A Different Prayer

15 minutes. That’s the total amount of time I spent participating in the main “adult” sanctuary services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Combined.

Just to clarify my math, I was at the synagogue for a total of about 15 hours, over the course of 3 mornings and 2 evenings. 8 hours were spent coordinating youth services, which should have left me with 7 quality hours for thoughtful reflection and paying attention to the normative prayer service. But my daughter had a different idea.

At 7.5 months, the high holidays arrived just in time for her. Not only did she find the shofar blowing hilarious, but she is able to sit unassisted and can stand on her own while leaning against the back of a pew. Much to her frustration, she can’t crawl or walk, which means that she is more or less confined to where someone decides to put her down. So this is a great stage if the goal is to be able to keep her comfortable for an extended period of time in a crowded room.

My daughter is not a wallflower. Having spent more of her waking life at the synagogue than probably anywhere else except for our house, she has lots of “friends” in our congregation. She felt the need to say hello to everyone who walked in, to “sing” along with her father, and generally be a part of whatever the action was. Thankfully we are blessed with a very tolerant and child-friendly community that generally did not seem to mind the occasional ill-timed squeal or squawk. Although we came prepared with her stuffed Torah, siddur, PJ Library books, and a shofar for her to teethe on, she was still definitely a distraction to my ability to follow along in my machzor. And her grandmother couldn’t have told me what page we were on either.

So this year my high holiday prayers were different. They were prayers of gratitude – for a beautiful, healthy, curious, and active baby girl; for a community that loves her and welcomes her with open arms. And the plea that my family continues to have these miraculous blessings, and to be able to appreciate them every day of this coming year.