Rosh Hashanah >> rabbinic messages
Shanah Tovah: What Do You Mean?
H
ebrew is more than just a lan-
guage — it is a particularly
meaningful way to transmit
Jewish culture and values. One of the
reasons is that words cluster around
meaning, and the same Hebrew letters
can be used in various ways.
For example, we all show up at Rosh
Hashanah ready to say, "Shanah Tovah
(may you have a good year)."
The letters SHin-Nun-Hay make up
the word "year." However, the same
three letters make the word for "retell-
ing" or "repeating" (as in Mishnah). We
cannot look ahead to a new year until
we look behind us and assess where
we've been. In fact, the beginning of
teshuvah (repentance) is taking an hon-
est look in the mirror.
our own mistakes.
Shanah Tovah, then, could be a nice
Which leads to yet another meaning
way to encourage friends or
of our Hebrew word. SHin-
family to "make sure you do
Nun-Hay is also the word for
a good job of reflecting on
"change?'
your past year:'
More than wishing people "a
Living as part of a com-
good year," perhaps we are say-
munity means supporting
ing, "may you be changed for
one another in the task of
the better:' Self-assessment is
religious living. And being
only the first step of teshuvah.
The ultimate goal of our High
a good friend is more than
sharing common interests; it
Holidays is to determine what
is about helping one another
sort of person we have been
grow and evolve.
in the past year so that we can
Rabb i Mark
That is also the reason
make the real and sometimes
Mi Iler
why teshuvah must include
difficult changes that will lead
others. Without forgiveness,
to a better year ahead.
In my own experience, I find that I
we might not be so motivated to expose
am more likely to improve some aspect
of myself when I have people helping
me, encouraging me, even nudging me
along my path.
So this year, when you wish someone
Shanah Tovah, remember that it is not
just a greeting ... it is a conversation:
As you take stock of the past year, I am
here to support you in making positive
changes with the goal of creating an
even better year ahead:'
When they do the same for you, it is
certain to lead us all toward a more suc-
cessful future.
Shanah tovah!
❑
Mark Miller is a rabbi at Temple Beth El in
Bloomfield Township.
What Does God Want From Us?
W
hat does God want of us
... and how can I do bet-
ter? As we head into Rosh
Hashanah, we are called by the sound of
the shofar to ask of ourselves these two
essential life questions.
Our sages instruct us to perform
Cheshbon HaNefesh, to take an account-
ing of our souls, and to analyze our
actions from this past year. What does
God want of us ... and how can I do bet-
ter?
Throughout the generations, the lead-
ers of the Jewish people have offered us
their interpretation of that which God
wants of us. "Do justice, love mercy and
walk humbly with your God," Micah
offers (Micah 6:8). "Keep justice and do
righteousness:' adds Isaiah (56:1). The
prophet Amos, speaking for God, estab-
lishes the mission of the Jewish people
as, "Seek Me, and you shall live" (Amos
5:4). The great sage Hillel
is quoted in the Babylonian
Talmud explaining, while
standing on one foot, that
the essence of Judaism is,
"What is hateful to you, do
not to your neighbor; that
is the whole Torah, while
the rest is the commentary
thereof; [now] go and learn
it" (B.T. Shabbat 31a).
Now, as 21st-century Jews,
what does God want of us?
God wants us look to the
mitzvot (sacred obligations) to elevate
the sense of spirituality and intergen-
erational connectedness of the Jewish
people. God wants us embrace our mitz-
vot by working tirelessly to ensure that
our neighbors, both Jewish and
gentile, have ample food, cloth-
ing and shelter. And guided by
our mitzvot, God wants us to
seek to bring peace wherever
and whenever there is strife,
at home and throughout the
world. This is what God wants
of us.
Now, the second question
is: How can I do better? We
are living in difficult times.
Israel was engaged in a war of
self-defense all summer. There
are those in our own area who suffer
from homelessness, hunger, poverty and
violence, as well as illness, physical and
emotional challenges, and tragedy. Fewer
Jews are affiliating with synagogue life
than ever before. Are we — each of us
individually and all of us as a community
— doing what we can to care for those
in need, to strengthen the Jewish people,
to stand up for the State of Israel and to
bring healing to a broken world?
Now is the time we reflect on our lives.
The world needs the Jews, and the Jewish
community needs you. How can we all do
better?
On behalf of Congregation Shaarey
Zedek, I wish you a happy and healthy
New Year 5775.
❑
Aaron Starr is rabbi at Congregation Shaarey
Zedek in Southfield.
God, Our Father
N
o matter what you do, think,
choose or believe, Dad will always
be Dad.
He'll always love you. Care for you. Be
there for you.
You could disagree with him. Defy him.
Rebel against him. Even reject and hate
him. But he'll never lock his doors or his
heart to you. He can't. You're his child.
And he's Dad.
He'll watch with pain and sadness as
you trip and fall. Make mistakes. Insist on
repeating them. Refuse to listen to him.
And demand, without thanks, food, lodg-
ing and money.
He just never gives up on you.
Even when he yells at you, it's out of
love. It's because he doesn't want you doing
50 September 18 • 2014
appears in the daily liturgy, too.
that bad thing. And to him, that's really
bad. And it hurts him to rebuke you as
Because "Dad" conveys so much, words
much as it hurts you.
can't even convey it. That's
Now, were we talking about
why we call God our "Father:'
Dad? Or about God?
Because He is to us everything
Judaism is replete with com-
that our fathers are to us — and
infinitely more.
parisons of God to the human
father: the loyal and giving
The teaching of the Baal Shem
patriarch, the rock, the family
Tov, founder of Chasidism, that
man who's there for his clan's
every Jew is seen and loved by
every tragedy and triumph,
God, personally and uncondi-
tionally, as an only child inspires
and who above all fiercely and
endlessly loves his every child.
us to embrace every Jew. And
All that, and more, is what
this belief comes to the fore at
Rabbi Mendel
we mean when we say Avinu,
Rosh Hashanah.
St ein
far away. Upon becoming a man, the prince
couldn't even speak his native tongue.
Trying to enter the royal palace upon
return, he couldn't communicate with the
guards, who thrust him away. But the king
heard the wordless sobs, recognized his boy
and threw the gates open wide.
The shofar is that wordless cry of our
souls, calling out to our loving Father in
heaven.
At Rosh Hashanah, let's remember that
we are God's children. We're home. And
we want in.
Ushanah tovah to all.
our Father, in the Avinu
Malkeinu prayer said repeated-
ly throughout Rosh Hashanah. The phrase
Rabbi Mendel Stein is development director at
The classic Chasidic parable
tells of the king who sent his pre-
cious little boy to grow up among strangers
❑
Lubavitch Yeshiva - International School for
Chabad Leadership.