My first summer as TE’s president has been relatively quiet. School is not in session, summertime services have been beautifully planned and led by fellow congregants, and Rabbi Farbman and the Spain travelers have returned from what they say was a fabulous trip. I am acutely aware, however, that these lazy, crazy days of summer are numbered… the High Holidays have appeared on the horizon, and I feel we are racing toward them at light-speed.
Our tradition teaches that these holidays, and the Days of Awe between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, are most meaningful for us if we prepare for them in advance. How are we to take time and focus away from our daily chores and activities to prepare for examining our behavior over the past year, recognize our shortcomings and misdeeds, and seek a way to come closer to God?
Our tradition suggests that during the month of Elul before the High Holidays, God is particularly accessible. I thought about this recently when I visited our cemetery, and read the headstones of so many of my friends, mentors, colleagues, fellow congregants. At each grave, I stood a few moments and thought about each of them – what they believed, how they laughed, what I learned from each. I stood at the grave of my close friend and mentor, Rabbi Jerry Brieger Z”L. Before Jerry welcomed me into TE 40 years ago, I had no personal tradition of celebrating the High Holidays. Rabbi Brieger’s gentle yet learned style enticed me to participate in these traditions, to reflect on what I had done and who I wanted to be, and to prepare for a new beginning as the new year was born. That first Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur for me was really the first time I had spent much time thinking of my accomplishments, my mistakes, my regrets, my hopes and my relationship with my fellow humans and with my God. As we completed the day of fasting and prayer on Yom Kippur, as one community singing together, the wonderful surprise I had not anticipated was my sense of redemption, intense love and real hope for the future.
This year, my preparation for the Days of Awe began as I stood in the cemetery with my beloved Jerry, thinking of how lucky I was to have had such a guide and loving friend. I do not know how many more Days of Awe I have on this planet. I do know that our tradition of introspection, repentance, reconciliation, forgiveness, gives me the opportunity to find again my true self, my purpose, my appreciation of all that life offers, and my hope for our future together.
I hope each of you might also have the opportunity to build again a whole heart as we prepare for the Holidays. I look forward to seeing you at synagogue.