Reflection on Aleinu
Joshua Breitzer

Download the PDF of these pages

As a small boy sitting in the sanctuary with my parents on a Friday night, I would always look forward to hearing the words, “Let the time not be distant…” because I knew it was almost time for theoneg punch. Whoever had tried it could never forget it. That bubbly, buoyant mixture of sherbet, ginger ale, and fruit punch, ladled out into crystal teacups, received a place of prominence in the social hall every week. Just imagining the taste of oneg punch was a delicious incentive to stay on my best behavior for a little while longer, because something good was coming soon.

Jews need something to look forward to. We have already learned that the rabbis’ original purpose for adding “aleinu l’shabeiach” to the conclusion of each worship service was to end on a hopeful note. The One who created all would one day be the One to whom all would turn. No matter what our daily lives are like now, our best days still lie ahead, in a world where everyone, according to our Reform forebears, would “…become one in spirit and one in friendship, forever united in Your service.” The kabbalists helped us to understand that as human beings, made in the divine image, it is indeed “aleinu” – upon us – to bring this world about. I imagine such a world now and wonder: how am I bringing it about? Every day inevitably brings new challenges and unforeseen obstacles. Do my efforts make a difference?

One year when my religious school class led the monthly family service, I was assigned to read, “Let the time not be distant…” in front of the entire congregation. I remember thinking how fortunate I was: a paragraph that took up half the page, filled with weighty words like “corruption,” “superstition,” and “fervently” (as the text then appeared in Gates of Prayer). When the time came for me to go up to the bimah, I wasn’t thinking about the taste of oneg punch. I was thinking about how all those long words would taste: how I would pronounce them, how I would inflect them, how I would choose which ones to emphasize. This was my opportunity to articulate for the whole community what a perfect world would look like: the way I said it would make a difference.

On page 591 of Mishkan T’filah, a new prayer shifts the focus from what I say to what I do. In part, it reads “May our deeds exceed our speech…”; to me, that means no matter how much thought I give to my words, my actions are what will make the difference. Perhaps I had to grow up a bit to really grasp this notion. The boy cared about how the congregation perceived his words from the pulpit, but the man cares more about the congregation itself. At the oneg, he still searches for the punch (which is hard to come by these days), but he searches more fervently for the people. When they speak to him, does he perceive their words? Is he actively listening to them as they describe their lives, their hopes, their worlds?  In those brief, passing moments of conversation lie realms of opportunity to act.

“Loved, each of us, for the peace we bring to others.” May we continue being mindful of our words, and even more mindful of our actions, for they are what will make the world we hope for into the world we live for. 

Joshua Breitzer will receive cantorial investiture from the HUC-JIR School of Sacred Music in May 2011. He is a member of the Joint Commission on Worship, Music, and Religious Living and serves as student cantor at Temple Beth Shalom in Arnold, MD.

SAVE THE DATE! URJ North American Forums are taking place November 5-7 in Chicago and November 19-21 in Atlanta. Visit urj.org/naforums for details!

Take your study of 10 Minutes of Torah to the next level. Sign up for Eilu V'Eilu. Each month, two scholars debate an issue and answer questions raised by you, the learner.