I have always thought the Jewish year, beginning as it does in the early fall, fits better with the rhythms of our lives than the secular year beginning in mid-winter. As the schools come back from summer vacations and families with children post first-day-of-school pictures, we find ourselves beginning anew. The pictures often show comparisons: the same kid starting kindergarten and high school. A snippet of where we’ve been and where we are now, with the excitement of a future full of potential, and perhaps some trepidation. What will happen this year? Am I ready for whatever this year has in store for me?
Our Jewish tradition invites us to linger over this transition and make the most of it. We blow the shofar for an entire month before Rosh Hashanah, as we are encouraged to engage in cheshbon hanefesh – literally, a “spiritual accounting.” With all the chest-beating confessions of sin of Yom Kippur, it is tempting to think of this accounting as a balance-sheet of merits and demerits, virtues and sins. But I believe it’s just as important to take stock of the simple things. When the shofar of the month of Elul calls to us “ayeka”? where are you? we are bidden to answer simply “hineni,” here I am.
And so I invite you to situate yourself in time, as you ask yourself:
Where am I compared in my life’s journey, compared to last year?
Where are the people close to me in their journeys, and where am I in relation to them?
With whom am I spending my time compared to last year and years before?
What issues and challenges are taking up space in my head this year?
As we reflect, each of us will find the questions that are most relevant to us and our particular situation this year. The most important questions will bring with them a followup:
Is this where I want to be?
What direction am I going in, and what direction do I want to go in?
Since you will most likely be spending time with your Jewish community — this Family of Friends — during the High Holiday season, why not also ask yourself:
What is my relationship to this community?
What would I like it to be?
If you find that you would like to be more connected, I would like to reiterate my invitation to join the chesed committee (see my July column); keep an eye out for Brotherhood, Sisterhood, or Membership meetings and events; or volunteer to be an usher for the High Holidays, and be the person who welcomes others into our community!
If considering questions like this moves you, I’d like to invite you to join our High Holiday Journey class, for a space to reflect on your life with the inspiration of Jewish teachings.
Whatever your path, I wish you a fruitful and meaningful High Holiday season. לשנה טובה תכתבו ותחתמו – may you be written and inscribed for a good year, and may your journey bring you where you need to go!
Reb Josh
