Sacred Time
I

’
ve never been able to see the passage 
of time as clearly as when I became a 
mother. Before, I marked time mostly 
by what was happening around me … two 
more years until I’
m done with college, 
three more months until 
Passover, one more week 
before a big trip, and so on 
and so forth. 
But things are different 
now. I can see changes in 
my children every day as 
they grow into tiny people. 
They are like sponges, soak-
ing up everything around 
them and growing before my very eyes. 
Things that fit the day before are three 
inches too short the next time I take them 
out of the drawer. New teeth, new curls, 
new words, new skills, every single day. 
And with every inch grown and every mile-
stone met, I can see time.
It’
s amazing. It’
s incredible. And it 
reminds me that marking time is a sacred 
act. 
The High Holy Days are fast approach-
ing, and once again, this year has flown 
by. As we prepare our minds and souls and 
hearts and tables for the start of a fresh new 
year, we are instructed to turn inward, to 
celebrate our strengths and honestly reflect 
on our challenges. 
But it’
s also essential to consider how we 
use this blessing of time. Our seconds. Our 
minutes. Our hours. Because while we can 
repent, rethink and recalibrate, those pre-
cious moments slip through our fingers like 
sand on the beach. 
Over the past year, what brought you the 
most joy, the most peace, the most fulfill-
ment? Reading a wonderful book? Sitting 
around the dining room table, laughing for 
hours with old friends? Watching your son 
become a father, nurturing his new baby in 
his arms the same way you held him when 
he was young? This is the stuff of life. This 
is sacred time. And, oh, how lucky we are 
to have a tradition that provides us with a 
mandatory “deep breath” as the new year 
begins. 
This High Holiday season, let us cherish 
the precious gift of our days, overwhelmed 
with gratitude to God for these priceless, 
wonderful, awe-inspiring moments that 
make up our lives. 

Jen Lader is a rabbi at Temple Israel in West 
Bloomfield.

Rosh Hashanah

Rabbi Jen 
Lader

O

ften, when we daven, we call upon 
the merits and the good deeds of 
our first ancestors to ensure that 
God will hear us. This is especially the case 
on Rosh Hashanah where the life stories of 
Abraham, Sarah and Isaac figure so prom-
inently in the liturgy and in 
the assigned Torah readings of 
the day. 
Abraham is a man of 
action. He deals effectively 
with the natives in his new 
homeland, he ably handles 
crises and he even challenges 
God to act justly. Sarah, in 
turn, deftly handles Abraham; 
she partners with her husband on his some-
times-perilous journeys and she is fiercely 
protective of her son. The lives of this first 
couple deserve our respect; they serve as role 
models as we ponder making life changes 
during this 10-day period.
But what about Isaac? He does not seem 
to possess the superior qualities of his par-
ents. He was the only child of older parents. 
Such children are often indulged, “heli-
coptered” and spoiled. He was so attached 
to his mother that he did not find inner 
peace as an adult until he married a woman 
who reminded him of Sarah. Isaac did not 
protest at all when his father was about to 
sacrifice him. He was the only patriarch 
whose name was not changed as an adult, 
and he never left the borders of Canaan. He 
spent much of his adult life simply redoing 
the actions of his father, namely, uncovering 
the wells that Abraham had first discovered. 
Isaac was deceived in his old age by both 
his wife and one of his sons. What were the 
merits of Isaac? Why does he deserve to be 
remembered?
Perhaps the answer is that the expecta-
tions for Isaac’
s life needed to be far differ-

ent than those for Abraham’
s. Abraham was 
a strong leader who founded a new faith 
based on belief in one God; he was the pro-
genitor of a new clan of Hebrews; and he 
had to establish a lasting legacy in a foreign 
land. That was not Isaac’
s destiny. His pur-
pose was to solidify all that his father had 
accomplished and to make sure it could be 
maintained over time. In sum, Isaac took 
over as a second-generation leader, from a 
founding CEO, with the job of strengthen-
ing the newly created structures.
After Abraham’
s death Isaac did indeed 
stay in the land. His job was not to explore 
new territories and go on grand adventures. 
His task was to renew covenants with neigh-
bors and to make sure that the living waters 
first dug by his father continued to flow to 
nourish the expanding flock. He carried out 
this task admirably. Isaac also renewed his 
relationship with his half-brother, Ishmael; 
the Torah tells us that they attended 
Abraham’
s funeral together. He understood 
that the primary element of his job descrip-
tion was to ensure the continuity of the 
enterprise; he succeeded admirably. 
The Torah tells us that Isaac passed away 
at 180 years of age (10 times chai). “He was 
gathered up to his kin in ripe old age and he 
was buried by his sons Esau and Jacob.” In 
hindsight, he had lived a long and good life.
Yes, during the High Holy Days we do 
read about Isaac’
s early years and we remem-
ber him in the liturgy along with the others 
in the first family. We remember him not 
because he was brave, bold, daring or char-
ismatic but because he was steady, reliable, 
persevering and forgiving. We learn that 
often these traits are not only important but 
essential. 

Mitch Parker is rabbi at B’
nai Israel Synagogue in 
West Bloomfield.

Rabbi Mitch 
Parker

The Importance of Being Isaac

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24 | SEPTEMBER 26 • 2019