Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Jewish views on sin wikipedia , lookup
Interfaith marriage in Judaism wikipedia , lookup
Three Oaths wikipedia , lookup
Index of Jewish history-related articles wikipedia , lookup
Jewish religious movements wikipedia , lookup
Jewish views on evolution wikipedia , lookup
Jewish views on religious pluralism wikipedia , lookup
Rosh Hashanah Evening September 16, 2012 / 1 Tishre 5773 Rabbi Helen Cohn / Congregation M’kor Hayim “Connections” Perhaps you have noticed that our service tonight was rather short, in contrast (you may be thinking) to the rest of the High Holy Day services! Except for Aveinu Malkeinu which we just sang, tonight’s service is similar to one on a regular Shabbat evening. But don’t be misled by appearances. Tonight we engage with the Days of Awe in earnest. After a month of preparation, the time has come. It is time to confront the hard questions: what mistakes have I made in the past year and how can I make amends for them? How have I disappointed others, and myself? What do I regret, and how can I move on? And also: how have I become a better person since the last High Holy Days and how can I continue to build on my strengths? We are wrestling with some of the most basic issues of a purposeful life, what we would call “a good life.” And lurking in the background, sometime seen and sometimes only hinted at, is the awareness of our own death, and the awareness that we don’t know when that will be. Perkei Avot teaches: “Repent one day before your death.” [PA 2:15] Which is understood to mean repent, repair, live as fully and as cleanly as we can each day, for we never know which day will be the day before our last. The central prayer of these Days of Awe, the Unatana Tokef, asks “Who shall live and who shall die?” A sobering thought, one I know each of us has considered. The Jewish response is: We cannot know the future, but we can make choices about right now. And so tonight let us reframe the question. We ask: “Who shall live…a meaningful life?” I know, because you are here tonight, that this question is important to you; it is a question you no doubt ask yourself, perhaps more urgently as the years pass. Long before the Hubble telescope gave us a hint of the vastness of the universe, our sages knew that our lives were infinitesimal. We are, in the words of the Kabbalah, “a mustard seed in the middle of the sphere of the moon, which itself is a mustard seed within the next sphere…[and] So it is with all the spheres…all of them are a mustard seed within the further expanses.” (The Essential Kabbalah, p 22) And yet, here we are: made in the divine image, wanting our lives to matter, wanting to make the most of our brief span of years. Wanting to live a life of goodness and meaning. How, how do we do this? I believe that an essential element of a meaningful life is connection. So let’s go on a journey together tonight and explore the many ways we are, or might desire to be, connected. We can start with the obvious: our connection with other people. Let’s take a moment and picture our personal web of connection with others. As you visualize the strands, most likely family and closest friends come to mind, but 1 look further and see who else you feel connected to. Take a few silent moments to recognize and appreciate your connections with other people. [pause] Any surprises? How far out do your connections go? I have a friend who makes a point of speaking to grocery store cashiers by name, which she knows thanks to the person’s nametag. A moment of connection, a moment of sincere human contact. Who knows what difference that moment makes in a long day of checking and bagging groceries. We widen the circle of connection when we give our time and our resources to help other people, whether it’s a dish for a shiva minyan, or helping at a food pantry, visiting someone who is sick, rejoicing in a simcha, or just showing up. What else are we here for, if not to help others during a time of need, and to share in their joy during a time of celebration? Does it really matter if they are friends or strangers? We are all in this together, and what lifts us up is the depth and sincerity of our connections with others. In addition to connecting with individuals, we also have meaningful connections with groups or organizations. Let’s now take a few moments as we each consider the groups we feel connected to and supported by: groups that add meaning to our lives. [pause] I wish I could ask each of you what comes to your mind! Here is what I imagine you would say: You are part of a group that studies together, or does some form of exercise together. You have a group of friends who have known one another for years. You volunteer regularly with people you would otherwise not have known. Some of you belong to professional organizations that help you feel connected to and supported by others doing the same sort of work in the world. I hope this exercise helps you appreciate in a new way how these groups give meaning to your lives. Each of you is here tonight because you have some sort of connection with Judaism. But I’m not here to proselytize! We each find religious connection and meaning in our own way. I would, however, like to suggest some of the ways that Judaism (and perhaps any spiritual practice) can be a connection to a life of meaning. First of all Judaism gives us ways to think about God. That is, Judaism challenges us to examine what is true for us, and what we reject. Some of us feel a personal connection to God, to the Source of Life, to some divine force outside of ourselves. Others wrestle with this idea of God, or reject conventional ideas, or find their beliefs changing over time. As Jews, our conclusions are less important than the questions. The connection is with the questions about God. That’s what we mean when we say we are commanded “la’a’sok b’divrei Torah,” to wrestle and engage with words of Torah. One of the most profound ways Judaism gives us a way to connect is through the Jewish calendar. Our individual lives have a rhythm as we age and move through the different stages of human life. And if we are open to it, the Jewish calendar roots us in time, and gives us a framework on which to hang the days and nights and cycles of our lives. For example, twice a year--at the High Holy Days and Passover--I say to myself with fondness “The Jews are on the move!” as I picture families and friends traveling and 2 coming together for the two major holidays of the Jewish year. Our connection to the calendar leads us to connections with loved ones, even to those who are no longer with us physically. Eleven of the twelve Hebrew months contain a holiday. When we connect with the festival calendar, we have a framework for together expressing basic human emotions, each tied to a Jewish holiday. For example, Sukkot teaches us gratitude, Hanukah gives us hope, we delight in nature on Tu b’Shevat, get joyful and silly on Purim, learn compassion at Passover. And at this time of year we support one another in our personal soul searching, repentance and renewal. But that’s not all: each week contains a holiday, one that offers rest and peace from the demands of ordinary life. I’m speaking, of course, of Shabbat. Living by the Jewish calendar, we are connected to the cycle of the seasons and the emotions of the holidays, and we link our separate lives to our community and to Jews around the world. I suspect that many of us ask ourselves the existential question of: “Who am I and what is my place in the universe?” We yearn to belong to something larger than ourselves, to be more than a mustard seed in the vastness of space. Meaning comes in a variety of ways. As Jews, we have a clear and significant place in the march of human history. We are part of something much larger than our individual selves, and yet our individual selves are so important. Each of us is a link in the chain of human history, and more personally, the chain of Jewish history. What we are doing tonight is a part of Jewish life in the early 21st century in the United States of America. This is our connection to time and place. Before us was over three thousand years of history, and who we are now, how we live Jewish lives now, someday becomes history as the future unfolds. Meanwhile this is our place. This is our connection to the Jewish people across time and space, and to all other people who in turn connect with us. Tonight I am inviting us to be aware of the many connections--in the most positive sense-that give meaning to our lives: our connections to other people, to groups, to that which we call God, and to the gifts of Judaism. We celebrate these connections because they give meaning and fulfillment and satisfaction to our days. “Who will live…a meaningful life?” Those who make a difference in the lives of others; those who open themselves to the deep satisfaction of having a place in the world, of being connected. 3