Tashlikh

Seder Tashlich

סדר תשליך

Visible layers

סדר תשליך

TASHLIKH

On the first day of Rosh HaShana (or, if that day is Shabbat, on the second day), it is customary, in the afternoon after Minha, to go to the banks of a river, or any stretch of flowing water, and say the following (see law 37):

Mic. 7

Hebrew

מִי־אֵל כָּמוֹךָ
נֹשֵׂא עָוֹן וְעֹבֵר עַל־פֶּשַׁע לִשְׁאֵרִית נַחֲלָתוֹ
לֹא־הֶחֱזִיק לָעַד אַפּוֹ
כִּי־חָפֵץ חֶסֶד הוּא:
יָשׁוּב יְרַחֲמֵנוּ, יִכְבֹּשׁ עֲוֹנֹתֵינוּ
וְתַשְׁלִיךְ בִּמְצֻלוֹת יָם כָּל־חַטֹּאותָם:
תִּתֵּן אֱמֶת לְיַעֲקֹב, חֶסֶד לְאַבְרָהָם
אֲשֶׁר־נִשְׁבַּעְתָּ לַאֲבֹתֵינוּ מִימֵי קֶדֶם:

Sephardi

Mi-El kamokha
nosei avon ve'over al-pesha lish'eirit nachalato
lo-hechezik la'ad apo
ki-chafetz chesed hu:
Yashuv yerachamenu, yichbosh avonoteinu
vetashlich bimtzulot yam kol-chatotam:
Titen emet leYaakov, chesed leAvraham
asher-nishbata la'avoteinu mimei kedem:

English

Who, God, is like You, who pardons iniquity and forgives the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not stay angry for ever, but delights in loving-kindness. He will again have compassion on us, suppress our iniquities, and cast into the depths of the sea all their sins. Grant truth to Jacob, kindness to Abraham, as You promised our ancestors in ancient times.

Ps. 118

Hebrew

מִן־הַמֵּצַר קָרָאתִי יָהּ, עָנָנִי בַמֶּרְחָב יָהּ:
יְהוָה לִי לֹא אִירָא, מַה־יַּעֲשֶׂה לִי אָדָם:
יְהוָה לִי בְּעֹזְרָי, וַאֲנִי אֶרְאֶה בְשֹׂנְאָי:
טוֹב לַחֲסוֹת בַּיהוָה, מִבְּטֹחַ בָּאָדָם:
טוֹב לַחֲסוֹת בַּיהוָה, מִבְּטֹחַ בִּנְדִיבִים:

Sephardi

Min-hameitzar karati Yah, anani vamerchav Yah:
Adonai li lo ira, mah-ya'aseh li adam:
Adonai li be'ozrai, va'ani er'eh veson'ai:
Tov lachasot baAdonai, mibtoach ba'adam:
Tov lachasot baAdonai, mibtoach bindivim:

English

In my distress I called on the LORD. The LORD answered me and set me free. The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? The LORD is with me. He is my Helper. I will see the downfall of my enemies. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.

Commentary

Water, too, is a symbol of Torah — of the knowledge that leads to virtue and peace: “They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Is. 11:9).

Rivers are a symbol of tears (Avot deRabbi Nathan, chapter 31) and thus a sign of repentance and remorse. “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept as we remembered Zion” (Psalm 137:1). Flowing water is also a symbol of time, mortality and the shortness of life: “One generation goes, another comes… All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full.” Consciousness of mortality is a fundamental theme of Rosh HaShana (“Write us in the book of life”).

Some have the custom to shake the hems of their clothing, in accordance with Nehemiah 5:13, “Also I shook out my lap, and said: So may God shake out…” (Mahzor Oholei Yaakov).

TASHLIKH: THE CASTING It is a custom, on the afternoon of the first day of Rosh HaShana (or second, if the first is Shabbat) to go to the shore of the sea, the bank of a river, or other running stream of water, as a symbolic enactment of the words of the prophet Micah: “You will cast (tashlikh) into the depths of the sea all their sins” (7:19).

The first mention of the custom is in Sefer Maharil of Rabbi Jacob Moellin (d. 1425). Various explanations have been given. Rabbi Moellin himself relates the custom to a midrashic tradition about the binding of Isaac (on Rosh HaShana, according to the Talmud, we blow the ram’s horn in memory of the ram Abraham offered as a sacrifice in place of his son). On the journey, the Accuser placed a river in his way. Abraham was undeterred and walked straight through (Tanhuma, VaYera 22). Thus, as with the blowing of the shofar, we ask God to forgive us in the merit of Abraham.