“There is a certain angelic being in the heavens who, when it is day, has the word ‘Truth – Emet’ on her forehead. And in the evening ‘Faithfulness – Emunah’ is on her forehead. This is how the angels know whether it is day or night. And at each of these times, at the proper time for singing praises to God, she calls out: ‘Barkhu – Bless the Eternal Who is so blessed!’”
This ancient midrash (- religious legend) is cited in some prayer books to explain why we begin the morning and evening prayers with the call to worship: “Barkhu et Adonai Ha-M’vorakh – May you all bless the Eternal, Who is so blessed!” In our interpretive survey of the order of the prayers, we have reached this point. After having recited the morning blessings and the verses of song from the Psalms, we have arrived at the real beginning of the morning service. The previous sections of prayer were meant to prepare us and sensitize us to be able to pray with a full heart. Now we are hopefully ready to begin in earnest.
The morning prayers are a traditional obligation for each individual. So they may be offered individually, even when one is all alone. But, when we push ourselves to pray together with a community of fellow pray-ers (- a minyan), our prayers take on additional power and we are able to recite prayers that we could not say on our own. The enhanced power of the community is its greater ability to bring holiness into the world. As I have pointed out in the past, a concrete example of the enhanced power of holiness inherent in community is the ability we have as a community to house and feed the homeless. This is something that we could hardly do if we were each on our own.
This aspect of augmented holiness is described by our tradition through the image of our imitation of the angels in heaven. Every minyan, every community dedicated to a sacred goal, is akin to a celestial choir that sings out God’s praises with joy and fervor. So we copy the angels above and, in so doing, we remind ourselves of how sacred our potential group strength is, as we invite ourselves to join together to praise and bless the Holy Blessed One. The prayer leader (- hazzan or sh’liah/sh’lihat zibbur – representative of the community) calls out to the rest of us – “Barkhu … Bless the Eternal Who is the Blessed One!” and our communal response is a power surge of holiness: “Barukh Adonai ha-m’vorakh l`olam va`ed – Blessed is the Eternal One for ever and ever!”
The communal power of holiness is expressed through this ritual of call-and-response. The model of call-and-response characterizes every prayer ritual that depends on a minyan, including the kaddish. Indeed, the kaddish is used by our tradition as a marker of prayer in a minyan. When our prayers are recited in community and not by ourselves, each section of the service is concluded with the short (“half”) kaddish recitation. And when the entire service is concluded, the long version of the kaddish (“whole kaddish”) is recited. Because it is a marker of the community’s power to create holiness, the format of the kaddish is the format of call-and-response. The prayer leader begins by praying that God’s Great Name be exalted and magnified in the world. But this is not an individual prayer. The hazzan calls on all of us to assent to this prayer. So she says: “V’imru ‘amen!’ – and say ‘amen’ to this!” (- By the way, this means that the proper way to recite the ending of each paragraph of the kaddish is to say these two words together, not pausing between “v’imru” and “amen.” The point is to first tell the congregation to “say ‘Amen!’”) Then we are supposed to answer with “Amen!” with intention and dedication. And we further respond, “y’hei sh’meih rabbah … – May God’s Great Name be blessed for ever and ever!”
It is the very drama of a single person calling out to their community, and the ready answer of the community in response to the call that they hear, that is held up by our tradition as the most meaningful exemplification of creating holiness in this world. This is the very mission and purpose of a synagogue. I know of no other more essential explanation for what a synagogue is and why one should be part of one.
The image of the angels engaged in this very drama is meant to show us how utterly holy this interaction is. Heaven is portrayed as the arena of communal call-and-response among the angels. We are meant to be inspired by that example so that we might follow it.
But the tradition makes a further, even stronger claim about our capacity to create holiness. The midrash states that there is an angel who signals to the others whether it is day or night. Apparently, without the special marking on her forehead that changes with the changing times of day, the angels would be oblivious to time. After all, they live in heaven, the realm of etenity. Time is the domain of human beings. It is we mortals who are acutely conscious of the passage of time.
This means that this angel is attuned to our worldly experience and is charged with conveying that temporal rhythm to her angelic partners. But why should she need to do this?
The answer is that this is necessary so that they will know when “the proper time for singing praises to God” occur. But this begs the question. Why should there be a “proper time” for praising God in the eternal heavens above? And, anyway, how would this representative angel know when it is the right time to call out “Barkhu!” to the heavenly hosts? The midrash quoted above is based on an ancient teaching: The angels above cannot sing God’s praises until we do so, first, here below! So the angel is on watch for us to begin our prayers. It is only after we say “Barkhu!” that she reports back to the other angels that they may now proceed with their own singing. Our call-and-response extends far beyond the walls of our own sanctuary. It reaches all the way to heaven!
Thus, it turns out, when we join as a community and reinforce in our consciousness that we must be responsive to the calls of others, that we are not really imitating the angels at all. Rather, it is our earthly capacity to create holiness in this world that serves as a model for heaven above, a model that the angels try to imitate.
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