U'Teshuvah, U'Teffilah, U'Tzedaka...

On Rosh Hashanah, when the ba'al tefilah began to chant the heart wrenching words of Unesaneh Tokef, a lot of cries could be heard in the shul. Countless faces were buried in tear stained machzorim as the chazan proclaimed: "b'rosh hashanah yikasevu....mi yichye umi
yamus..." And then, the words came, the ones that peirced my soul, and simultaneously gave me hope.

I wonder if an outside observer, who knew nothing about my family would have been able to see a difference. There we were, myself, my mother and all of my sisters, simply standing there in a row, heads buried in our machzorim. Yet, as those words were uttered, "mi ye'ani umi ye'asher," no doubt I wasn't the only one with my shoulders shaking, reaching for a tissue from behind the privacy of my machzor. From the sounds I heard from the sisters on each side of me, I knew it wasn't only me for whom this concept hit home.

Yes, the other things listed in Unesane Tokef are far worse, far more tragic than "mi ye'ani," but after all, chazal say that ani chashuv kemeis, a poor person is like a dead person. It is from personal experience that I tell you that there is a good reason behind that.

Being poor is, as readers of this blog know, not about simply lacking material things. It's about emotions, fear, lack of stability. It's about lack of pride. It's about lack of certainty. Lack of peace of mind. Lack of peace in the house.

I don't have all that much to say about "mi ye'ani" that hasn't already been written here, but one thing both scares me and gives me hope: "mi ye'ani umi ye'asher." Last year, we were on the "mi ye'ani" side of it. But, as we all know, this rosh hashana, there is a new judgement, and now, we all have the same chance of being rich. My neighbor might have millions in the bank, yet this year, we have as much of a chance of "mi ye'asher" as he does.

Are you scared? Do you realize that it could be you next year? Do you want to know what to do? Look a little further in the machzor....


U'Teshuvah, U'Tefilah, U'Tzadakah....ma'avirin es ro'ah hagezeirah. Tzedaka is so important, so vital. Not just for those getting it, who will stay in the light, under a roof, and have food on yom tov, but for you also. This is one of the three things you need to do in order to break any harsh decrees.

In case it sounds like I am making an appeal for my family, I wouldn't do that. I'm asking, for your sake, please take out your credit card and call your local tomchei shabbos. Call your local tzedaka organization, a local yeshivah. Give tzedakah.....we all know, it saves lives!