time spent in prayer.
No matter where we find ourselves over Rosh Hashanah, this year will not be the same as years gone by. There’s no doubt that there’s an increased responsibility on ourselves to make the festival meaningful and worthwhile. The time spent preparing will be well worth the result.
