Tishrei 1/September 14: Rosh Hashanah

On behalf of all six rabbis who have participated in Elul Reflections 5775, we wish you and yours a Shanah Tovah Umetukah! May the New Year be good and sweet for you and your loved ones!

As we move from 5775 to 5776, we want to thank those of you who have been reading our Elul Reflections, especially if you have been reading them for five years. One of the great High Holy Day texts reminds us that T’shuvah, T’filah, and Tzeddakah help nullify judgment’s severe decree. We hope we have put you on the road toward T’shuvah (repentance) with these daily messages. That is surely our goal. We also hope to have gotten you in the mood for T’filah of the High Holy Days, which began last night. If you have appreciated these messages, we also hope you will consider a gift of Tzeddakah to one or all of the synagogues represented by these daily Elul thoughts. Your gifts help keep us inspired to bring messages of renewal to our six congregations.

Thank you, and Shanah Tovah!

Rabbi Sari Laufer, Congregation Rodef Sholom New York, NY www.rodefsholom.org

Rabbi Brad Levenberg, Temple Sinai Atlanta, GA www.templesinaiatlanta.org

Rabbi Alan Litwak, Temple Sinai North Miami Beach, FL www.tsnd.org

Rabbi Rick Kellner, Congregation Beth Tikvah Columbus, OH www.bethtikvahcolumbus.org

Rabbi Michael Sommer, Har-Shalom in Highland Park, IL www.har-shalom.com

Rabbi Dan Treiser, Temple B'nai Israel in Clearwater, FL  www.tbiclearwater.org

Rabbi David N. Young, Congregation B’nai Tzedek Fountain Valley, CA www.cbtfv.org

Elul 29/September 13

What if I make a mistake?

The truth is that you will.

The answer to the “What if” question is, you will.

The more significant question is, "After I make that mistake, what do I do then?"

If you have chosen well, after you make that mistake, you will be that much closer to fixing that mistake.  You will be smarter and more resilient and maybe even more respected by those who were affected by your mistake.

We have all made mistakes this year.  

Did you fix them?

Did you grow from them?

Elul 27 and 28/September 11 and 12

Remember Our Cities

In honor of the attack in New York City 14 years ago, today's Elul Thought is by Rabbi Julius J. Nodel, and is entitled, "Remember Our Cities."

IMPLANT within the hearts of all who are entrusted with the guardianship of our cities a
constant awareness of the human values at stake.
CLEAR the slums of prejudice from our hearts.
ILLUMINE  the dark alleys of our indifference.
RENEW in us those places in our thinking which are too often willing to try anything
new as long as it has been done before.
TAX us with dreams that are capable of fulfillment.
REAPPORTION our hearts so that there will be no under-representation of You in our
lives.
BEAUTIFY our vision so that we do not abuse the natural blessings of Your creation.
REMOVE  the litter of ignorance and greed from the people we serve.
HELP us to restore the dilapidated ideals of civic and national pride which are necessary
for our growth.
And PAVE the streets of our intentions with righteousness..
For we know, dear God, there is no greater blight in our cities than fear; no greater crime
wave than the flood of despair; and no greater delinquency than the mischief of inertia.

The prayer that drove my Great-Grandfather away is the one that calls me back

My great-grandfather of blessed memory was turned away from synagogue because of the Unetaneh Tokef prayer. This is perhaps because he lost his beloved wife at such a young age.  It is a shock to read that on “On Rosh Hashanah it is written and on Yom Kippur it is sealed.  Who shall live and who shall die.”  The words of this prayer remind us that God takes books off shelves and writes and records our fate.  If I believed these words literally, I, like my great-grandfather, might walk by the synagogue on Yom Kippur with fishing pole in hand.  But I don’t believe in a God like that. I don’t believe that God seals our fate with a calligraphy stroke at this hour of judgment.  In fact, it is this prayer that draws me back to synagogue.  I am fascinated by its metaphor.  I choose to believe in a God who tells me I can change.  That voice of change can be heard from many different directions and I can choose the path that I want to take.   Perhaps, though, our interpretation of the Unetaneh Tokef prayer should be more in line with the teachings of the Hasidic masters who taught us that we each have a book of remembrance on our shelves.  At this time of year we take the books off the shelves and begin writing.  We start to write the next chapter.  That chapter may include acts of righteousness and a commitment to do our best, but it may include some poor choices and some wrong turns.  That’s why we come back each year and take the book off the shelf and write a new chapter.  For the message of this prayer is that we can change.  We can change our direction by turning our outlook through prayer, we can change our actions through righteousness.  It is in the days of Elul that I hear this prayer calling to me reminding me that change is possible.  I am being called to sit before the Divine Judge that a profound love for humanity.

