Since this is my first article for Jmore, I will begin by introducing myself. I am the new senior rabbi at Chizuk Amuno Congregation and Schools. I grew up in New Rochelle, N.Y., but am a diehard Philadelphia sports fan who is willing to adopt both the Ravens and Orioles so long as they are not playing my Philly teams.
The holiday season is upon us. In short measure, we will be dressing in our best clothes and taking part in the rituals of our holy days. It is an opportunity to recharge, reconnect and begin anew, all in a short span of time, that is arguably the most important moment of our Jewish year.
For clergy, this season requires great preparation and attention. Many of us spend the bulk of the summer thinking about sermons, and then the latter portions crafting and perfecting the messages we want the community to hear and internalize.
Professionally, we have no choice but to engage in this great process of preparation. If we were to just show up on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, we would have wasted a great opportunity to inspire our respective communities. The irony is, of course, that it is not just the clergy who are tasked with preparation for these holy days. In fact, our calendar pushes all of us to be prepared and fully engaged in this process leading up to the month of Tishrei, when the holiday season begins.
The good news is it is never too late, and we have a structure in place to guide you through this important and spiritual endeavor.
My teacher, Rabbi Alan Lew, z”l, wrote a book titled, “This is Real and you are Completely Unprepared,” in which he details this important cycle in the Jewish calendar. For Rabbi Lew, the process of preparation begins with the first of the Hebrew month of Elul as we begin to blow shofar each morning.
I would like to suggest that it begins even earlier when we commemorate the minor fast day, the 17th of Tammuz. For three weeks, culminating with the fast of the 9th of Av, we live in a state of mourning. We call to mind some of the darkest periods of our history. Times when even though outside forces sought to do us harm, it was actually our own internal strife that was the most damaging.
We cannot possibly look forward without first looking back. If we are truly to engage in the construct of change that this season demands, it is imperative it begins with looking back. Once we complete this exercise we celebrate the Jewish holiday of love, Tu B’Av. The Talmud describes this as one of the happiest days of the year. There could not possibly be a better way to emerge from a period of sadness than to celebrate love. But lest we become complacent in this celebration, just two weeks later we start to blow the shofar and imagine the changes we will make in the coming year.
“A great horn sounds calling you to remembrance,” Rabbi Lew writes, “but all you can remember is how much you have forgotten. By the last week of this month, your need to know these things weighs upon you. Your prayers become urgent.” There is a reason that we blow the shofar for a month leading up to Rosh Hashanah. We need time to prepare so when the most serious and life-altering 10 days of the Jewish calendar begin, we are ready to face them with a clear head, an honest conscience and — most importantly — a full heart.
Perhaps we need to think of this time each year as a bar mitzvah or a wedding, or for that matter any important life changing moment. In many respects, it is the preparation we engage in leading up to these moments that defines our readiness to experience them to their fullest capacity.
The moments themselves are over in what seems like an instant. But the time we spend in anticipation of these events is often what remains as seminal memories in our minds. My wedding day seems like a blur to me almost 18 years after it happened. However, the process of meeting my wife, falling in love with her and creating our wedding day is still as vivid in my mind’s eye today as it was so many years ago.
The High Holy Days are the time of the year when we look introspectively and create an honest self-assessment that will hopefully guide our behavior in the coming year. As human beings, we know that perfection is never our goal, but we also know that remaining stagnant or trapped in our ways is not an acceptable choice either. The whole experience of this 10-day period is full of meaning and opportunity. However, to truly maximize the life-altering potential of this time, and our own potential as well, we have to prepare ourselves with the same commitment and energy that we bring to the actual days themselves.
Shanah Tovah U’m’tookah. To a Happy, Sweet, and Healthy New Year
Rabbi Joshua Z. Gruenberg is senior rabbi of Chizuk Amuno Congregation.
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