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In the afternoon of Rosh Hashanah there is a tradition of emptying out the gathered crumbs from within the seams of the pockets and casting them into "living water" (a well, the sea, a stream or water cistern). This tradition of Tashlich (lit. 'dumping'; nonlit. 'letting go') is widespread amongst Jewish communities even though it appears to have been introduced as late as the 16 century. The central prayer evokes the prophet Micah's assurance that in the process of Tshuvah (Returning), which involves casting off of sin as if into the depths of the sea, then the Merciful One, will Return us.
So here are some kavanot for Tashlich:
What is sin? Sin means missing the mark., You know where the target is. You aim for the target. You release your arrow. You miss. What is the cause of this 'missing'. Somewhere, in someway, you are out of balance. Your aim is not straight. There is some confusion, lack of clarity, blindness. This is iniquity (lit: in equity &endash; not in balance). The result is a transgression ((lit: over the boundary) &endash; you hit something else, not your target at all! Maybe broken a window? Or your son instead of the apple? This dynamic is vividly described in Psalm 32, the Psalm of the heart. Something in you is blocking the full flow of life through you. The Divine flux is stifled. Your heart is still closed. You need to let go into the stream of your God-given life. See how the currents take the particles you caste. They go without resistance into the circle of life. Where are you? And where are you going?
Let go. Just let go. For God's sake let go. For your sake let go.
You're still holding on to what doesn't work for you. Caste it off.
The fish never close their eyes even when they sleep. We, on the other hand, tend to keep our eyes closed even when we're awake! No wonder we keep missing the target. Open your eyes, your sight, your vision, your insight and see clearly how you are living your life.
On the festive table there is the tradition of placing a fish's head: May we be blessed to be a head and not a tail. May we be blessed to lead our life along the path of our destiny and not try to lead the life of somebody else or somebody else's understanding of what our lives should be like.
At Pesach we search for hametz in the seams of our pockets. Any hametz found is collected and caste in to the flames. Now we do the same but this time we caste it off into the sea. What's the difference? At Pesach we were deep into our slavery, cut-off, desperate for air. We would do anything (or nothing) to get out. To be free from Mitzraim we must be radical. Whatever is enslaving us, trapping us, trapped by us must be destroyed and quickly. Our over-inflated, fear-filled egos that create the illusions of our reality, our reality of illusions, must be deflated in fire. No mercy. Every crumb; every hint cast into the flames. On Rosh Hashanah we are dealing with a different level of existence, a different type of freedom. We've come a long way since Mitzraim. Now there is the chance for deep transformation with compassion and with time. To transform from red to white. To fine tune. So let your illusions become food for the fish.
It is necessary to be clean before you can be purified. Tashlich is the cleaning out. Yom Kippur is the purification. When entering the living waters of the mikve the body must be physically clean. Only then can spiritual purification take place. Surrounding by living water the fish are always in a state of purity (only the fish remained alive during the Flood). We too were once fish swimming around in the womb of life-giving fluids. Pure and innocent, flowing in the stream of Divine grace.
In order undergo radical transformation, Jonah had himself cast into the tormented seas. He was saved by a giant fish. In the womb of this fish (instead of fish in the womb; what an ironic twist!) he realigned himself with the Divine Will ((úùåáä and was giving another chance.
May the Divine Will be moved to mercy, may our sins be transformed, may we be inscribed in the book of Life for a loving, healthy, joy-filled and sweet New Year.
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