KNOWLEDGE
MOVES

torah portion

The Road
Toward
Repair

E

Parshat Yom Kippur:

very summer I think it is
going to get better. But each
year I am proven wrong.
Traffic is an absolute nightmare.
I thought it was bad in Los
Angeles growing up, but each
Michigan summer presents an end-
less series of major construction
zones. And this summer was
• Develop a general sense
no exception.
of where you want to go —
In one of my recent inter-
have the ultimate destina-
minable driving trips to the
tion and goal in mind.
local post office, I took a deep
• Make certain you are
breath and asked myself the
sending to family and
only question I could muster:
friends the signal you intend
“What is this traffic mess try-
to portray, especially when
ing to teach me?”
Rabbi Joseph
it
comes to body language
And then it hit me.
Krakoff
and facial expressions.
Perpetual detours and
• Check your mirrors
never-ending construction
often. Sometimes the only
zones represent a perfect
thing worse than a bad mir-
metaphor for our lives that
ror is a good one. There is no ques-
are constantly under reconstruc-
tion that admitting a mistake is as
tion and, if not, they should be.
important as sharing a success. As it
None of us is a finished product,
says in Proverbs 28:13: “Conceal your
and each one of us can benefit from
faults and you will not prosper.”
a little adjustment here and there.
In every way, Yom Kippur urges us
Thankfully, Yom Kippur is primarily
to be vigilant in not overusing our
for emotional and spiritual recon-
struction, an exercise in soul search- cruise control. While it is sometimes
convenient for long journeys over
ing that prompts us to get on the
road that can lead us to a much bet- smooth, familiar terrain, repairing
our relationships and living our very
ter place in our lives.
best lives means we must honestly
Albert Einstein once said, “To
face the bumps and bruises that
keep our balance, we must keep
come along the way.
moving.” Yom Kippur is a day for
The best news is this: Once
moving, not getting stuck in the pot-
hole or going 100 miles per hour in a the orange barrels are removed,
the detours lifted and the repairs
35 mph zone. It is a day for moving
accomplished, we can look forward
forward, slowly and thoughtfully. It
to smoother roads and more direct
is the supreme moment for return-
commutes in the year ahead.
ing home by recentering, repriori-
May we all use this Yom Kippur to
tizing and rediscovering the true
get back on the proper pathway and,
essence of our souls while repairing
those elements in our lives that have in so doing, may we open ourselves
up to achieving greater heights than
become broken or shattered.
we ever even imagined.•
So I humbly suggest just a few
“repair” tips as we seek to dust off
Rabbi Joseph H. Krakoff is senior director of
and shine up our souls on this com-
Jewish Hospice and Chaplaincy Network.
plex road of life:

Leviticus 16:1-34,

Numbers 29:7-11.

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September 28 • 2017

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