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September 2007

I hope that all of us had a lovely summer. And now, with the summer barely over, the High Holidays are upon us.

I hope we’ll all be able to utilize these Days of Awe for the deepest soul searching about our lives, the directions our lives are taking, the people with whom we’re spending time and the people who’ve been left out, the parts of our lives we’re fully appreciating and those we might be taking for granted, and the blessings which have been provided to us (and which sometimes can help put the irksome parts of our lives in perspective.) What a great opportunity to reflect on all of this, to try to make sense of it, and then to resolve to adjust those pieces that need adjustment in order to make us the best people we can be! The High Holidays, like the Shabbat, are indeed among the great gifts our heritage provides to us.

Jim Levinson, Sh'liach Tzibur
 

I hope also, as we enter into these High Holidays, that we can be appreciating, once again, how extraordinary it is to be doing this at nearly the same that Jews all over the world are observing the New Year and the Day of Atonement. As our sages remind us, gathering together, in community, and doing this deep reflection together is more important than understanding all the words or, in fact, accepting all that’s written in our prayer books.

This year we’ll be experimenting with some interesting changes in our services. I’ll be interested in seeing how well these work for us. Please let me know. This is all about stewardship and making these services just as meaningful as they can be for all of us.

The High Holidays are also a time for generosity, not just to our synagogue so that we can keep up with our extraordinary agenda of education, outreach and justice-related activities, but also generosity to those in need. It’s not too early to begin putting non-perishables and warm clothing aside to bring along on Yom Kippur for the Brattleboro Drop-in Center.

And finally, since we’re now well into the preparatory month of Elul, be sure to send me the Random (or not so random) Acts of Kindness you and your family members have been performing so that we can read them anonymously on Rosh Hashanah and send them heavenward.

Thanks in advance to the Ritual Committee, to the High Holiday “Bimah team,” to the choir, to the set-up and take-down teams, and to all the others who work so hard to make these High Holidays work for us.

B’Shalom,
Jim