Last Sunday morning, Rabbi Isaac Sacca participated in an Intercommunity Selichot, in which different communities from Buenos Aires, the interior of the country, and the rest of the world were present. He addressed a few words of reflection, prior to Rosh Hashanah, from the ACISBA Temple.
Rabbi Attach led the event and highlighted the importance of the union. He explained that Selichot’s prayer includes confessions and apologies to God for our mistakes and the decision of not making them again. The Sephardim recite them throughout the month of Elul, the last month of the Hebrew calendar.
Chazan Eliahu Iazdi officiated the Selichot service, in which nearly 300 people participated.
Rabbi Isaac called for reflection before the proximity of the High Holidays, before the arrival of the last Shabbat of the year 5780. He quoted the Wise : “Every year which, at the beginning, comes with a narrowness, an obstacle, a crisis , at the end, it becomes a year of blessing, joy and happiness ”. He stressed that this contains a philosophical reflection of life on how we should face the new year: on the one hand, thanking for the glass half full, with an optimistic look, but on the other hand, taking measurements for the glass half empty. He explained that we must discover the bad from the past, not to create a state of pessimism, since we all err, but to build a good future, because if we only see the good of the past, it will not improve.
The Rabbi stressed that this year in particular,we are facing a much greater narrowness than other years, due to the pandemic, and it is a good opportunity to become aware and to make decisions in relation to our actions before God and our neighbor; The fact that we have a good year will depend on the decisions we make.
When we perceive chaos, we are moved and we evaluate what we are doing with our lives, in what we invest our time. The world was created out of chaos, as it is described in the book of Genesis. When everything was in disorder, there God began to put order. Order is stablished when we are aware of chaos.
We are starting a new year, with food which represent good omens. We want the new year to start well. But for that, the Yom Hadin is necessary, a day of Judgment. We must do a day of reflection, of balance. We are facing a unique opportunity in History. This pandemic took pride out of all of us. We are all on an equal condition; we are all equal at the mercy of the virus. When we pray, our position is of humility before God; we must see our mistakes to generate a project to change.
The global context helps us promote humility. “God raises the humble to the firmament” (Siddur). Let’s take control of our lives, let’s be supportive, dedicated to the values that really matter. It is a unique opportunity, let’s take advantage of it.
