The Baal Shem Tov, or Besht —  the founder of Chasidism — 
met the soul of the Messiah during an ascent to heaven. 
The Besht asked him, "When will the Master come?" 
The Messiah answered, "When your wellsprings break forth to the outside!" 
(from a letter written by the Besht to his brother-in-law about one of his soul ascents) 


 
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Hu Ya'aneinu for Yom Kippur Eve - updated for 2008!

It's hard to imagine that we've been saying the prayer-piyut Hu Ya'aneinu, "The One will answer us", for so many centuries, without mentioning Sarah, Deborah, Ruth, and so many other heroic women. This version of the prayer includes verses for both the women and the men of our Jewish story, in good liturgical Hebrew.

The first version of this egal Hu Ya'aneinu was written in 1995 by Mark Frydenberg and myself; it's been updated this year in numerous ways. See especially the verse about Rachel, which is now cast in the future of messianic time. While some traditional verses about the men have been left out to make space for the new verses, I carved out space this year's version to put Elijah back in. (Needless to say, feel free to add the rest as well as to add new women in your own version.) Other egalitarian versions of Hu Ya'aneinu can be found on Ritualwell.

Download/view the pdf of Hu Ya'aneinu
Here's the English:

The One who answered to Abraham our father on Mount Moriah, Hu ya’aneinu.
The One who answered to Sarah our mother in the tent opening, Hu ya’aneinu.
The One who answered to Isaac their son when he was tied down on the altar, Hu ya’aneinu.
The One who answered to Rebecca at the well, Hu ya’aneinu.
The One who answered to Jacob in Beth El, Hu ya’aneinu.
The One who answered to Leah in the field and the tent, Hu ya’aneinu.
The One who answered to Joseph in the prison, Hu ya’aneinu.
The One who answered to Shifra and Puah in Pharaoh’s house, Hu ya’aneinu.
The One who answered to our ancestors at the Reed Sea, Hu ya’aneinu.
The One who answered to Miriam by the sea’s shore, Hu ya’aneinu.
The One who answered to Moses in Horeb (Sinai), Hu ya’aneinu.
The One who answered to Aaron with the incense pan, Hu ya’aneinu.
The One who answered to Joshua in Gilgal (and stilled the sun), Hu ya’aneinu.
The One who answered to Deborah at Mount Tabor, Hu ya’aneinu.
The One who answered to Samuel in Mitzpah, Hu ya’aneinu.
The One who answered to Ruth at the threshing floor, Hu ya’aneinu.
The One who answered to David and Solomon in Jerusalem, Hu ya’aneinu.
The One who answered to Elijah on Mount Carmel, Hu ya’aneinu.
The One who answered to Jonah deep in the bowels of the fish, Hu ya’aneinu.
The One who answered to Daniel in the lion’s den, Hu ya’aneinu.
The One who answered to Mordechai and Esther in Shushan palace, Hu ya’aneinu.
The One who will answer the cry of Rachel our mother in Ramah, Hu ya’aneinu.
May the One who answered all the righteous, the devout, the pure and the upright,
answer to us, though we cannot be so righteous and devout,
so pure and upright, as this moment needs.


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Very good except the ending. In both this version and that of the traditional piyut the inference is that all of those mentioned were "righteous, devout and pure." An examination of the lives of at least some of these would prove quite the contrary. Perhaps they should be noted for their courage of leadership, the ability to endure hardship while working for Kidush Hashem, and for the benefit of Amcha. They had foibles, weaknesses, as do the rest of us. The end of the last sentence seems to attempt to somewhat deal with this issue as it concludes with "as this moment needs". This make the sentence ambiguous. Why not clarify it and take a stand?

Posted by: Danel Jezer at October 10, 2008 5:25 PM

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