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Another Year, Another
Wonderful Opportunity
I
through them.
am reminded of the story of an
To lose weight, we must work at
elderly Jewish man who is sadly
it. To play any musical instrument,
run over by a car and is imme-
we must apply ourselves. To pass an
diately rushed to the local hospital.
exam, we must study with all our
After a thorough examination, a
might. Not surprisingly, for every-
pretty young nurse tucks him into
thing we want to achieve in life, we
bed for the night and says, "Mr.
must be actively involved in achiev-
Goldstein, are you comfortable?"
ing our goal. All the more so does
Goldstein thinks for a moment,
this approach apply as
looks up and replies, "I
we consider making per-
make a nice living!"
sonal meaning during the
Comfort. This time
upcoming Days of Awe.
on the Jewish calendar
We must not have the
is absolutely not one for
attitude that our clergy
comfort, at least not ini-
will take care of it for us;
tially. Instead, it is one
for we are all partners in
that should encourage us
affecting positive change.
to honestly confront the
We must understand that,
discomfort we feel when
like everything else, what
we recognize the differ-
Rabbi Joseph
we put into it is exactly
ential between "who we
H. Krakoff
what we will get out. As
are" and "who we want
Congregation
clergy, we desperately
to be." Our High Holiday
Shaarey
want to touch the lives of
prayers are constructed
Zedek
our parishioners, but our
such that this question is
congregants have to meet
paramount.
us half way.
I am regularly asked about how
This year, we once again come
one can find personal meaning
to the synagogue to explore our
and growth in the prayers when
weaknesses and our strengths, our
everything we say is already written
down for us in our machzorim (High accomplishments and our mis-
takes; and we seek the ability to
Holiday prayerbooks). Where is the
forgive and be forgiven as we work
inspiration and authenticity in that?
toward self-renewal and regenera-
And so I answer: While the actual
tion. Furthermore, we come into the
words might not initially have come
synagogue to contemplate and to
from our own heads, we can still
learn as well as to draw closer to the
make them individualized; for when
Almighty, ourselves and our fellow
we truly open our hearts to their
human beings.
sentiment, we can enrich ourselves
As the New Year 5771 brings excit-
significantly.
ing
new opportunities, I pray let us
An experiment: This year, as we
walk
down this road together hand
recite the words off each page, let
in
hand.
The future is ours — may
us think of them merely as a diving
it
bring
a
new year of peace, oppor-
board; a place to start from, a basis
tunity,
fulfillment,
and ultimately,
for plunging in. For if we can utter
well-earned
comfort.
these words with great sincerity and
passion and let them take us to a
Rabbi Krakoff is a rabbi at Congregation
deeper place within ourselves, we
Shaarey Zedek in Southfield.
assuredly will be moved to express
our own thoughts and emotions
Torah On The Web
WebYeshiva.org , the first interac-
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vah/seminary.
Through Sept. 16, WebYeshiva.org
is offering free classes to the public
in Gemara, Tanach, Jewish philoso-
phy and Jewish law.
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September 2 a 2010
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