Each morning throughout the year, during our morning prayers we say the following words, "Baruch Atah Adoshem Elokainu Melech Haolam, Pokaiach Eevrim," "Blessed are You Lord our God, King of the universe, who opens the mentally blind." Akin to a beginning of a new day, now is the time to make yourself anew during the season of Teshuvah, the time of our repentance; to dream of your potential and strive towards it; the time to imagine all of God's goodness and begin renewed, to participate in building a world of peace.
Ours is the season of Teshuvah, the time of our repentance - the period in our yearly rhythm when we take stock in ourselves as individuals, reflect on the previous year and consider how we may have made a difference in our own tiny corner of the world.
Now is the time to make yourself anew, to dream of your potential and strive towards it; the time to imagine all of God's goodness and begin renewed, to participate in building a world of peace.
This Shabbat, Shabbat Shuvah, I implore you to shake yourself into new discovery. I too, am trying to assimilate each new experience and lesson into the depths of meaning that define my life as a Jew and as a Human being. So, I implore you to take one small step towards a better tomorrow. I implore you not through a sense of fear, such that if Teshuvah is not achieved, you may suffer troubling consequences. Instead, I implore you, as one committed to wrestling with a sacred Tradition at a most Holy time of year, to open yourself fully to the process of Teshuvah, of repentance, and ultimately to the great fulfillment that our Tradition offers.
Look within yourself, and then draw closer to the Tradition of God and an existence so rich in love, warmth and compassion, personal growth and spirituality and mercy. This existence, this life, is a life open to God's presence, open to one's own Godly potential; a life open to the never ending process of reflection and self-examination, of prayer and self-improvement, the process of living closer to God each new day, and a life filled with Torah - God's will in this world.
It is time to wake up and feel the riveting notes of the shofar and see that God is in your place. Be like Jacob. Having stolen his Father's prized blessing that was intended for his brother Esau, Jacob runs. Full of fear, Jacob finds himself far from home. Alone in the desert and away from all that is familiar to him and all that is safe, Jacob gathers the only source of comfort available to him. Jacob gathers stones to place under his weary head, lays upon the hard earth, perhaps for the first time coming to understand his own mortality upon the cold loose soil, and perhaps without a blanket is warmed only by the glitter of stars in the sky above.
Humbled, lowered to the ground, sleeping on stones, Jacob dreams of angels ascending and descending a ladder. Having been comforted by this strange dream Jacob wakes up in the place where he came to feel himself so vulnerable and knew not of God's presence, only to discover that God is in this Holy place. Shaken from his solitude, and open to the discovery, Jacob finds consolation and comfort in a foreign space and within the embrace of God.
And be like Hagar. Having been escorted out of camp by Abraham, Hagar too must be shaken loose from her futile retreat within herself. She is blinded by her own pain and by the pain of her endangered son and incapable of seeing the promise of another day. Desperate for water, Hagar knows that she and her son Ishmael are doomed by death's approach. Hagar sets Ishmael down and moves away, lest she witness the death of her child. And she cries out. Though incapable of looking out beyond her own pain, Hagar cries. God answers Hagar's cry. God lifts her eyes to a body of water, to her life's sustenance, that previously was undetectable to her.
Through Teshuvah we humble ourselves through an admission of our transgressions. Perhaps Jacob and Hagar alike began to understand the depths of their misdeeds. Jacob deceived his brother and Hagar failed at raising a respectful and loving child. And resting upon the barren earth, both Jacob and Hagar face their sins and slowly return to the life of God's goodness.
