T’fillah Towards Spiritual Flourishing: Avinu Malkeinu
by Eliana Light, the light lab founder
A person wrote Avinu Malkeinu, and people decided to put it in the machzor. So many choices went into this piece of liturgy. Exploring the choices can lead to questions, which can lead to new pathways into prayer through this piece of liturgy. What might shine through when we spotlight these choices?
Why is this prayer in the plural?
The liturgy of the holidays is very much in the plural. What does it mean for us to support each other in saying this t'fillah, and for the support to come from each other? Avinu. Malkeinu. Here we're calling out to our g?d as we also do with the Viddui, the confession in Judaism. We often talk about it as, “I'm thinking about what I can do to say sorry to the people I have hurt and make my year better,” when in fact, we're really interacting with the Holy One as a communal whole. Perhaps it’s a reminder that while our individual actions are important, it is what we do as communities that can make the greatest impact on our world.
Make it stand out
Why these metaphors for g?d and not other ones?
A person chose these g?d-names here. Can we start from a place of author empathy? Why might the author have chosen to call out to the Holy One as a parent, and as a ruler? What were they trying to poetically invoke? Have you ever felt that way?
Perhaps Parent evokes unconditional love, and Ruler invokes a sense of justice. When might I call out for love? When might I call out for justice?
If, after exploring these names deeper and with empathy, they are still not feeling connective, try using other nicknames for g?d instead. The -nu ending helps it fit in the common melody. Here are some suggestions:
shomreinu, tzureinu * our guardian, our rock
boreinu, oseinu * our creator, our maker
shechinateinu, oreinu * our presence, our light
And if it’s still not connecting, how does it feel to not sing Avinu and Malkeinu? To only call out when it feels like it comes from the heart? Play around with all of these pathways this Yom Kippur, and see how it feels.
ki ein banu ma’asim - we have no deeds/accomplishments
What does it mean for us to see ourselves as being dependent on a force that is greater than us? That I did not create the world and the animals and the trees? In fact, I did very little to be born - it just kind of happened. I did nothing to deserve being born into this life. And yet, here I am. We say here not “we have sinned” but “we have no accomplishments.” What does it mean to be proud of our accomplishments without that pride taking up all of the space in our hearts? Perhaps this humility allows us to ask for what’s next, recognizing that I, Eliana, the person who is speaking these lines, is not the end all and be all, that there's something greater here than anything else.
aseh imanu - make for us
This interpretation depends on how you translate or think about aseh imanu: make for us, do for us, or create for us (righteousness and loving kindness). Who is included in us? I invite you, when you read or hear or sing or say these lines this year, or in this moment, to think about your family. Now expand that circle of empathy to include the people that you know, the people you interact with, people you go to school with and work with. Can we expand that balloon of who we mean when we say “us” out into the people we're in community with, even if we disagree with them? And outward again, to who is included in our nation?
tzedakah v’chesed - justice + loving kindness
Out of all of the things to ask for, why are those things justice and loving kindness? Are tzedakah v’chesed opposites? Are they integrated? Are we asking g?d to act with us in a just and loving, kind way? Or are we asking for the ability for us to exhibit that behavior, so we can pay it forward? What does it mean for us to act with justice, and with loving kindness? If we're asking for something from the Holy One, and we are made in the image of the Holy One, does that mean that this is something that we can put into the world ourselves? It could have been written, aseh imanu, make for us rich and powerful, or make for us beautiful and pleasant to be around. It doesn't say those things.
This is what we're asking for, at this core moment of the High Holiday season. It's so important that it's not just done on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but also during the 10 days in between the two. It's one of the bridges: Avinu Malkeinu, Psalm 27, a couple of the words in the Amidah and the extra l’eila, beyond, in the Kadish. These are the liturgical bridges from Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, like a repeating refrain. Maybe it's meant for us to focus on the core things that are important here, when it's easy to go one way or another. Righteousness. Loving kindness.
This is my spiritual translation of Avinu Malkeinu:
like love, like time, we access the sacred through metaphor: care for us like a just ruler; love us like a calming parent. we know we did nothing to deserve being born into this beautiful life, yet here we are. we hope for justice, lovingkindness, and redemption for us and for the whole world.
It's very different from the other translation. But, at least to me, it's keeping all of the core elements of what makes Avinu Malkeinu what it is: the core metaphors, the fact that it's in the collective, the idea that we are not as in charge as we think we are, that we are dependent on a force larger than ourselves, and that we are putting out into the world an ask is for justice and loving kindness.
In every line of this prayer, there's something to be pulled out, that helps bring it a little closer, into our hearts, into our own experience. When I come across Avinu Malkeinu in the wild, now my approach might be a little different. I hope this exploration offers much to meditate on, as we attempt to pray towards spiritual flourishing.
Wishing all of us a sweet Shana Tova.
What is something that was sparked in you and/or a question that you have based on this exploration of Avinu Malkeinu? Join our facebook group to connect and comment.