In just two weeks we’ll be together for Rosh Hashanah—singing melodies that lift our souls, twisting the fringes of our tallitot between our fingers, gazing out from our mountaintop sanctuary, soaking up the wisdom of our rabbis, and celebrating another turn of the year. These days are filled with sweetness and searching as we open ourselves to the spiritual work of renewal. And though the world around us lately often feels messy and overwhelming, it can seem hardest to focus on our own inner lives—yet there is no more urgent time than now to start the work of repair within ourselves so that we might continue to heal the world around us afterward.
In this season, our tradition gives us a companion: Psalm 27. For centuries Jews have recited it every day from the beginning of Elul through the end of the High Holy Day season. The psalm names our fears—enemies, doubts, shadows—and answers them with courage: “Adonai is my light and my help, whom shall I fear? Adonai is the stronghold of my life.” It reminds us that while we cannot escape the challenges of life, we can face them with trust, with hope, and with the certainty that we are not alone.
Perhaps most moving is the line “Achat sha’alti me’eit Adonai, otah avakeish”—“One thing I ask of You, Adonai, this I seek: to dwell in Your presence all the days of my life.” Though the psalmist imagines this as a lifelong prayer, we recite it especially now because we need God to walk alongside us during this sacred season of resetting and starting over. In these words, we simultaneously express our fears and lend ourselves reassurance as we prepare to step into a new year.
The psalm closes with another gift: “Hope in Adonai, be strong and let your heart take courage, and hope in Adonai.” The repetition here feels almost like a hand on the shoulder, urging us not to give up. Keep returning, keep hoping, keep walking the path. These words steady us as we move toward the Days of Awe, inviting us to enter the sanctuary of the New Year with open hearts.
I hope you will enjoy the Psalm 27 musical variations below and that you’ll find a way to include them in your own preparation for this year’s Holy Days. May these next two weeks be filled with moments of quiet reflection, heartfelt connection, and a growing sense of readiness. I look forward to greeting each of you on Rosh Hashanah as the shofar calls us all to awaken and begin again.
With blessings of strength and sweetness as we enter 5786 together, shavuah tov,
Cantor Emma Lutz
Listen to Achat Sha’alti by Cantor Dan Singer sung by Cantor Emma Lutz here
Listen to Achat Sha’alti by Chava Mirel here
Listen to Psalm 27 by Rabbis Yoshi Zweiback and Micah Lapidus sung by Cantor Emma Lutz, Cantor Lauren Blasband-Roth, and Melvin Myles here.