A New Year, A New Perspective, A New Prayer

I am both happy and sad to see this year come to a close and the next one begin. There have been some great times of celebration and also moments that I wish we could forget. It has been a year of polar opposites that has left many of us tired and longing to begin anew… to have a fresh start… to enjoy another chance at seeing the calendar change with only joy filling the previous months. Next year, I hope.

Interestingly, the Rosh Hashanah holiday contains the same paradox as that which I feel when looking back over the year. As is posted on the Aish website:

“The holiday of Rosh Hashanah contains a paradox. On the one hand, we are taught that Rosh Hashanah is the judgment day of mankind. The righteous are granted another year of life, the wicked are slated for destruction, and the average are given until Yom Kippur to mend their ways and merit another year (Talmud Rosh Hashanah 16b).

“We should be begging G-d for another year of life in the hope we can influence our judgment for the better. G-d’s court is convened. Our books are open. This is our big chance to pray for life.”

In addition to restarting the relationships we have for others through the admission of our faults, sins, and wrongdoings, we also make the same plea to G-d for forgiveness. While I can’t honestly say that I am one to give a clean slate to some people, I do my best to admit my mistakes and try my hardest to move past the wrongdoings of others. This is definitely easier said than done.

However, one of the things that has become more apparent to me over this past year in general and over the past couple of weeks in particular is the need that we have, my wife and I, to reconnect with G-d and the Jewish community in general. We need to do this not just for ourselves but, more importantly, for our son. We want him to know the world and his creator, we want him to understand and embrace all the aspects of faith, family, love, and life that make him who he is and make him such a precious gift in this world. After all…

“The purpose of the world is that mankind recognizes G-d and makes the world a reflection of His glory. G-d judges each of us on Rosh Hashanah not just based on our deeds, but based on how much we were a part of that grand mission. By identifying with and praying for G-d’s kingship to be revealed, we demonstrate that we want to be a part of the world’s purpose. We restart our relationship with G-d and redevote ourselves to Him. True, we might not have been perfect this past year, but we know what the world is about and we want to be a part of it. We want another year of life. We want to make the world a better place.”

Basically, I want him to not have the long list of things at the end of the year for which to ask for forgiveness like his father. I want him to not only have every opportunity in life but the confidence, conviction, faith, love, and support to take advantage of those opportunities. I want him to forever be a gift unto the world regardless of the path he chooses to take in life. I just want him to be a better man than I have thus far proven to be in this life and not look back with the same regrets. This is what I hope this and every new year brings.

Just An Inconvenience

 

In the 45 minutes that is took for our food to arrive at the table, Armageddon had already passed by the front window. What had been a nearly empty restaurant when we arrived was quickly beginning to fill up as those without power poured in the through the doors for a late dinner. With the occasional flickering of the lights, the dining room filled to near capacity with new guests arriving and those who had been there long before we arrived refusing to leave.

By the time we walked out the door the winds had calmed and the rain was a slow drizzle of large drops. The street was spotted with a confetti of leaves and the clouds began to lighten as we approached our cars. It was just a quick storm but the sirens and fire trucks charging down the road let us know that the rain was not the primary concern. It didn’t take long before we found ourselves inching up to inoperable intersections that seemed to encourage people to put their foot down and pray that no one decided to turn in front of them.

My wife continued down the road as I quickly stopped by the lodge to check the building. It didn’t take long and I was back on the road within a few minutes. About halfway home my phone rang and I can’t say I was surprised when my wife said that the power was out at our apartment building. Because of changes made since we moved in two and half years ago, this is no longer a rare occurrence. During Sandy, with the old systems in place, the power stayed on… now, 20-30 minutes of intense wind and rain and the building is completely shut down. Thanks PECO! In fact, the power remained absent from our apartment until the early morning hours when we were both trying to sleep in a pool of sweat.  

At least we didn’t have to clean the fridge out… yes, that issue has yet to be resolved. As if we didn’t need the extra motivation to move when our lease is up. But, in the end, this is nothing more than an inconvenience. And without the distraction of the television or internet constantly barraging my senses, it has forced me to think about what many of our friends are experiencing in Israel. As I write this there are rockets headed toward Tel Aviv and toward our old (literally) neighborhood in Jerusalem. And while there is a certain part of me that is glad that we are here with this minor inconvenience there is another part of me that wishes we were there with our friends standing together as if to say “bring it, we’re not going anywhere!” This is just an inconvenience. Baruch Hashem and may G-d bless and keep Israel and her people safe during this period of conflict and for all time.

