Throughout the month of Elul, the month preceding Rosh Hashanah, I will be sharing daily reflections to help each of us prepare for the upcoming High Holy Day Season. I hope these thoughts inspire each of us to make time, find the energy and initiate some passion as we reflect and examine this past year, in preparation for the year to come.
So often in life, we move through the days, simply trying to get from one to the next. We have schedules, appointments, meetings and classes: requirements that provide a basic rubric by which we go through the motion of life. And yet, we often travel through our days without intention, purpose or meaning. We have become so good at getting through the days, that we have forgotten what it really means to live life.
Therefore we are given an opportunity each and every Rosh Hashanah to take stock of our lives, to evaluate our purpose, to recommit to the ideals with which we are meant to live life. In some ways, speaking of new beginnings is rather simple and straightforward. The New Year allows us to create anew and view things from a different perspective. And yet, it is so very difficult to imagine life different from the way we live it every day. If we are truly to embrace a new beginning, we must be willing to examine the content of our days, and to then ask ourselves the difficult question: do the actions of our days fulfill our ultimate purpose in life?
I ponder this question with regularity. Most often, I contemplate my place in the world when my children question me about the why’s and why not’s of life. I have come to realize that my eight and ten year-olds, in many ways, have far more wisdom than I. Their inquiries about fairness, peace, God and creation force me to think, see and perceive differently than I may have been doing in the past.
There is a Chasidic tale that the great Baal Shem Tov used to teach: believe that each day the world is created anew, and that you yourself are born anew each morning. Then your faith will grow, and every day you will find yourself newly eager to serve God.
This year, as I imagine a new beginning,
I want to strive for holy,
while allowing for the mundane.
This year, as I imagine a new beginning,
I want to ask more questions,
while searching for answers.
This year, as I imagine a new beginning,
I want to let the voices of my children
be as strong as the voice in my own head.
This year, as I imagine a new beginning,
I want to make room for God,
even on the most difficult of days,
especially on the most difficult of days.
To new beginnings,
To the strength to find them,
To the heart to feel them,
To the wisdom to hear them.
And now let us hear the blast of the Shofar,
And let our souls be awakened.
Shalom,
Rabbi Debbie Bravo
So often in life, we move through the days, simply trying to get from one to the next. We have schedules, appointments, meetings and classes: requirements that provide a basic rubric by which we go through the motion of life. And yet, we often travel through our days without intention, purpose or meaning. We have become so good at getting through the days, that we have forgotten what it really means to live life.
Therefore we are given an opportunity each and every Rosh Hashanah to take stock of our lives, to evaluate our purpose, to recommit to the ideals with which we are meant to live life. In some ways, speaking of new beginnings is rather simple and straightforward. The New Year allows us to create anew and view things from a different perspective. And yet, it is so very difficult to imagine life different from the way we live it every day. If we are truly to embrace a new beginning, we must be willing to examine the content of our days, and to then ask ourselves the difficult question: do the actions of our days fulfill our ultimate purpose in life?
I ponder this question with regularity. Most often, I contemplate my place in the world when my children question me about the why’s and why not’s of life. I have come to realize that my eight and ten year-olds, in many ways, have far more wisdom than I. Their inquiries about fairness, peace, God and creation force me to think, see and perceive differently than I may have been doing in the past.
There is a Chasidic tale that the great Baal Shem Tov used to teach: believe that each day the world is created anew, and that you yourself are born anew each morning. Then your faith will grow, and every day you will find yourself newly eager to serve God.
This year, as I imagine a new beginning,
I want to strive for holy,
while allowing for the mundane.
This year, as I imagine a new beginning,
I want to ask more questions,
while searching for answers.
This year, as I imagine a new beginning,
I want to let the voices of my children
be as strong as the voice in my own head.
This year, as I imagine a new beginning,
I want to make room for God,
even on the most difficult of days,
especially on the most difficult of days.
To new beginnings,
To the strength to find them,
To the heart to feel them,
To the wisdom to hear them.
And now let us hear the blast of the Shofar,
And let our souls be awakened.
Shalom,
Rabbi Debbie Bravo
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