Sunday, September 29, 2019

Erev Rosh Hashanah - Welcome & Explanations

Shanah Tovah!  For some of us, the roller coaster of the Yamim Noraim - Days of Awe -  has been guiding us for the month of Elul, and for others it begins in earnest this day - Yom Teruah - the Day of the Blast.  We celebrate as we welcome the year 5780 and we also know that the deep introspective work of these Days of Awe will carry us towards Yom Kippur.  This is not always easy, I would contend it is not meant to be easy, for reckoning for ourselves, our deeds, our behaviors and choices over the past year can often lead us deep within…   Let this celebration of Rosh Hashanah, this engagement with this time of year, lead us to places unknown within ourselves and may it also lead us towards the recognition of our humanity - yes full of foibles, but also capable of glimpsing perfection, within ourselves, others and our world.  May those glimpses guide us to being our best selves, to support others on their journeys and in that way, those shadows of perfection begin to become illuminated.  Shanah Tovah! 
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Erev Rosh Hashanah - Drash on Light - Before Candle Lighting

With these lights, We welcome Rosh Hashanah.  In their glow of contrasting colors, we discern the light and dark of our days; We recall all the disappointments and joys we have shared, all the hopes and intentions we now nurture for the New Year. 

In Psalm 27, read each day for a month leading to this day, we recite: Adonai is my light and my help; whom should I fear? Adonai is the stronghold of my life, whom should I dread?  From this we discover an inspiration that the Divine, the Mystery of Creation, Adonai - whatever it is we hold in belief - illuminates that which may cause us pause, fear or anxiety and we know that through working to continuing becoming ourselves, as individuals and as a community, the path becomes illuminated for us.  May the coming year be one of growing light, for us, for our community and for our world.  ~Amen

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Erev Rosh Hashanah - Drash for Hineni - How Do We Present Ourselves

There is a fellow who owns a jewelry store in Israel. One day a nine year old girl walked into the store and said, “I am here to buy a bracelet.” She looked through the glass cases and pointed to a bracelet that was $3,000. The man behind the counter asked her, “You want to buy that bracelet?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“Wow, you have very good taste. Who do you want to buy it for?”
“For my older sister.”
“Oh that is so nice!” the storekeeper replied. “Why do you want to buy your older sister this bracelet?”
“Because I don’t have a mother or father,” the little girl said, “and my older sister takes care of us. So we want to buy her a present, and I’m willing to pay for it.” She pulled out of her pocket a whole bunch of coins that totaled just under eight shekels, a little less than two dollars.

The fellow says, “Wow! That’s exactly what the bracelet costs!” While wrapping up the bracelet he said to the girl, “You write a card to your sister while I wrap the bracelet.” He finished wrapping the bracelet, wiped away his tears, and handed the little girl the bracelet.

A few hours later the older sister entered the store. “I’m terribly embarrassed,” she said. “My sister should not have come here. She shouldn’t have taken it without paying.” “What are you talking about?” the storekeeper asked.

“What do you mean? This bracelet costs thousands of dollars. My little sister doesn’t have thousands of dollars – she doesn’t even have ten dollars! Obviously she didn’t pay for it.”

“You couldn’t be more wrong,” the storekeeper replied. “She paid me in full. She paid seven shekel, eighty agurot, and a broken heart. I want to tell you something. I am a widower. I lost my wife a number of years ago. People come into my store every single day. They come in and buy expensive pieces of jewelry, and all these people can afford it.

When your sister walked in, for the first time in so very long since my wife had died, I once again felt what love means.”
He gave her the bracelet and wished her well.

During the High Holy Days, we come to the Almighty and we want to buy something very expensive. We want to buy life. But we cannot afford it. We don’t have enough money to pay for it. We don’t have the merits.

So we come to the Almighty and we empty out our pockets, giving him whatever merits we have plus promises for the future. I’ll pick up the phone and call someone who is lonely, I will learn an extra five minutes of Torah, I will be kind and I will be scrupulous about not speaking lashon hara (gossip) for one hour a day.

The Almighty says, “You don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve felt what love means.” He sees how much we love Him and how much we yearn to improve, and He says, “You know what? You have touched my heart. Here it is, paid in full.”

The story was told over by Rabbi Go’el Elkarif who said he heard it from the person himself

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Erev Rosh Hashanah - Drash on the Miraculous - Before Mi Chamocha

The Baal Shem Tov taught:  “If we were to walk in the woods and a spring appeared just when we became thirsty, we would call it a miracle. And if on a second walk, if we became thirsty at just that point again, and again the spring appeared, we would remark on the coincidence. But if that spring were there always, we would take it for granted and cease to notice it. Yet is that not more miraculous still?”

As we prepare for this moment recalling our redemption as a people with Mi Chamocha, what are the miracles for which we are grateful?  And as we consider the miracles that fill our daily lives, may we all be thirsty for them and make sure our souls are focused to recognize them, to be grateful for them and be open to helping others continue to discover them too! 

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