Elul 26/September 10

On the exterior wall of the synagogue where I grew up in Queens, NY, a quote from the prophet Micah was emblazoned in a beautiful mosaic, “It has been told to you, on human, what is good and what God requires of you.  Only that you do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)  These words were also carved into the façade of the old UAHC offices on 5th Avenue in New York City, now a multi-million dollar apartment building.  It is a beautiful and complete statement, yet it is also much more complex than it seems at first glance. In the Talmud (Makkot 23b-24a) it is quoted as one of the summaries of all Jewish teaching, encompassing all of Judaism’s obligations for how we act in our world. Each of the three exhortations is open to our own individual interpretations.  How might we discover a personal relationship with God?  Through prayer? Meditation?  Simple acknowledgement of God’s presence?  Do we exemplify a love of mercy through acts of compassion and kindness?  What is the justice that we perform?  The prophet provides a complete, and complicated, mission statement for our lives.  How can we meet the challenge?

Elul 25/September 9

Psalm 92 is a part of the Kabbalat Shabbat liturgy, used to welcome the Sabbath into our homes and our lives.  According to the Mishnah, this Psalm was sung by the Levites in the ancient Temple each week before Shabbat began, and is a foretaste of the time when every day will be like Shabbat.  Verse 6 proclaims “Mah rabu ma’asecha Adonai! Me’od amku machsh’votecha – How great are Your works, Adonai, how very subtle Your designs!”  When I was in Israel this summer, I couldn’t help but think of these words as we watched the sun set and rise against desert mountains.  But I don’t need to travel to our ancient homeland to find inspiration.  These words come from my mouth at home, too:  Looking out on a gorgeous valley, sitting on the shore watching the waves lapping the sand, listening to the voices of children playing and singing in friendship.  Where else might we discover an awareness of God’s creative process in our world?  And when we see those reminders of the Divine presence, how do we respond?

Elul 24/September 8

Throughout Jewish tradition, rabbis and interpreters of tradition have noticed a unique quirk of Hebrew.  Two holidays seem linked by their names: Yom Kippur and Purim.  The Day of Atonement is often called Yom HaKippurim.  To some, it almost seems to say, Yom Ki-Purim, “a day LIKE Purim.”  How can the holiest, most solemn day of the year be “like” a day of merriment, frivolity and feasting?  Of course, there are many different interpretations offered.  Some teach that the fasting and atonement of Yom Kippur and the joyous celebration of Purim present us two diametrically opposed, yet equally important, methods for approaching God.  Rabbi Sharon Brous of IKAR teaches that “…the essential message of Purim is that no matter how hard we work to control our lives, how diligently we plan and prepare, life is inescapably unpredictable. On a whim the Jews of Shushan saw their whole world turn upside down and we could too—“grief turned into joy, a day of mourning into a day of celebration” (Megillat Esther 9:22)…It is the reversibility of fortune, the recognition of the capriciousness of life, that Purim shares with Yom Kippur – a day that similarly calls us to reflect on the unavoidable uncertainty of life.” (sermon, Kol Nidre 5772, www.ikar-la.org) In the story of Purim, the Jewish people are saved only once Esther removes her “mask” and reveals her true identity to the King.  On Yom Kippur, we can only achieve atonement when we remove the masks we put on ourselves.  By confronting who we really are, what we’ve done right and what we’ve done wrong, we help set our course for improvement in the New Year.  Elul is an important time for us to begin looking in the mirror, looking past the masks, and discovering our true selves.  

Elul 22/September 6

When the Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles in extra innings on Tuesday, August 11th, it might have seemed like nothing special, just the end of a game between two teams having mediocre seasons.  But it turns out that the win made August 11th a historic day in baseball.  It is the first time that all 15 home teams won their game on the same day.  (For the purists, something similar happened when the home teams went 12-0 in 1914, but that included the Federal League, and it happened in 1989 when the 11 home teams won.  This is the first time since the league expanded to 30 teams.)  Without taking into account the talent of the teams, the odds of this happening are approximately 1 in 33,000.

I realize that this is not the most earth-shattering miracle one might witness. Nevertheless, it is a remarkable moment for the millions who follow the sport.  Those who were at the games that day witnessed history, and probably didn’t know it.

Sometimes the commonplace is a part of something remarkable.  Day to day interactions take place, but we might not understand the impact they have on others.  We hear the news of a baby being born and feel excited, but may not realize the incredible miracle inherent in childbirth.  In the New Year, perhaps we can recognize the miraculous, the holy, the special in the everyday.