Dear God, Master of the Universe,

We are gathered together at this hour to ask forgiveness from You….for the many misdeeds we performed and for the many good deeds that we neglected.  We address You in humility.  We are humbled by Your power, by the mind-boggling forces of nature which produce this earth…carried aloft in space and traveling thousands of miles an hour, and yet this earth appears stationary to us.  We are in awe of the beauty and order of this universe…the precise orbits of planets, stars, and galaxies…the dependable changes of seasons, the grandeur of mountains, oceans, and continents, the complex yet systematic structure of the smallest microorganisms and pieces of matter.

Who are we to address You?  [From dust we come and to dust we return (paraphrasing Genesis 3:19)]. And yet You have bidden us to come to Synagogue at this time to ponder the meaning of our lives…to take responsibility for our failures…to share our individual pain…but mollify it since we stand together with our community.  We are not alone.

We are Your creations, under Your control, and yet You have fashioned us with free choice, independent thoughts, and independent actions which can defy Your will.  In striking contrast to an ordered universe You have created Man…capable of poetry that inspires and enhances life…but we are also capable of destroying beauty and cruelly ending life.

Yet in Your inimitable way O Lord, You have created this world and called it “good” and “very good”…..because You know the good that man can achieve if we direct our efforts to follow Your Torah.

You focus Your attention on us, the Jewish people at this time to listen to the sacrifice of our humbled hearts pour out our confessions to You.

We cannot comprehend how in the vast, limitless universe with myriad stars and solar systems that at this moment You have chosen to listen to us…unless we realize that You are הרחמן  the All Merciful One. 

You desire that we return unto You…that we turn inward and examine our deeds, not because you long to punish us…but because You wish to forgive us and have us be reconciled with You.

Why do you love human beings so?  Why do You so patiently await our return unto You?

Are not the celestial beings more pleasing to You?  Are they not dependable like the orbits of the planets…programmed for goodness and to sing Your praise?

Yet you desire our songs and poetry.  You prefer our frail voices and freedom…because when we return to You we do so out of choice.  We are not robots, controlled by others to follow commands and demands.  We are created with free will.

We are able to choose between blind impulse and moral conscience.  We are capable of concern and compassion and we are capable of being insensitive and perverse. 

You have risked man’s inhumanity in order to pray for man’s godliness.

Like a loving couple that wants to marry, and who choose to be sensitive and caring and support each other and risk pain and infidelity, You love us and pray that we will be faithful in our love for You.  And when we fall short of our potential greatness…You lovingly await our return…and willingly accept our teshuva, our sincerely spoken word and performed worthy deed as apology and atonement. 

Your prophet Hosea taught us, “And I will betroth you to Me forever, and I will betroth you to Me in righteousness, in justice, and in lovingkindness, and compassion.  And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness and you shall know the Lord.”

May we learn to recognize this year, Your continuous love for us and so be moved to return in love to You.

Amen.  

-Rabbi Gershon Weissman