Parashah Nitzavim

On September 4, Red Baron went to the local synagogue. It was the last Sabbath in the Jewish annual cycle, during which Moses’ five books are read from the Torah. On this day, the last verses of the book Deuteronomy (29:9-30:20), i.e., the 51st weekly parashah (section), are recited. This last Sabbath in the Jewish year is named Nitzavim after the first distinctive word - being the second - in the final parashah of the book Deuteronomy*.

*A similar scheme is practiced in the Catholic Church, where Sundays in the annual cycle are frequently named after the first word of the introit, the first prayer in the Mass. So the four Lent Sundays are known as Invocavit, Reminiscere, Oculi, and Laetare.

 

I attended the service because of the invitation of the Freiburg Jewish community on the occasion of the European Day of Jewish Culture.

Red Baron took his kippah, the streetcar, and was early for the service scheduled at 9:30 a.m.; time to look around and watch old white-haired men arriving. They put on their Talith (prayer shawl) and placed their Siddur Schomer Jissrael (Prayer book for Shabbat and [Jewish] holidays), waiting for the service to begin.

At 9:40 a.m, the Cantor started the service. I was left with the prayer book with texts printed in Hebrew, their phonetic transliterations, and translations of the Hebrew texts into German.

In the meantime, the Rabbi arrived. When he terminated his private prayers, he walked around and helped the old men* find the texts the Cantor was reciting in their prayer books. He helped me the goy too.
*Many of those pious men are Jews who fled the Soviet Union and settled in Germany

Frequently some of the men present participated in the recitation of texts.

The highlight of the service was the pulling out of the Thora and the reading of the last verses of Moses’ Fifth Book.

The Rabbi’s homily in German (!) centered around a rabbi in White Russia who went to the synagogue in his village for spiritual enlightenment on his religious queries. When he left the place of worship, he was deeply disappointed that the Lord had not spoken to him and went home saddened.

Later the keeper of the synagogue knocked at the rabbi’s door, asking him for some roubles for the work on the synagogue. The rabbi was generous. Hardly had the visitor left the house; the rabbi had all the answers to his queries. Amen.

Then a few men in the audience, one after the other, went to the front, and an attendee asked them in Hebrew who should be included in the prayers. Those questioned pronounced first names, including the Cantor and the Rabbi, and some mentioned the guests (me). The man knowledgeable in Hebrew repeated those names loudly, sometimes asking to ensure he understood well.

Near the end of the service, the Cantor prayed for the sick and the suffering. I forwarded my daughter's name when he invited the community to mention names.

The service was long. Luckily, the seats had cushions, so Red Baron survived the two hours.

Today September 6, is Rosh Hashanah (the start of the year). The Jewish New Year 5782 begins. Time to wish you all, Shana Tova, a good year,

The impressive cupola of Freiburg's synagogue.

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