Tradition of Shushing People at Holiday Services: Jewish History with Rabbi David

by Rabbi David

"When is the Kohen going to come out of the Holy of Holies?" That was the conversation Yom Kippur 19 BCE. Every year the people in the Temple Court would ask, “When are the services going to finish?” To which the people would respond, "There isn't even a sermon." Which is why there was a huge dancing and parade when we the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest, would finish his service. He would come out of the Kodesh Kadashim, the Holy of Holies, and everybody would scream, "It's glorious. Look at him. He's finally finished. We can go home and nap." This developed into the tune of "Mareh Kohen," the song of appearance of the Kohen. "How glorious. He looks kind of tired. Beautiful and connected to Gd, and tired. We can finally go. Glorious!!!" And they would start singing and dancing in thanks that it's over.​
The appearance of the Kohen song was argued for many years. Was it that "it took so long, we can finally see him, and that's glorious," or "he looks really good, he's been working out this year." Later on, the rabbi's decided that it had nothing to do with keeping in shape. They decided that people should know the service had to do with the Kohen Gadol's connection to Gd, and those really cool bells on the bottom of his tunic.

In the times of The Temple, the Kohen did it all. The people didn’t Daven. Many were happy. To quote, "Thank Gd, the Chazin isn't Schlepping it out." Others would say, "But some of these Levites." Some prayed. They were called prophets. People waited.
We didn’t pray. We would wait. That was the tradition. And thus, the tradition we keep to this day of spending forty hours in shul on the High Holidays. Finally, The Kohen Gadol would send the goat off to Azazel. Then we would wait again. A lot of waiting. Waiting consisted of talking and shushing. That’s where the tradition of shushing people in shul started. People just waited outside the Holy of Holies, wondering when the goat would finally end up in the wilderness, so the Kohen could continue the service, and they could get their nap. “Was the goat in Azazel yet?” Around the Temple you would hear murmurings, "LAzazel." An under the breath comment.
Conversations continued. “Could we move along with the service? My bed is calling. Where is that goat?” And people would respond, "LAzazel." That conversation was had by all. And then an annoying person would come and shush them. The shusher people became known as Gabais.
People would shush those who were waiting. That turned into the great tradition of the pilgrimage. “Why are you going to the Temple?” "To be shushed."
Some people didn’t like being shushed, so they would yell back, “LAzazel,” in frustration of waiting for the Kohen. And to this day, that’s how you scream at people that cut you off on the Highway 1.

Throughout history Jews would talk. Prayer services wasn't going to stop them. The one who talked the most, her name was Yenta. She laid the foundation of a whole group of women that hung out with my Bubbie.
The rabbis created laws to stop people from talking. They came up with prayer books, known as Siddurs and Machzors. They created an idea called Lashon Hara just to not have to listen to congregants. They created youth groups. That got rid of the youth, B"H. They came up with an idea known as volunteering. Volunteering is where the rabbi tells somebody to do something for the congregation that doesn't have to be done, just to get them out of his office. Some rabbis even started giving sermons every week. They talked during those too. None of it worked. Next time, we'll get into the history of all the rabbinic developments that were created to shut up the congregants.

And somehow, people kept talking. The rabbinic authorities realized, the only way to stop these people is to shush them. Nobody likes being shushed. Ever since the Azazel goat. It's an inherited Jewish trait to not like to be shushed. That and a love of a gefilte fish.
It all began with the Azazel goat and the joy of the Kohen Gadol finishing his service. And to this day, we still sing that song of the Kohen Gadol coming out of the Holy of Holies. No devout Jew can escape the joy felt when services are finally over.
Even two-thousand years later we celebrate the ending of that service. And thus, we pray for redemption. So, we can be back in the Temple to witness the joy of the Kohen Gadol finishing services. To quote the students of Rabbi Amaryahu, “It’s so great when it’s over.”

And then they realized these people talk on Shabbat too. And that is how shushing on Shabbat became a tradition. And then they noticed that these people talk on line at the supermarket. And that is how shushing became a tradition there too. And then they realized people talk everywhere. And shushing thus became a tradition in my home. And then it turned out people talk on buses, so in the 1990s it became tradition to not be friendly.
And every time somebody gets shushed, it's tradition to respond, "LAzazel." 

And that is the history intensive of why people shush you in shul, Gabais, Chazins, volunteers, sermons, and why Jews yell "LAzazel."