By Ron Isaacs
Special to The Jewish State

It is with pleasure that I begin my fifth year of the Ask the Rabbi column. Receiving your many questions has been one of the highlights of each week, and I am constantly amazed at the depth and breadth of your queries. As always, I want to encourage those who have yet to submit a question to do so. It will be my pleasure to communicate with you. On behalf of myself and my entire family, best wishes for a sweet and happy New Year. May it bring you peace, fulfillment, and blessings.

1. Is it true that some Jews allow themselves to be flogged on the day before Yom Kippur?

The custom of having oneself flogged before Yom Kippur is an ancient one, dating back more than 10 centuries. Today it is rarely practiced. The flogging ritual may be traced to the flogging ritual in the Torah, which consisted of punishing a criminal by striking him on the back 39 times with a leather strap. As the person is flogged, he confesses his sins. Self-flagellation is prevalent in the Muslim world to this day.

2. My grandmother used to decorate her Yom Kippur challah with birds; is there a precedent for doing this?

On Yom Kippur, a person is compared to a winged angel. The custom of decorating challot with birds expresses the hope that as winged creatures fly heavenward with ease, so, too, will a person's prayers rise quickly and be answered with God's grace and favor. Similar challot are made for Rosh Hashanah as well.

3.  Are there days when Yom Kippur can never fall, and why was the Jewish calendar designed in this way?

While all other fast days that fall on Shabbat in a particular year are postponed to Sunday, Yom Kippur must always be observed on its appointed day, the tenth of Tishrei, as prescribed in the Torah. The Jewish calendar was designed so that the tenth of Tishrei should not fall on a Friday, Sunday, or a Tuesday. If Yom Kippur were to fall on Friday, it would be impossible to prepare food for the Sabbath. If it were to fall on Sunday, it would be impossible to do on the Sabbath all that is necessary to prepare for the Yom Kippur fast. Finally, if Yom Kippur were to fall on Tuesday, Hoshana Rabbah would fall on Shabbat and the requirement that willows be beaten would not be able to be observed, for this would be a violation of Sabbath law.

4. Why are prayer shawls worn at the Kol Nidre service but at no other service held after dark?

Because Kol Nidre is an especially holy time, the custom is to don a tallit to emphasize the sanctity of the day. In actuality, the tallit is actually worn before nightfall in order that one can recite the blessing over it while it is still light. Kol Nidre is traditionally chanted before sunset, since it is a legal formula whereby a person is released from a vow. It would be a violation to chant it on a Sabbath or festival, since one cannot ask for absolving vows on these days.

5. Is there a reason why the Hallel Psalms of praise, chanted on all Jewish holidays, are not chanted on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur?

According to a legend in the talmudic tractate of Rosh Hashanah (32b), the angels appeared before God and asked why God's children were not reciting Hallel on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. God answered: "How can they recite Hallel at such an awesome time, when the Book of Life and the Book of Death are open before Me and no one knows what his fate will be?"

For this reason, Hallel is not recited on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur, holidays that are devoted to self-examination and are not considered joyous in the same sense as Passover, Sukkot, or Shavuot.

6. Why is the shofar blown at the end of the Yom Kippur service?

At the end of the Neila service (final service of Yom Kippur), one last blast of the shofar concludes the day of fasting. The extended blast expresses the feeling of the worshippers that they have extended themselves spiritually during the long day of prayer and are now resolved to reach out during the coming year towards new insights and more meaningful living. We in our synagogue invite all persons who have shofarot to join in this final blast. Many congregations do the same.

7. What are some of the special foods that are traditionally eaten on Rosh Hashanah?

There are a number of special foods. The most popular is a slice of apple dipped in honey, symbolizing our hope for a sweet year. The eating of pomegranates is meant to symbolize our resolve that our merits may become as numerous as the seeds of the pomegranate. It is customary not to eat nuts and almonds on Rosh Hashanah, because the total numerical value of the letters in egoz (nuts) corresponds to that of the letters in the Hebrew word chet (meaning sin).

8. Why does the cantor chant the Kol Nidre prayer in Aramaic, rather than Hebrew?

When the Kol Nidre prayer was first introduced, the vernacular of the great Jewish communities was Aramaic. In view of the importance of Kol Nidre, the rabbis ruled that it had to be recited in the language all Jews understood at the time. And because of this established tradition, we continue to do so today.

9. Can you tell me something about the origin of the Tashlich service?

Tashlich is the Hebrew word for "to throw", and is derived from a verse in the Book of Micah, "And You shall throw their sins into the depths of the sea"(7:19). Based on the prophet's words, a Jewish custom arose during the Middle Ages. On the first day of Rosh Hashanah (and on the second day when the first day falls on Shabbat) Jews go to a body of water and symbolically cast their sins into the water. In recent times, Tashlich has become a very social mitzvah. People often descend on the same body of water from different neighborhoods where they encounter their friends and acquaintances they may not have seen since the preceding Tashlich. Partially for that reason, even though the ceremony itself is solemn, Tashlich has become more widely observed.

10. Can you tell me all of the traditional prohibitions associated with Yom Kippur?

First, let me say that Yom Kippur is the only fast day mandated in the Torah. (Leviticus 23:27) The verse specifically speaks of "afflicting your souls", which has come to be rabbinically understood to mean refraining from eating food or drinking liquids. On Yom Kippur, we are also forbidden to bathe, engage in sexual relations, or wear leather shoes. A modern explanation for the ban on wearing leather suggests that it would be presumptuous to appear before God asking for mercy while wearing shoes made from the skin of a slaughtered animal.

11. Can you recommend a book that might help us prepare spiritually for the High Holy Days?

There is a book whose title is "Preparing Your Heart for the High Holy Days" (Olitzky and Sabath) which I think will be particularly helpful to you. I have enjoyed using it for several years now. It draws on the wisdom of Jewish tradition and its texts and reflections will undoubtedly help you to frame your thoughts during the days leading up to Rosh Hashanah. The book helps direct the reader inward to take a moral and spiritual inventory and suggests ways to overcome familiar obstacles to faith and a prayerful life. It also provides steps to repentance. I highly recommend it!

12. When I fast on Yom Kippur, at a certain point all I can think about is food. What good is that when I'm supposed to be praying?

It would not be normal for a person on Yom Kippur who is fasting to avoid thinking of food when feeling hungry, especially in the late afternoon. It is important to know the reason and meaning of fasting and refraining from food on this holy day.

The Haftarah of Yom Kippur morning, written by the prophet Isaiah, has as its main theme the true purpose of fasting. Isaiah speaks to the Jewish people during a convocation on a fast day, when the people performed all of the proper rituals, but without the emotions of self-cleansing. Isaiah warns against a superficial religion, a religion of form and mechanical ritual without feeling and proper action. He declares in the Haftarah that fasting and prayer are of no purpose if they do not induce just and merciful treatment of people.

A true fast, he writes, must result in breaking the shackles of evil and deep concern for those in need. Thus, it is not enough to think of food and your hunger while praying on the Day of Atonement. Your abstaining from food is intended to arouse your sympathy for the plight of the hungry and needy. This year on Yom Kippur, when you begin to feel hungry and are thinking about food, don't forget to think about all of those who have no food to eat, and do your God-given part to help them in every way that you can.