Don't Waste Time

“...In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and you shall not do any work ... For on that day he shall provide atonement for you to cleanse you from all your sins before the L-RD.” – Leviticus 16:29-30

At sunset, Yom Kippur will begin. For Jews, this is our “Day of Atonement” for the sins that we have committed against G-d. It is on this day that we have the opportunity to change the judgment entered into the books of life and death in which G-d inscribes all names. It is our last appeal before these books are sealed. This is our day to demonstrate our repentance and make amends for all the transgressions that have stained our lives this past year.  

Many of us have taken the past week to ask forgiveness from others, I could have done a better job of that, but now is the time that we ask for G-d’s forgiveness of our sins. There are many of these transgressions that can be found in the thoughts and prayers of Jews around the world and across generations. Maybe we didn’t go to services enough, maybe we haven’t read Torah and studied Talmud enough, and maybe there are more serious offenses that we ask to be forgiven.

Those are, for the most part, commonalities that we all share during this Holy time of year but there is something for which I am certainly going to ask to be forgiven which is commonly overlooked. How many hours each year do we spend watching television or aimlessly surfing the internet? How many times have you found yourself zoning out on Facebook reading posts and looking at pictures that you are only going to forget about later? How much time do we waste on an annual basis?

That is what I will make sure to include in my prayers and in my pleas… I am asking to be forgiven for wasting life. There is so much that I can be doing with the time I have to make a difference rather than spending hours doing something that has no lasting impact or meaning. If you find yourself in this situation and such action, or inaction as it were, has affected the life or lives of others you must also ask for their forgiveness. The same can be said for the sin of judgment. We have all judged others to varying degrees whether it is because of how someone looks, their level of observance, the job they may have, etc. Hopefully you have already asked them for forgiveness, but we must also ask G-d for forgiveness for unfairly casting judgment on His creation.

This is the time to learn from our reflections this past week, recognize our shortcomings, and ask G-d not only for His forgiveness for what we have done wrong but for the strength and wisdom needed to prevent us from committing them in this new year. This is a time for transformation. It is a time that allows us to wake up and see the world through G-d’s eyes. This is a time for change.

Shabbat Travel: Enjoying What G-d Has Given Us!

Many of you have read my last two posts which were about the day trips that my wife and I have taken over the last couple of weekends. As was previously stated, this is a significant change to our weekly routine as we have previously attempted to observe Shabbat in the more traditional Orthodox way. The purpose of this post is to address this observance shift and explain a little with regard to why we have made this change.

What we have found over the last year or so was that while we were so focused on how we observe Shabbat that we had lost sight of the real purpose of the day. We had been focused on limiting ourselves about what we could and couldn’t do that we weren’t able to see what we could do and what was available to us. We were separating ourselves from our family, our friends, and the community and not spending any real time together. We were withdrawing from the world.

We both wrestled with the question of what Shabbat really means to us and how we honor G-d on this day. In the end, it came down to a simple question that we both had to answer for ourselves: does G-d want us to serve Him through solitude or by showing our deepest appreciation for all that He has given us in this world and in our lives?

Needless to say, we both agreed that there are too many beautiful gifts that have been bestowed upon us for us not to show our boundless gratitude by doing our best to embrace as many of them as we can. This is what led to our decision to make Shabbat our day of exploration and discovery. Not only are we taking the time to appreciate the people in our lives but also all the places around us that we have never taken the time to visit.

This past weekend was a time for my wife to meet with friends and for me to make new ones as I we had previously never met. The week before that, we were able to explore a place we had never been… just the two of us on the road taking a part of the world previously unknown to us. Making these connections has not only brought us closer to G-d but has brought us closer together and has already served to strengthen our marriage.

This change allows us to not just pray with words but with our actions. We will never be able to see all that G-d has created nor will we ever be able to meet all those created in His image but we are going to try to see as much as we can and meet as many people as we can. It may not work for everyone but this is what connects us with G-d and the journey is what brings us together and I pray that this exploration will continue to increase our appreciation of what we have and what we have yet to receive.