Shanah Tovah From Rabbi Perlin (September KOL)
As we gather together this year to share the High Holy Days, quickly followed by Sukkot and Simchat Torah, we feel a sense of return: Return to the school year for ourselves, or children, or grandchildren; return to our fall activities as we say goodbye to summer; and return to the synagogue year for many who have taken some time off for a while, and return to the Jewish calendar which enriches our lives in so many ways. How blessed we are to return to TBS to usher in the New Year together.
We are glad that we have reached this New Year 5774, grateful to see so many familiar faces and anxious to welcome the newer members of our Temple family. We are drawn back to TBS for worship, prayer, study, and the sense of community that makes this place “home.”
The theme of “return” (teshuvah) pervades these High Holy Days. We return to God, a sense of our true and best selves, and to the course we have chosen for our lives, and to the Torah’s path for us. Most of all we return to one another, to caring and sharing the joys and sorrows of life, and to repairing our world, together, one mitzvah at a time.
But, we cannot only return. We must move forward. Now is the time to make important decisions and changes. Now is the time to stop procrastinating and take steps toward a fulfilling tomorrow. Now is the time to make commitments, and to get involved. The great Rabbi Hillel calls to us from our sacred history, “If not now, when?”
My prayer for all of you this year is that you find what you are seeking, as you return and go forward into a year of life, health, happiness, and prosperity. As members of this special Temple family, we walk the road of life together. May the New Year bring us many opportunities to reflect and repair, connect and contribute.
L’shanah Tovah Tikateivu- May you be inscribed for all good things,
Rabbi Perlin