Before throwing a party we have to “prepare.” First we invite our guests. Then in addition to shopping and cooking, we arrange the tables and chairs, and decorate. And after that? A good party is carefully timed with music, activities, entertainment and food. A satisfying evening is the result of careful preparation.
There is an astounding book on the High Holidays called This is Real, and You are Completely Unprepared, written over ten years ago by the late Rabbi Alan Lew, z”l. If it is true that we are unprepared, and – as in hosting a party – we want the holidays to be meaningful, what should we do to prepare?
Some of you may know that each day of the month (except Shabbat) before Rosh Hashanah (the month of preparation called Elul) the shofar is blown at the end of the morning service. It is a call to wake up! Wake up! Are you ready to look at the TRUTH of your life? Do you like what you see, or feel or think?
Examining our lives is called “Cheshbon Nefesh.” The weekly Torah readings in the book of Deuteronomy, can be insightful for our self introspection. Before crossing into the Promised Land, the ancient Israelites staged a dramatic event. The people were divided and stood on two mountains. The Levites faced the first mountain and recited the blessings and all the people said AMEN. Then the Levites turned to the second mountain and intoned a series of curses, and all the people said AMEN.
What was the purpose of this ritual? The profound answer is that every moment is precious. Every moment contains the capacity of good and evil, life and death, a blessing and a curse. We make choices.
“Look,” Moses cried out… I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you this day that I have set before you LIFE and DEATH, the BLESSING and the CURSE.
Therefore CHOOSE LIFE, so that you may live!”
Are we able to discern the difference between the blessings and the curses? I wonder sometimes. During Elul we are reminded that all is not what we think it is! Choosing life means that we take our lives seriously and see ourselves whether we want to or not. Meditation, prayer, journal writing, sitting still, and being out in nature are ways to focus and pay attention. We can set aside a moment each day to watch one truth emerge.
Rabbi Lew said, “…The truth is, every moment of our life carries with it the possibility of a great blessing and a great curse; a blessing if we live in truth, a curse if we do not…So pay attention. All that’s required of you is to see what’s in front of your face, and to choose the blessing in it.”
Shanah Tova U’Metukah! May we have a sweet and healthy New Year and blessings for
tolerance, justice and peace. AMEN.