Shana Tova 5784

Reflections on Right and Wrong

Picture and baking by my daughter,

Debbie Stillman

For all my Jewish friends and readers, I wish for you, your families, and loved ones, and for our world, peace in 5784. And for my friends and readers who believe in another faith, or none at all, I wish the same.

The holiday of Rosh Hashona is the spiritual new year, a happy holiday, when our hearts are awakened by the blowing of the shofar (a ram’s horn), and with families gathering to celebrate (and eat, one of the best ways we Jews celebrate - thus the five round challahs that my daughter baked for our celebratory dinner that marks the beginning of the ten days of awe, a special time to look and ask forgiveness for the wrongs we’ve done this past year. The ten days close with Yom Kippur, the “Day of Atonement” when we fast and pray.

I found this meditation online, and want to share it with you. It was written by Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, chief rabbi at City Synagogue, a Reform Congregation in NYC.

"If you have come here tonight on Rosh Hashanah and feel that there is nothing to examine, no wound in your life to heal, no relationship to repair—then I hope you will listen especially closely to the shofar. Rosh Hashanah is also known as Yom Teruah—the Day for the Sounding of the Shofar. The purpose of the Shofar blast is to shake us up, and to disturb our status quo. The shofar call, 'shevarim,' literally means 'broken.' And if you do not feel any cracks emerge from that sonic signal, you might ask yourself if you’ve truly fulfilled your obligation to hear it. For the shofar blast should be a wake up call that reminds us to dig a little deeper, to bear into what is hard, to stop living life on the surface of it all. To return to our fractured relationships. To lean into the grief that you’re feeling for someone you lost. To examine the imperfections that we constantly criticize and then, to get curious. Perhaps this pain—this flaw—this broken heart—has a purpose... That brokenness is all around us. And inside each one of us. Unearth its meaning, confront its terrible beauty, and we may realize that true divinity is in that broken shard that cut us in the first place. God has given us a sacred task and opportunity: to make our own tikkun. But in the coming year, instead of trying to make our broken parts whole, may you find in them—what is most holy."

The other thing I want to share with you is this morning’s sermon at City Synagogue, that I watched on YouTube. It was brilliant - all about AI and that the one thing that separates us humans from AI is that we know what is right or wrong. The machine can’t differentiate between the two, so we humans have that responsibility. I suggest listening to this informational, entertaining, and moral sermon, by Rabbi Dan Ross. It is about an hour-thirty minutes into the service, and can be found at: ENJOY AND SHANA TOV to all.