L’Shanah Tovah! Happy New Year. Rosh Hashanah morning began with our children’s services. I was in the sanctuary with our youngest children. Rabbi Scott led the service and I told a story. For me, telling a story to our youngest children on Rosh Hashanah morning is better than a strong cup of coffee, which I also love. Their smiles, their beautiful dresses and handsome ties, and their plastic shofars (I think I heard them all), just fill me up. Parents, grandparents and great-grandparents carry them like they’re first-place trophies. They smile with well-earned pride.
When services begin, I take my own deep breath to prepare for the responsibilities of leading the service and sharing my High Holyday message. But, between sentences and during the time that I sit in my chair on the bemah, I look around the congregation. I don’t count heads (the sanctuary was full), and I don’t look for who is missing; rather, I look for you. I do see you. I’m sorry if I don’t wave. And, when I smile at you I imagine it’s hard to know from that distance if I’m smiling at you, alone. But, of course I am! Some of you sit in the same place every year. Some of you move around a bit, but I find you eventually. And, if you couldn’t be with us here, then I trust that you were where you needed to be.
I learned that the Teen Service in Levit Hall was full, packed really, and that it was wonderful. Rabbi Miller is enjoying meeting you and I am pleased that you’re enjoying being with him. When services are over, we do the Rosh Hashanah dash to our cars. I like to believe that most of you are heading home or to be with friends for lunch. But, I know that some of you must return to your work. It’s true in every congregation. People depend on you. You provide important services to your clients and your patients.
Tonight is Shabbat Shuvah. It goes by a special name because it’s the Sabbath between the High Holydays. So, we call it the Sabbath of Repentance, or the Sabbath of Return, because Shuvah means return. Repentance is clear. Return is not. We have the time at this season to consider how we can return to God; and if not to God, per se, then to all that God has created us to be. Can we honestly say that we are all that we can be? Can we look at ourselves and what we have done and say that we couldn’t be more or do better? Truthfully, there’s always room for improvement. It’s a relief, really. Perfection is out of reach. But, there’s plenty of room for improvement. Just ask your friends or your family. They’ll be honest with you. Now be honest with yourself. This isn’t about “extreme makeovers.” It’s about adjusting to be at your best more often and to be aware of the people around you who need you more.
Rabbi Akiva said, “How greatly God must have loved us to create us in the image of God; yet even greater love did God show us in making us conscious that we are created in the diving image.”
As Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement nears, may the Book of Life be inscribed with each of your names, and may it also be sealed for a good year, deeper love, greater joy, and more lasting peace.
From my desk to yours, Shabbat Shalom.
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