Rosh Hashanah is the birth date of the world; Pesach is the birth date of our freedom and Tu B’Shvat of the new year for nature. Three separate celebrations of renewal. On all other holy days, we recite Hallel, psalms of praise, but not on Rosh Hashanah. Rabbi Abbahu raises this question in the Talmud. “Why do we not recite these uplifting Psalms on the New Year?” He was answered, “How can we recite Hallel when the world stands at the precipice of judgment, at the fulcrum between life and death?”
Perhaps more than ever we recognize the truth of this observation. The entire world seems to be holding its breath as we navigate our second year of a pandemic that has grown more insidious. We wonder if it safe to venture out, even fully masked. We think more than twice about going into public places where any person could be a carrier of the virus.
Rabbi Gerson Cohen interpreted the words, Hayom Harat Olam (this is the birthday of the world) as “This moment is pregnant with eternity" because harat can also mean pregnant. There is no such thing as an experience that does not have hidden within precious life-changing opportunities.
What is thought to be bad or even punitive may in fact be an invitation to unparalleled growth, a challenge to learn and change. What is the purpose of life, if not to become more sage-like from our life’s experiences? We can take these months as a cruel penalty, a mindless time of stultifying boredom and oppression, leading to depression, or we can seize this time as an opportunity to do the things we would never consider doing because we are too busy keeping busy.
So let me ask you to consider a few options:
When was the last time you wrote a letter? A real letter?
I know you always wanted to know more about your parents/grandparents when they were young. Have you contemplated journaling your life experiences for your children and grandchildren? Before this pandemic you never had enough time to do the things you wanted to do, learn what you desired to know. Can you recall those moments of frustration when work, chores and shopping interfered with your deep desire to try something new? This is your chance to take a course online, learn to play an instrument, perfect your linguistic fluency, become a chef cooking culinary masterpieces, design furniture or clothes, sell online, connect with old friends…...
Remember when you were little everyone asked, “So, Sally what do you want to be when you grow up?” Now is when we should be asking that question of ourselves. We are still growing (“Growth or death” says the Talmud - our choice) so what is it that you want to be when you grow up? The question is far more meaningful now than it was way back then.
Rosh Hashanah is a time when the world and everything/everyone in it is pregnant, ready to give birth to a new self.
Personally, I look back upon this year as a time of determined change and growth. It has been challenging and not without its dark moments but I as I walk toward the late Fall of my life, I realize that I, like you, will never be the same. Much has been learned this past year and there is much more yet to be learned. Much have I lost; more have I gained. Far too often in our life we are dragged unwillingly toward a destination, hopeful for a positive outcome and transformation. But it needs to be embraced. Find your place of growth and embrace it.
Soon we will face God on the Holy Days. We will be giving thanks to the Holy One for another year. Time, which is our most precious possession, is the gift we celebrate. But it is a somber gift as we ponder, “What shall I do with this gift? How will I spend it? Will my actions in the coming days and months make me a worthy recipient?”
Make it count.