Abraham too must make the slow return to God's goodness. In his zeal, Abraham misunderstands God's instruction to take Isaac to a mountain in Moriah and bring Isaac up as an offering. As we understand from Rashi, Abraham was instructed to take Isaac up the mountain, as an offering, but he was not instructed to actually slaughter Isaac. Instead, Abraham acts upon his own understanding of God's will. Only after Abraham is called to twice, "Avraham, Avraham" with a knife held high above head and ready to slaughter his own son does Abraham responds, "Henaini," Here I am. Abraham then lifts up his eyes, opens himself to God's true will and takes the ram for slaughter. Perhaps the ram had already been before him, caught in the thicket, as he ascended the mountain. But now with Isaac quivering, Abraham must descend the mountain alone, only to return home to find his wife Sara dead and with the enormous task of rebuilding a relationship with his son.
Teshuvah begins with human error and progresses with God's hope. Abraham must weigh his zeal for God against his love of son. And he must now face the pain of having improperly discerned the will of God.
Lastly, I recall Jona, of whom we will read on Yom Kippur. Jona is a Prophet, a man who convenes with God and who directly understands God's presence in the world. But Jona forgets God's nature and becomes consumed with his own responsibilities and his own human limitations. Jona runs from the God who is instructing him to warn the people of Ninveh, for he believes that his warning will be of no use and that the people of Ninveh should receive their due justice. Ultimately, Jona is reminded anew of God's mercy and of the human capacity to repent. The people of Ninveh turn from their evil ways. But Jona is dissatisfied and must be shown by God the value of human life and of God's Supreme Presence in the world.
Teshuvah is the ability to learn old lessons anew. To return to a place free of cynicism and full of God's mercy. Teshuvah is returning to God as the Sustainer and knowing of God's presence in each moment of life. Teshuvah is the ever improving ability to fulfill God's will in this world, and the ability to listen attentively to God's often soft voice giving us direction. And Teshuvah is the sustained pursuit of God's mercy in this world and the tempering of our own thirst for justice and revenge; it is the prayer and the act of bring peace into our own lives, to the children of Ishmael and the children of Israel, and to the world.
As my teacher, Rabbi Artson writes, "Teshuvah, the process of aligning our behavior with our paradigm, of reflecting the Tzelem Elokim, God's image, in the rhythm of our lives, is the fundamental act of creating ourselves anew. It is the path to social justice, to religious depth, to a life lived with meaning and with joy. Teshuvahis our response to God's love, our reassertion of the centrality of our ancient brit - our covenant with God and with our people. Teshuvahis our effort to influence ourselves to become better than we have been."
Being open to God's presence, to God's gifts and to this model of goodness that God's love offers us, requires that we act as prophets and as priests, envisioning God's potential in the world and performing the sacred acts of holiness in our own lives. Teshuvah is being open to one's flaws, accepting one's imperfections, and striving within oneself to reach beyond the here and now, grasping hold of the possibility of improving the world within the acknowledgement of God's Ultimate Eternity, and working towards this improvement.
Since the beginning of the month of Elul, we have recited the words of Psalm 27: "Loolai he'emantee lirot b'toov Adoshem b'aretz chayim," "Mine is the faith that I surely shall see the Lord's goodness in the land of the living." Through this Psalm, we reaffirm that which we often forget: the Lord's goodness is in the land of the living. This goodness can be known and can be felt; in the smile of a friend, in the kind hello of a stranger, in visiting the sick, in the glow of the Shabbat candles, and in the private meditation in prayer, and in the attainment of our potential goodness.
And each morning throughout the year, during our morning prayers we say the following words, "Baruch Atah Adoshem Elokainu Melech Haolam, Pokaiach Eevrim," "Blessed are You Lord our God, King of the universe, who opens the mentally blind." What better way to begin each day than with such a blessing, with an invocation of God's name enabling us to better perceive God presence in the world. And what better way to begin a New Year than with the commitment to take on one new blessing or to see a familiar blessing in a new way. For we are all at times mentally and spiritually closed to the world around us and to the needs within our own home and community.
May you find the strength to look deep within, open yourself to God's goodness, gaze upon that which was once imperceptible, complete the holy work or Teshuvah, and may you be written in the Book of Life.
Shana Tovah & Shabbat Shalom!