In a year when many of us are understandably focused on our own personal health and the health of our family members, it is more important than ever to remember that we as Jews are part of a larger picture; I believe that is the most important message of Rosh Hashanah this year. As I mentioned during our Back-to-School Night programs at Hillel this week, this school year is more than just handwashing, hand sanitizing, and mask-wearing. There is deep learning occurring in both General and Judaic Studies in every classroom in our building, and online. Your children are already learning important skills that are the foundation of a Hillel education - creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, communication, with our core Jewish values as the bedrock.
Each year it has become my tradition to find a Rosh Hashanah symbol, selection of text, or parable that has meaning for our students and families, one that you might discuss at your Rosh Hashanah table. At some point this coming weekend, all of us will hear the blast of the shofar. While the call of the shofar has meaning each year, I think its meaning is even deeper at this time.
The Rambam famously said in Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Teshuvah 3:4
“Even though the sound of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah is a decree, it contains an allusion. It is as if [the shofar’s call] is saying: Wake up, sleepy ones from your sleep and you who slumber, arise. Inspect your deeds, repent, remember your Creator.”
Even as we are justifiably concerned on a daily basis about the minutiae of functioning in a pandemic, we must use the call of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah this year to remember the bigger picture. The time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are yamim noraim (Days of Awe). It is a time of teshuvah (repentance) in which we ask forgiveness of each other, and renew our own personal relationship with God, our fellow human beings, and Judaism. May the call of the shofar this year remind us that our responsibility as Jews is to care for one another, to find meaning in our own kedushah (holiness) and to strive for tikkun olam - repairing the world. At no other time in my career in education has this message resonated with me more than right now.
May the coming year of 5781 be one of blessing and health for you and your family. Shana tovah u’metukah. Wishing you and yours a sweet and happy New Year.
