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In the traditional Tashlich ceremony, on the afternoon of Rosh Hashana
(except when it is Shabbat), we go to a body of living water, and beseech G-d to
forgive us for our transgressions. The prayers that we recite there (printed in
nearly every siddur) are based on a verse from Prophets: "He will again
have compassion upon us; He will suppress our iniquities. And Thou will cast all
their sins in the depths of the sea." (Micah 7:19) The concept of sin is one
that manifests itself in the spiritual reality; the "sea" referred to in the
verse above hardly refers to waters of the physical world. How can we literally
cast a spiritual quality into a material entity?  | | " Every action which we perform in this physical world has a spiritual counterpart in the Higher Worlds...." | | |
When "the sea", or any water, is considered metaphorically to exemplify the
power to nullify beyond retrieval, as well as purify, we can understand the
Tashlich ceremony to be a sort of meditative aid in our process of genuine
repentance. We wish to truly leave behind all of our past transgressions and
personal faults, emerging cleansed in a state of renewal - and Tashlich
is a dramatic way of emphasizing such aspirations.
In addition, every action which we perform in this physical world has a
spiritual counterpart in the Higher Worlds. By performing certain actions with
the proper concentration, we actually do affect the higher, spiritual
reality; this is one of the basic reasons in Jewish mystical tradition for the
performance of all mitzvot. This Rosh Hashanah, may we merit to approach
the life-giving source of all divine beneficence, our spiritual "stains" washed
away.
(Written originally for
Askmoses.com)
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