Five Thoughts For Rosh HaShanah

Five Thoughts for Rosh HaShanah

Rabbi Mordecai Finley

Rosh HaShanah is usually translated as “The Jewish New Year.” The only thing that makes the coming year truly new is if we make ourselves new.

In the liturgy of the Shofar service on Rosh Hashanah it says, “Hayom harat olam,” usually translated as, “Today is the birthday of world.”  That translation is not precise; those words actually mean “today the world is conceived.” “Hara” in Hebrew means “to be pregnant.”  The world (the world of spirit) is pregnant with a new being – you, if you will it.

Think that our lives are a poem, a work of art, a sculpture, a dance, a piece of music. We have to sit in deep contemplation to feel that. You are the artist. Sink into the moment. No problem to solve, nothing to do. For this moment, the thing is done. The moment is beautiful. You have arrived at this moment.

After feeling at one with your art, you, the artist, steps back. You re-work the poem, add or take away something from the painting. You shape the sculpture a bit more. Rework the musical score. For the artist, the soul knows the vision. The soul is silently at work.

For the lives we live, we have to help the soul along. We have to think and reflect – what shall this work of art called “life” be?

One function of religion is to guide us in our thinking and reflecting to help the soul do its work. On Rosh Hashanah, several thoughts come to mind that I will develop during our services.

First, we have free will (even the free will to think we don’t have free will). We live within a moral and spiritual framework. We have to choose to devote some part of our lives to understand that moral and spiritual framework. Use your will for goodness. Admit when you fall short. Work to do better.

Second, we are responsible for our posture toward life. The facts of our life are often out of our control, but we can control how we respond to the external life, how we respond to others.

Third, we are responsible not only for how we relate with others, but also the conduct of our inner lives. People think they are a function of the past.  That is partly true. I think we are much more a function of how we envision our future and our will and skill to make the vision real.

Fourth, we cannot understand ourselves completely, how much the more so other people.

Therefore, what do we do?  Whatever it is we do, its foundation should be truth, love and grace.

Reduce resentment and despair. We can’t think well when we are hurt and resentful. We can’t effect change when we abandon the will. We should work toward understanding ourselves and others. Resentment and despair attach us to our false narrative, not to seeking the truth.

Maximize intentionality, love, compassion, joy and grace, as much as possible. Intentionality, love, compassion and grace are ways to know yourself and to know others. Indeed, we may have to set some kind, clear and firm boundaries in our lives. We should set those boundaries with respect for the humanity of the other person.

We may have to hold someone to account. We should do this in kind and clear ways, so the other person can hear us. When you want to hold someone to account, be ready for discovering that you’re more attached to your narrative than to seeking the truth. Be accountable. In general, work through things with others with as much respect, empathy and kindness as possible.

We should be graceful in the ways we conduct our inner and relational lives.

Fifth, and last for now, know that along with your free will and responsibility, we are seekers of meaning. How do we find meaning in life? How do we allow meaning to find us?

These upcoming holidays are works of art, filled with poems of beauty and truth, music that takes us to deep places, so that we can sculpt our new self and prepare it for birth.