There is a prayer in Mahzor Lev Shalem that I return to each year: Tefillah Zakkah (A Prayer for Purity), composed by Rabbi Abraham Danziger (1748-1820). Traditionally recited at the beginning of Kol Nidre, for me it has always served as a personal check-in as I enter the New Year.

The prayer moves through the body, part by part, naming the ways each was created to serve God—and the ways we have fallen short. 

“You created me with hands, with the sense of touch, with the ability to transmit tenderness and comfort, but I have often used my hands for hurting others.” 

I love poetry. So I recognized Tefillah Zakkah as a type of blazon, a poetic form that we can also find in Shir Hashirim (Song of Songs), to describe a beloved person from head to toe. 

Tefillah Zakkah might seem like the opposite. But underneath its litany of our shortcomings, I hear another message: a love poem to our potential:

“You created me........

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