Friday, September 18

 

29 Elul 5769 

 

Shabbat Shalom and L'shanah tovah -

Crisp fall air, crunchy sweet apples and a rainbow of leaf colors seem to bring a renewed vibrancy to this time of year.  These signs of the season combine with a palpable energy and spirit of the high holidays that make this an exciting time of the year.  I am sure you must feel it too, whether you are anticipating being with friends and family, eating delicious traditional food or preparing for services.

The high holidays allow us to look introspectively to evaluate ourselves and our relationships.  It is also a time when we can take stock of the world around us - friends, family and institutions - and acknowledge how lucky we all are every day.  Everyone goes through good and bad times and the new year let's us start fresh taking the good with us and leaving the bad behind.  It is a very powerful time of the year.

This year Rosh Hashanah begins on Shabbat, which I always find to be a lovely intertwining of faith.  We are able to end the week and year with a strong finish and start the new year off on the right foot.  What a great opportunity! 

Let's take this opportune time to reflect and acknowledge our successes and failures, personally and institutionally, and let's look toward our new year with a renewed sense of purpose and meaning.  When we throw our bread at tashlich, when we dip our apples in honey and when we come together as a community for services we will all be looking ahead and thinking about the same things: happiness, health, dreams, love, and fulfillment.  Life manifests these items in different ways in our world, but ultimately we all aspire to have each of them.  While we are each unique, we are all very similar too and we share much more in common than we do in difference, especially in this holiday season.

My wish to each of you is that you have a happy and healthy new year in which your dreams and aspirations are met, that you find love in your heart and that your blessings abound.