Rabbi Daniel Siegel

Who is calling?

These days of Aseret Yemei Teshuvah (the Ten Days of Reflective Returning), which began with Rosh HaShanah and culminate in Yom Kippur, more than any other time in our Jewish calendar, are fraught with thoughts of the fragility and preciousness of life. One piyyut (liturgical poem), at the center of our Yom Kippur service, is most confronting in this regard:

“Who shall live and who shall die…who by fire and who by water…”

The renowned Jewish singer/songwriter, poet and novelist, Leonard Cohen, who recently passed, wrote his rendering of this prayer, in the song Who by Fire? He recounts: “This song arises from a prayer on the Day of Atonement. I used to stand beside my tall uncles in their black suits waiting for this prayer .. But, of course, the conclusion of the song, as I write it, is somewhat different: “Who shall I say is calling?”

In our lives of joy and sorrow, torment and triumph, facing the uncertainty of another year, we yearn to know, even as we cannot, who is calling us. Who has called us into and who might call us out of this world. Who calls us into account and who calls us to be an agent in our own salvation.

Having experienced the vicissitudes and blessings of life, who in this mirror is calling, hoping for another year, a renewal, a returning to a holistic self. Not knowing when or how we might be called, perhaps we can better discern who is calling.

I find his call to us, in this prayer/song, both sobering and inspiring, and invite you to share your reflections on Cohen’s Who by Fire? and/or the Yom Kippur prayer upon which it is based.

For us all, may the sound of the shofar call us into a year of renewed vitality, celebrated meaning and personal and communal tikkun and growth.

לשנה טובה תכתבו ותחתמו – LeShanah Tovah Tikateivu VeTeichateimu

Who by Fire? Leonard Cohen

 And who by fire, who by water
Who in the sunshine, who in the night time
Who by high ordeal, who by common trial
Who in your merry-merry month of may
Who by very slow decay
And who shall I say is calling?

And who in her lonely slip, who by barbiturate
Who in these realms of love, who by something blunt
Who by avalanche, who by powder
Who for his greed, who for his hunger
And who shall I say is calling?

And who by brave assent, who by accident
Who in solitude, who in this mirror
Who by his lady’s command, who by his own hand
Who in mortal chains, who in power
And who shall I say is calling?