Just after Labor Day this year, we celebrate Rosh HaShanah — and just after that, Yom Kippur. And then Sukkot arrives.
A good third of this September will be either Shabbat or a holiday. It makes for a glorious, intense month.
But don’t wait until Rosh HaShanah to celebrate, or better yet, to prepare. Yes, these holy days are meaningful in themselves. How do we get the most meaning out of them?
We have choices. We can sit passively in services and hope the liturgy and sermons elevate our souls. However, spiritual transformation cannot occur without our active participation.
What does active participation mean? Active participation does mean work, and the work starts now.
The point of the holidays is spiritual transformation. It’s a tall order. However, if we approach the holidays properly, we can set our spiritual and moral compass in such a way that we can better face the vicissitudes of life.
We first take a good hard look at ourselves. Yes, we certainly must consider our strengths and not focus exclusively on our perceived faults.
But we must avoid the state of denial that finds reasons and excuses for improper, even hurtful, behaviors. Our introspection must be real.
We must include the possibility — probability — that we hurt other people over the last year. Questions to ask: How can we make things right? Did others hurt us? Can we forgive them? Can we try?
The hard part: we look at parts of ourselves we cannot see.
Teshuvah — turning and returning to our Creator — is the underlying theme of these days. We start early, an entire month before Rosh HaShanah. Teshuvah starts with introspection and it continues through changed behavior.
Through teshuvah, we can re-make ourselves. We must rid ourselves of certain assumptions. One assumption is about the world we see. The deepest reality lies below what we see with our naked eyes and senses.
Rabbi Alan Lew, z”l, put it well in his book “This is Real and You are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe” (2003):
“Judaism came into the world to bring the news that the invisible is more important than the visible… In the visible world, we live out our routine and sometimes messy lives… It is only beneath the surface of this world that the real and unseen drama of our lives is in unfolding…”
We seek to be rational beings, but we know there are unseen dimensions. For instance, we cannot see emotions, nor can we “see” the soul. The journey embedded in our calendar brings the invisible world to our attention.
We start with introspection and trying to make things right. That’s not enough. We look for ways to improve. And we verbalize our misdeeds.
Speaking has a way of making things concrete, more real to us. We can verbalize them to ourselves, to others, or to God. In our liturgy, we have a ritualized confession. Its purpose is the same: to make these things real to us.
We cannot escape them. We must work with them.
Going even deeper
We must recognize our dependence on others. This isn’t easy for independent minded Americans who prize self-sufficiency. Sadly, this self-sufficiency can take us straight into the jaws of isolation. That’s how we erect emotional walls that keep others out.
Yes, we control some of our lives. But much is beyond control. It’s hard to wrap our minds around this concept, true as it is.
Examples: Even if our lifestyles are healthy beyond fault, we get sick. Or, our lives hang on the lone driver that stops paying attention for only a minute. Or, a freak storm or earthquake erases us.
What we can control: our behavior and our attitudes. But overall, we are dependent on others — sometimes on circumstances — and on God.
The Blessed Holy One is the creative and compassionate force girding the universe. Ultimately, we rely on God — our teacher, our parent, our friend, our sovereign.
God is invisible. God’s works are not. During our preparation for the Days of Awe, we bring the Holy One’s world into the world we “see.” Life becomes richer and deeper.
We are learning to finally see with our spiritual eyes. In doing so, the “real world” finally comes into focus.
When we finally come to realize our dependence, only then can we rid ourselves of the assumption and pressure of thinking we are really in control. More importantly, realize that yes, we can turn to others. And we can turn to the Blessed Holy One.
Because we take the time to cleanse ourselves of impediments between ourselves and others and with our Creator, we can be reborn and bring new strength and insight into the new Jewish year.
Rabbi Shaina Bacharach is spiritual leader of Congregation Cnesses Israel in Green Bay.
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