Keeping the Faith: Opening the Gates of Repentance at Congregation Brit Shalom

The Gates of Repentance were open on Wednesday evening, and the Jewish people gathered before them in prayer and song in the final hours of the High Holy Days.

Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, is one of the most sacred days in the Jewish faith, concluding a 10-day period of reflection and prayer that begins with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year.

In State College’s Congregation Brit Shalom, there was an air of solemnity as the faithful, many of whom were draped in tallit prayer shawls, filled the pews of the synagogue for the concluding Ne\’ilah service of Yom Kippur.

“Open for me the gates of righteousness that I may enter and thank God,” intoned Rabbi David Ostrich as he began the service, reading from a special prayer book he researched and complied specifically for his congregation during the High Holy Days. “This is the gateway to the Lord; the righteous shall enter it.”

In this file photo from 2014, Rabbi Ostrich, seen here without the tallit worn during Yom Kippur, poses for a portrait. Photo by Michael Martin Garrett/StateCollege.com

The Ne\’ilah service is distinct from the usual Shabbat service on Saturdays, with heightened reverence and a focus on repenting for one’s sins from the previous year while asking the Lord for guidance to live according to His will in the coming year.

Despite the solemnity of the prayers, there’s a sense of momentum and energy – urgency, perhaps – to the Ne’ilah service.

The image of the Gates of Repentance closing appears several times throughout the service, and although Jewish teachings recognize that the Lord never truly closes himself off to the prayers of the repenting, there is a sense of exigency as the metaphorical gates close and the sun sets on this holy day.

Rabbi Ostrich’s voice somersaults though prayers and poems, melding from Hebrew to English, from spoken word to song, and from praises of divinity to pleas for forgiveness for the sins of a life lived in the shadow of temptation. As he stands before his congregation, their voices rising to meet him in song and prayer, one can almost hear thousands of years of Jews praying with them, continuing a conversation with the Lord unceasing through countless generations.

Alexandra Roche, a younger member of the congregation, has been coming to Congregation Brit Shalom for about a year and a half, having previously attended services on campus while studying at Penn State. She says Yom Kippur and the 10 days of reflection leading up to it are an important reminder of what really matters in life.

“We suffer internally because we sin, and now we want to live a better, more pure life that our ancestors fought for,” Roche says. “It’s good to have a fresh start, a blank slate. How many times do we hold grudges and focus on how we think we’ve been wronged? It’s important to have this chance to have that weight taken off your shoulders.”

At some points during the Ne’ilah service, the congregation members stand on their tiptoes to raise their prayers to heaven, and other times they bow their heads when addressing their Lord as the ruler of all kings and queens. Longtime congregation member Andrea Messer says the importance of these actions is not in their ritualism, but in the way they reinforce the meaning of their prayers and form a visceral connection to the words they offer to the Lord.

When the Holy Ark is opened during the service, revealing the Torah scrolls, the congregation rises to their feet. Photo by Michael Martin Garrett/StateCollege.com.

Messer also speaks of a balance of good and evil, and the need to seek a balance within yourself in order to live a life filled with lovingkindness according to the teachings of the Lord – recalling, perhaps, certain tenets of eastern thought and theology.

“Judaism isn’t a religion that sees itself as the only religion, or the only way to get to God,” Messer says. “The things encapsulated in Judaism are human things. If those teachings cross boundaries and can be found in other religions, that’s no surprise.”

Despite the great solemnity of the Ne’ilah service, and the knowledge that all people sin, Messer says there’s another emotion that makes the final prayers of Yom Kippur so powerful: hope. God’s love is unending and boundless, His ears eternally open to prayer, His forgiveness always available to those who seek it.

“May the year upon which we have entered be for us, for Israel, and for all the world, a year of blessing and prosperity,” the congregation declares, their voices punctuated by the powerful wailing of the traditional shofar horn. “A year of salvation and spiritual significance! A year of virtue and courage!”

“A year of Your love and illumination!”

Members of Congregation Brit Shalom dine together following the Ne’ilah service, ending a day of fasting meant to place a focus on spiritual needs over physical desires. Photo by Michael Martin Garrett/StateCollege.com.