HULIAU - THE RETURN VOYAGE

A NATIVE HAWAIIAN WISDOM CIRCLE

FROM THE BOOK, NEARING COMPLETION:

GRANDMOTHERS WHISPER: Bringing Two Worlds Together ©

By Inette Miller

October, 1998 - Sharing Ritual

I had no expectation of ‘Iokepa’s participation in the observance of the Jewish day of atonement. It was the single day of the year that we ritually made amends for violating our promises to God and man. It was a time to ask forgiveness of those we have wronged--before we entered the New Year. For me, and for most Jews, Yom Kippur was profound.

But ‘Iokepa was Hawaiian. He knew nothing, except what I’d shared, of Judaism. In some ways, I regretted that ‘Iokepa’s first exposure to Judaism was Yom Kippur—it was a particularly joyless holiday.

In following his grandmother’s edict to, “Honor ritual”, ‘Iokepa honored me, and my younger son. We three fasted—no food and no water—for twenty-four hours. We spent Tuesday night and all day Wednesday until sunset, in synagogue. We broke our fast with the Jewish community afterwards.

My younger son and I were honored, as new members of the Kaua‘i congregation. We were called to the open Torah to chant our prayers. ‘Iokepa was visibly moved by the sound of my son’s deep melodic voice and my higher, more erratic one, chanting the blessings in Hebrew.

At the close of the final service, when the sacred shofar—or ram’s horn—resounded, ‘Iokepa was invited (perhaps for the first time in the history of Yom Kippur on Hawai‘i, or elsewhere on the planet) to join in. ‘Iokepa put the hallowed Hawaiian conch shell to his lips, and together with the two shofarot, sounded the heart-rending cry of the people to our God. I wasn’t the only one near tears.