Day one of Rosh Hashanah, nearly over.
Roseanne’s first morning as cantor, behind her.
Angelic voice, the rabbi complimented her from the bimah.
A congregant hugged her.
Best service I’ve heard in years.
Her family, watching on Zoom, opined as well.
Amazing, operatic voice. Clear as a bell.
It was, indeed, amazing.
Listening to her chant Hineni.
As she marched down the aisle from the rear of the Temple.
Pleading for congregants’ prayers to be heard.
While acknowledging her unworthiness to do so before God.
Holiday liturgy on my daughter’s tongue.
In her throat.
Deep inside her lungs, her soul.
Blessed is the mother.
Alive to watch her child bloom.
When it was only yesterday
she nestled snugly in the womb.
Lynn Benjamin
September 20, 2023
The bimah is the raised platform in a synagogue from which services are led and the Torah (five books of the Hebrew Bible) is read.
Hineni is the personal prayer of the cantor on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in which the cantor asks for forgiveness for members of the congregation, leading the congregation through atonement prayers, but acknowledging his/her unworthiness for the task.