Rosh Hashanah - 5787

Rosh Hashanah - 5787

Rabbi Hal Miller

We have all witnessed people in the congregation on Rosh Hashanah crying all but hysterically, loud enough to interrupt the concentration of everyone else. They make the excuse that this is somehow a more powerful form of prayer of repentance. Is this allowed?

We begin by asking, what is prayer? It is a personal connection between an individual and God. In order to reinforce that connection, Shulchan Aruch [101:2] states the halacha that:

     One should not confine his prayer to his heart, but must pronounce the phrases with

     his lips and say them quietly, loud enough to hear them with his ears. He should not let

     his voice be heard. If he is unable to pray with application when quiet, it is permitted to

     raise his voice. This only applies when he is by himself, but if with a congregation he is

     forbidden to raise his voice since he will come to disturb the congregation.

In 101:3 the Shulchan Aruch says that for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur it is permitted to raise one's voice slightly, even in a congregation, and in 582:9 mentions a practice some have to recite the Amidah aloud. The Mishnah Berurah prohibits raising the voice if the congregation will hear him in regular prayer, but relaxes that slightly on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur that if one needs to do so for his own reasons, he need not worry that congregants around him will get confused as they all have machzorim, but he adds that one must limit the raising of his voice. Then Mishnah Berurah cites the Magen Avraham that it is preferable to pray quietly at all times. Thus there is an argument that a slight raising of the voice on Rosh Hashanah might be acceptable, although certainly not very loud. But all this has to do with prayer itself, not directly with crying during prayer.

Why would one cry during prayer, whether on Rosh Hashanah or at other times? The Gemara [Berachot 31a] cites the case of Chana [Shmuel I 1:13], "but her voice was not heard" and states the basic halacha, "From here we learn that it is forbidden to raise one's voice during his prayers", as codified in Shulchan Aruch [101:2] above. Noting the above disagreement regarding Rosh Hashanah, Rav Schwab cites the verse in Nechemiah [8:9], "Do not mourn and do not cry" saying that this was stated specifically for Rosh Hashanah, and explaining that the prophets declared that the people should instead be happy because of their teshuvah. Rambam declares that position as the halacha, that we are commanded to rejoice on Rosh Hashanah. The Vilna Gaon maintained that on Rosh Hashanah one should not be sad or cry.

But there are those who allow for an exception in certain cases. R'Chaim of Volozhin says it is not a problem if one breaks out in spontaneous quiet weeping, explaining that the Vilna Gaon prohibited only trying to bring oneself to tears. Prayer should be said submissively but with joy in the heart. However, the Arizal did cry. Thus for someone on that extremely elevated level, it may happen due to their intense connection to God that they break into tears, but for the rest of us who are not at that level, including all these other great people, crying is not proper.

Regarding the argument that crying out makes one's prayer and teshuvah more intense, Peninei Halakha tells us that this is not appropriate for Rosh Hashanah. He notes that "we do not recite a vidui on Rosh Hashanah because the theme is to crown God a King over us and the entire world and to ask for the upcoming year to be good. It is not appropriate to use this day for our personal self-improvement, that is what the rest of the ten days of repentance are for. It is also not appropriate to mention sins which degrade the glory of His Kingship."

During prayer other than for these High Holidays, the halacha is that we should speak out the words in a voice that we can hear ourselves but that the person standing next to us cannot hear, and that includes any crying we might fall into. The rule differs very slightly on Rosh Hashanah in that one praying on his own may raise his voice slightly, but in a congregation that is questionable. One who is at an extremely high level of spirituality may even cry aloud softly given that the congregants all have machzorim, otherwise the halacha is the same as for other prayer days. Virtually all those who state this give two reasons, that we should rejoice on Rosh Hashanah rather than be sad, and secondly, as Peninei Halakha puts it with regard to Rosh Hashanah, "Where almost everyone prays silently, as is the case in most congregations today, one may not pray out loud because it distracts worshippers and disrupts their concentration."