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I was never a big fan of John Lennon’s legendary song “Imagine.” Don’t get me wrong - it’s an incredible song. But I guess I would say that the world I pray for and dream of differs a bit from John’s vision.
I think our machzor pushes us to imagine a much more perfect world. The paragraphs of ״ובכן״ form the backbone of every amidah that we say on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, a constant of sorts in our elevated prayers - but they also contain a vision for the world that serves as a foundation of our personal and national dreams:
.וְיֵעָשׂוּ כֻלָּם אֲגֻדָּה אֶחָת לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹנְךָ בְּלֵבָב שָׁלֵם
And may we all form a single group to do Your will with a perfect heart.
Note that the machzor doesn’t call, as Lennon did, for the elimination of countries or religions - nor does it countenance the “banishing of idolatry” or the acceptance of the yoke of heaven by the nations of the world that we find at the end of the עלינו prayer that we say each day. This prayer does not call for the elimination of difference - but it does call us to imagine a world in which we can overcome those differences, with open hearts, in service of Hashem’s will. Imagine that: Imagine a world in which each nation, each religion, and each person could unite together - not to erase the lines between us, but to share a vision for the world that aligns with God’s will for us.
וּבְכֵן תֵּן כָּבוֹד ה' לְעַמֶּֽךָ תְּהִלָּה לִירֵאֶֽיךָ וְתִקְוָה טוֹבָה לְדוֹרְשֶֽׁיךָ וּפִתְחוֹן פֶּה לַמְיַחֲלִים לָךְ
And so, grant honor, Hashem, to Your people, praise to those who fear You, good hope to those who seek You, and confident speech to those who yearn for You,
Imagine that: a world in which the Jewish people find hope and honor, praise and confidence, joy and light. Imagine a world in which we don’t need guards at our gates and schools, in which we don’t read about soaring incidents of antisemitism, and in which our land knows no pain or suffering. While many of these aspirations - which were unimaginable to our ancestors less than a century ago - may ring true to us today thanks to Medinat Yisrael, it doesn’t require too far a leap of imagination to recognize that the hopes and dreams of our people require further and fuller realization.
וּבְכֵן צַדִּיקִים יִרְאוּ וְיִשְׂמָֽחוּ וִישָׁרִים יַעֲלֹֽזוּ וַחֲסִידִים בְּרִנָּה יָגִֽילוּ וְעוֹלָֽתָה תִּקְפָּץ פִּֽיהָ. וְכָל הָרִשְׁעָה כֻּלָּהּ כְּעָשָׁן תִּכְלֶה
And then the righteous will see this and rejoice, and the upright will be jubilant, and the pious will exult with joyous song; injustice will close its mouth, and all the wickedness will vanish like smoke
Imagine - a world in which wickedness will vanish and injustice will end. A world in which nations cannot come under attack by those who see themselves as stronger or better. A world in which justice is served equally to all and innocents live without pain or fear. Imagine that: a world in which those who have the courage and conviction to do right can stand upright and rejoice in the society, institutions, and expectations that we build together.
“It isn’t hard to do,” wrote Lennon - our machzor repeats the hopes and dreams and aspirations of our people in every one of the tefillot that we utter on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. All we need to do is imagine the world that we yearn for - on both the national and personal levels - and then open our hearts and our hands in prayer and in practice to do the work of making those dreams come true.
Imagine that.
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