Message From Our Rabbi
High Holiday Offerings
Beginning with Rosh Hashanah (Wednesday night, September 28) and extending through Simchas Torah (Erev Shabbos October 21) are the 23 most intense days of prayer and celebration of the year. Suppose I told you it was possible to leave these days with a sense of invigoration, inspiration, and excitement, and looking forward to a Jewish year of progress, even spiritual adventure?
For those who earnestly want to use the period of holy time known as the Days of Awe for real and lasting growth, a voice of doubt arises almost as soon as the voice of hope completes its first sentence. “Do you really think lasting results are possible? What results can you point to from previous efforts? Besides, where are you going to start? It’s all so overwhelming.” This kind of doubt arises so quickly and drowns out what preceded it so effectively that we may not even be aware that it was actually caused by a fleeting notion of some kind of teshuva.
The predictable skepticism which greets almost any thought of improvement in our service of G-d draws its impetus from the attempt to “eat the whole elephant” (non-kosher status notwithstanding!). Not only is it helpful to follow the proverbial advice and eat it one bite at a time, it actually may be more beneficial to concentrate on merely swallowing a single bite.
Here are a few suggestions of how to carve the elephant into bite size pieces. Choose one of these pieces, leaving the rest for another year, or for someone else. You will be surprised to discover how satisfying actually swallowing a single piece can be.
This is an exercise that I guarantee will give you a Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur season like no other. Follow these simple steps, and you will find yourself, at the end of Tishrei, fulfilled and invigorated.
The first thing we will do is to listen to the messages being broadcast by these holy days. Once the messages are clarified, we will identify specific actions that will express the messages in a meaningful and practical way. Get yourself a piece of paper making personal notes as you go along. (Don’t use the computer because you will want to refer to this on Yom Tov.) The only other thing you will need is a bit of imagination.
Here are four possible messages of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (there are others, but these will provide enough for you to get started):
• G-d is King. “He is our G-d, He is our Father, He is our King, He is our Savior.” Imagine for a moment that you really do apprehend this, that you experience G-d as your sovereign Whose will you must follow, that you know Him as a benevolent and caring father, and as one who holds the keys for your success. For the purposes of this exercise, just imagine this was all true for you, ignoring how you would get there. What actions would you take? What behaviors would you eliminate? What would characterize your interactions with others? What would your daily life look like moment by moment? Jot down the answers to these questions. Never mind, for the moment, that you may not feel this way. Just record for now the actions you would take if this was true for you, e.g.: “I would acknowledge Him each day by making blessings on the food I eat.”
• This is the time for renewal. “Today is the birth of the world.” As an ongoing Creator, G-d endows the world with the power of renewal. Past performance, mistakes and failures do not have to have a hold on us, do not have to predict our future behavior. Imagine for a moment that you were not a creature of habit. Imagine that no one defined you by what you had done in the past, even terrible things. Imagine you could create new practices for your life with no concern that they would not last. Which habits would you change? What new practices would you welcome? Write those down, in specific terms, e.g.: “I would call my aunt and uncle at least once a month.”
• Bring Glory to G-d. Honor G-d by imitation. This is a basic religious principle, and it makes sense. Since we are participating in recognizing Him as our sovereign, it only follows that we plan to leave His coronation somehow mimicking His personality as a way of honoring Him. Choose something you know about G-d – He is giving, patient, loving, compassionate, creative, and cares for the unfortunate. Where in your life can you imitate those behaviors just a little more than you have already? Write down small, practical examples of how you can do this.
• Days of Awe. Remain in awe. The Days of Awe are not exclusive. We can remain in awe as long as we want. Assume for a moment that you looked at the world with awe. You are constantly aware of the miraculous everywhere – in childbirth, in love, in nature, in your body’s functioning. How are you going through your daily life? What do you appreciate? Where do you see G-d? How do you display it? How would you appear to others while you were in awe? What kinds of verbal expressions would emanate from you about life? Write those details down, as precisely as possible.
You can see where this is going. You now have, on that piece of paper, a list of actions that would put into reality, into your reality, the concepts of the High Holidays. Rather than wait until you are motivated by inspiration to take action, pick instead a single action or practice and bring that with you into Rosh Hashanah. Actually tuck the paper into your machzor (use it as a bookmark). When you stand before G-d asking Him for a year of life, glance at this paper and remind yourself why you want life, what you would use it for. On this piece of paper will be your offering, your gift to G-d, and to yourself.
Miriam and I extend our best wishes to each one of you for Shana Tova Um’suka, a good and sweet New Year.