Rosh Hashanah — Shacharis

grows fervent and pours himself out in melody; the students grow fervent and rise spiritually, and with the singing of the Baal-Shem-Tov-style “HaTzigeneral,” the evening meal comes to an end.

Rosh Hashanah—Morning Service

A person should never grow old. Old age, Rabbi Nahman said, is an ugly trait; a person must always renew himself, beginning and beginning again. This saying accompanied the Breslov Hasidim in their service. Therefore, long before dawn, the Breslov Hasidim streamed into the study hall of the yeshiva; and when dawn broke and announced the coming of the day, not one of them was absent. The one who began the prayers opened with “Adon Olam.” The congregation repeated after him with a great roar that could be heard far away. A mass of heads swayed fervently, in the sense of “All my bones shall say”; as they approached “HaMelekh,” the tumult increased. All together they prepared for the impressive ceremony of crowning the King of the world. Shlomo Yuda stretches himself; his tallit is folded into thirds down to half his body. Behind him are masses making noise with strange motions, sighs, and groans. Suddenly, as though at a command from above, the movement falls silent. Shlomo Yuda’s restrained, clear voice sounds like a cannon shot: H—H—H—H—M—L—Kh. After the noise comes a still, small voice: “He sits upon a high and exalted throne.” The quiet is over; thousands of mouths put an end to it, and now the study hall hums with the prayer of the multitude filling the space of the hall. Shlomo Yuda conducts the prayer, from time to time heightening the tension; like one old and accustomed, he strolls through the liturgical poems of the prayers. The closer he comes to the prayer’s conclusion, the more he raises his voice and awakens a new wave of tremendous fervor. The Breslov Hasidim performed a consummate service in the morning prayer; but the Breslov Hasidim, who perpetually renew themselves, would not weary of continuing their service. Immediately after the prayer, preparations for the shofar blasts begin. The select few among them surround the righteous Rabbi Ephraim Krakowski, one of the great Breslov Hasidim and distinguished for good deeds, and incline their ears to the instructions concerning the blasts that issue from his mouth. Rabbi Ephraim Krakowski of Pshedbozh, one of the exalted figures among the Breslov Hasidim, was an influential teacher and guide, an innocent righteous man who never in his life harmed anyone. The Breslov Hasidim cleaved to him. All his sacred service was directed toward reaching the Land and rising higher in the service of God. Indeed, he succeeded in immigrating to the Land and cherishing its dust. In America, a book collecting his letters on Hasidism was published. His love of Israel and his love of the Land of Israel emerge from every single word. He died in holiness and purity in Jerusalem. Another group follows intently the movements of Rabbi Pinhasel of Pshedbozh, who, according to the testimony of the Breslov Hasidim, is worthy of leading a large community of Hasidim