passionate prayer filled the air. With lighting speed there arose a plea replete
with holy thoughts: “May this prayer at least be speedily heard and penetrate
the sha’arei rahamim.¹⁵⁰⁵ May the gates open to us, and may the mekatrigim,¹⁵⁰⁶
God forbid, have no power over us to obstruct our prayers. May this cry — the
desperate cry of adonai shema bekoli¹⁵⁰⁷ from am yisrael saba, the heartbroken
Jewish people — at last reach kisei hakavod¹⁵⁰⁸ and Jewish honour be restored.
And then, just as the cry of holy ecstasy reached its climax, traversing all the
seven heavens, there came another call for quiet from below, from the other
side of the door, interrupting the congregation’s profound contemplation and
holy thoughts. They were asked to pray a little more quietly, so that the sound
of the prayers could not be heard outside, because there was mortal danger in
the air... They continued their prayers, but [21] in a lower register. Their mood
was depressed but even more serious, for such is [human] psychology: pain
that cannot find expression in a cry has an even stronger internal effect. With
bated breath, the Jews poured out their hearts to the Master of the Universe
in the fervent prayers of the Yamim Noraim.
The sounding of the shofar in the synagogue of D[obrzyń] ([5]700)
Before the sounding of the shofar, the synagogue became a little more crowded
and tightly packed, because a large proportion of the population, on learning
that the rabbi of S[kępe] was to speak meinyana deyoma¹⁵⁰⁹ at the shofar ceremony, had come to hear him. The rabbi’s sermon was interrupted, however,
because as soon as he began speaking, the ‘guards’ told him not to speak at
length but to finish the prayers as soon as possible, because the atmosphere
was not too encouraging and people could be running back and forth. And so
lamnatzeah livnei korah mizmor,¹⁵¹⁰ etc. The shofar was blown with somewhat
less force, but short and sharp, and musaf was recited at home. Before you could
turn around, the synagogue was empty.
On the morning of the second day of Rosh Hashanah, the ‘guard’ in front
of the synagogue was reinforced. “Once and for all,” the Jews of S[kępe] and
1505 (Hebrew) the Gates of Mercy.
1506 (Hebrew) accusing angels.
1507 (Hebrew) Lord, hear my voice.
1508 (Hebrew) the Throne of Glory.
1509 (Aramaic) on current affairs.
1510 (Hebrew) To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah (Psalm 46:1).
