Author Archive

Aleinu is one of the most common prayers found in the prayer service. Originally it was the opening prayer of Mussaf on Rosh Hashana and was later inserted at the end of the three daily prayers services. What makes this prayer so unique?

Aleinu is composed of two parts – Aleinu and Al Kain Nekave. Aleinu was composed by Yehoshua Bin Nun after the miraculous capture of Jericho when the blowing of the shofar caused the walls to fall down. Al Kain Nekave was composed by Achan before being put to death for taking the loot of Jericho. G-d forbade taking the loot, but Achan did not listen. As a result the Jewish army lost many soldiers in their next battle with the Aye. The first letters of the first three words of this prayer spell out Achan’s name (Al Ken Nekave).

This adds to the mystery of Aleinu. Why was a prayer that is half composed by our great leader Yehoshua Bin Nun and half written by a supposed villain, Achan, used as the opening prayer of Mussaf on Rosh Hashana?

To understand this dilemma, we will explore the concept of Teshuva (repentance). How does an apology like “I am sorry” erase all sins?

Rav Eliyahu Dessler in his renowned work Michtav Mi’Eliyahu explains that G-d wishes us to recognize him as the True G-d. There are two ways of achieving this goal. A person can either be a Tzaddik, a righteous person following G-d’s path all his life or alternatively, one can achieve this through trial and error. If a man sins, it means he thought he could have something to gain by going down a different path. If he looks at his deeds and realizes he sinned, he has gained little from taking this path and therefore now recognizes that G-d’s way is the correct way. Both ways reach the same goal, but obviously the first path is more recommendable.

Yehoshua Bin Nun proclaimed G-d’s Name with a major spiritual showdown in Jericho. Achan took the second approach. By acknowledging his mistake, he brought about a Kiddush Hashem, a sanctification of G-d’s Name by announcing that the way of G-d is the correct way and admitting that he tried the other way and it was not worth it.

If we look at the Aleinu prayer closely we can see the difference between the themes in the two sections. In the first section Aleinu, the Tzaddik writes about the greatness of G-d and how lucky we are to be his people. In the second section, Achan expresses his desire that all alternative paths luring us away from G-d be destroyed, that we recognize them as false and that we should recognize G-d as being the True King. This is the true repentant speaking, praying that the falseness of this world which causes sin be eradicated, so that truth be recognized. We can now understand why the Mussaf service of Rosh Hashana opens with this prayer.

One of the greatest challenges the Jews experienced was the devastation of our nation during and following the destruction of the Second Temple. The Jews were physically destroyed and their spirits were broken. The great luminary savior of the Jewish people and the Torah at that time was R. Yochanan ben Zakai who escaped the siege and reconvened the Sanhedrin in Yavne. He instituted the saying of the Aleinu prayer three times a day to raise peoples’ spirit at that time, since Aleinu reminds us that when we follow in His ways, He is truly Glorious and we are fortunate to be His people. In addition, Aleinu reminds us that repentance works and that when we repent, G-d’s Glory will return.

Yochanan ben Zakai in his great wisdom foresaw that the Jewish people would be challenged time and time again during their long exile. The recitation of the Aleinu prayer, now an integral part of our prayers, helps strengthen our spirit, day in day out ensuring that we continue to be proud Jews and hold our heads high.