[Avodah] Why "Tashlich" and not Hashlachah?

[Arie Folger]

rabbirichwolpoe at gmail.com wrote:
> A colleague was bewildered and asked me:
>> Why do we call Tashlich "Tashlich" and not "Hashlachah?"
>> EG Kappros, hoshanos, hakafos are all nouns.

Because Hashlacha would indicate we throw something, like, eh sins,
into the water, and other such nonsense, which have no relationship to
the holy practice of Tashlikh. It's bad enough that people think it is
about throwing sins into the water, there is no need to sustain this
naarishkeit by calling the holy ritual by that name.

There are many reasons given for Tashlikh, and they all revolve around
the notion of confronting our insignificance and sinfulness, and G"d's
greatness, majesty, etc.

By the way, since someone is bound to mention that the text used (I
mean the original text of 3 verses, not the pages and pages of largely
rather recent additions, about which printers believe kol hamarbeh
harei zeh meshubo'h) mentions vetshlikh bimtzulot yam kol 'hatotam.
Well, if you think about it, it is a prayer we speak, wherein we ask
*G"d* to cast away our sins, i.e. to forgive us. However, we have no
more the ability to throw our sins into the water than the fish have
the ability to eat and digest them without desert.

Of course, this nonsesical idea of throwing the sins to the fish (why
not to the birds?) clearly appeals a lot to hoi paloi who find it much
easier than actually working on one's self improvement, repenting and
mending one's relationship to G"d.

Kol tuv,
-- 
Arie Folger,
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