HOPE FOR THE NEW YEAR - Rosh Hashanah Eve 5769

Shana Tovah Happy New Year and Shabbat Shalom! It is wonderful to see you all on this special and holy night as our New Year begins.. I hope that you will take the time to come greet me after services so we too can reconnect and bring New Year greetings to one another.

Rosh Hashanah and the High Holy Days is such a grand reunion. It is a reunion of the Jewish people. Worldwide tonight Jews are gathering to be with one another even if they haven't stepped foot in a shul since last year this time. It is a reunion with yourself and God. Even if you doubt or most of the year you never think about the Holy Divine Spirit that flows through all life that we Jews call God, tonight is your reunion. An opportunity to hedge your bets. That our Creator wants to know you and perhaps even if for these 10 Days of Awe that you want to come to know something of that Spirit of the Universe and be blessed in the New Year. This is the time of year we Jews take seriously the call to reflect on our lives past and present and future. This is the way we enrich our souls and enrich our lives. This reunion of the Jewish people helps to give us the tools to create a life of meaning.

We come here to forgive ourselves, to pray for health and sustenance. We come here to pray to give us strength to forgive others and to be written in the book of life the Sefer HaChayim in the year ahead. And we come because it is the place where Jews are on this first of Tishrei—Rosh Hashanah seeing each other face to face, panim el panim.

These Ten Days of Repentance and Awe and Wonder are the primordial Facebook!

But Congregation Kol Ami is not just a virtual community that connects you to events and messages and status updates. But a real community that can laugh with you, cry with you, comfort you and you get to send and receive messages of hope, prayers and dreams, and fill your inbox with real spiritual opportunities. This isn't virtual life, it is the real thing!

This Rosh Hashanah and the next 10 days culminating at the Neilah service on Yom Kippur afternoon help us bring a framework of cleansing, healing and meaning to our lives. It helps us grow as individuals and communally as a people in the teshuvah we make and the resolves to live life differently. For the next Ten Days we have the opportunity to review and analyze and create a framework for a life of meaning for ourselves in the year ahead. We have the chance to listen to our inner questions and truths. And the questions that you have, if you are quiet enough, will get answers. Through song and music, prayer and words, quiet and meditation the answers will emerge from your inner being, from the place that God dwells within you!

Our Holy Day services and our traditions of seeking atonement and forgiveness for our errors and transgressions are not just done by a mystical figure on some Throne of Judgment but by the inner voice of Divine truth that speaks to us. God is here to love you-and help you.

Tonight is filled with such potential; glorious and shiny potential for ourselves as individuals and our world. Such hope that the New Year will bring with it. Rosh Hashanah and specifically the sounds of the Shofar will call out to us to change ourselves for the better and in turn the world will change for the better. Tonight we Hope. And we plan to create Hope.

We don't simply wait around for God to make it better. We take life by the horns and wrestle it and challenge ourselves to become the people we ought to be. The people we hope to be. The people that God calls out to us to be. Our prayers if understood properly urge us on that even though the world is not in our control- we have some control over our own words and deeds. Our formula is Teshuvah u'tefilah u'tzadaka –Turning over a new leaf, prayer and meditation, and charity that helps us grow and change and live a life of meaning. Rabbi Joseph Klein writes, "Repentance is something I can only do within myself- by me and for me. Prayer is something I can only fully do with my family of faith, in the sanctuary and in the company of my congregation. And charity is something I can only do by extending myself out into the greater community."(Rabbi Joseph P. Klein, sermon (Temple Emanu-El, Oak Park, MI , Rosh Hashanah 2005 as quoted in The Reform Jewish Quarterly, Daniel Plotkin, Giving Meaning to Our days: Reimagining Un'taneh Tokef- A survey of selected Sermons, Daniel Plotkin, (CCAR, Spring 2009 p 10-11)

But for many of us we cannot hear the inner truths of our own hopes and desires. The cacophony of life drowns out that inner voice of God. The noise around us masks the ability to really listen to our desires and dreams. We stay mired in the thick mud of settling; of thinking we are stuck in a rut. We kvetch and complain like the Children of Israel trapezing through the desert for forty years – "Moses we don't have enough to eat—we want to go back to Egypt. We were slaves but at least we had cucumbers and leeks."
Settling for a life of servitude rather than the taste of freedom that speaks to us opportunity and hope! We today are no different.

We settle rather than live life to its fullest. We put up with drudgery and pain and sometimes abuse because we are too scared and scarred to face our truths. We mask our pains through addictions to money, sex, alcohol or drugs. Or we wallow in the pity of our own self loathing.

But Rosh Hashanah and Ten days later Yom Kippur and then four days later the holiday of Sukkot are part of a unique formula to help us, wake up to our own hopes and dreams and to the way of life of our people! These three Holy Days help us to see our potential for change, for goodness and filling our lives with hope. For Jews, it is almost a month of searching, changing and celebrating the new you. Celebrating your potential.

And tonight on Rosh Hashanah to begin that process the Shofar sounds to call us, to rouse us from our sleepy lives. Maimonides writes about the sounding of Shofar on Rosh Hashanah that it is a call saying to us—"Awake you sleepers, awake from your sleep, O you slumberer awake from your slumber. Search your deeds and turn in Teshuvah, in repentance. Remember your Creator, you who forget the truth in vanities of time and go astray all the year after vanity and folly that neither profit nor save. Look to your souls and better your ways and actions." (Maimonides, Hilkhot Teshuvah III, 4).

The great Scholar Maimonides understood that the call of our Shofar is to wake us up to our lives and to God's message –that God wants us to fulfill our potential! God wants life to be good and loving for us. And the Shofar is calling us in this New Year to get out of our own way!!!! The Shofar calls us to look within and see the hope in us and how we might bring that to the world through our sharing hope with others.

So often we look for someone or something to fix our lives. Sometimes it is our family, sometimes our children or spouse, a therapist or doctor; sometimes we look to God to just make it better. But in truth family, children, spouses, therapists, docs and even God are only parts of our support team. The first and frankly, main part of the fix must come from within YOU! In your actions, in your attitude and in your words. Your commitments to live the life you dream and to reach your potential can only be attained by your own strength and fortitude and courage and by listening to that inner voice.

Jewish tradition teaches us that our Jewish way of life—our traditions of mitzvot, of ethics, of connection to the Divine and Holy Spirit of the Eternal can help give you the strength and grounding to move you to action and toward fulfilling your potential. Sure there are other spiritual systems in the world that do this. But Judaism is your system, part of your DNA whether you were born Jewish or whether you are a Jew by Choice. Judaism's nobility of thought and deed and action, of knowing that the well being of the world depends on our collective care of the world and in turn knowing that our own well being depends upon seeing ourselves made in the divine image –a holy people—holy to God gives us the ground of life to springboard to great heights. Why have Jews survived when other greater more powerful nations have come and gone like Rome, Greece, the Babylonians? We Jews have survived because of our way of life and the way it transforms our own lives and our family's life for goodness and holiness. We Jews have survived because we always have had hope. Hope in God, Hope in learning. Hope in one another. TIKVAH. Hope in the return to Zion, Hope in the Messianic Era, Tikvah, and hope in the next generation. TIKVAH. Hope has been the Jewish way of life. And this attitude of hope in the future provides the grounding of strength and courage to face the future.

This is part of the miraculous gifts of being Jewish. The breath of life that flows through us –the Divine Energy that flows through us and all life is the river of hope inside of us.

And these holy days come to help us and remind us of the opportunity before us to live a full life, mindful and present and despite its difficulties to live with hope in the world. Despite what fears we carry. Rosh Hashanah reminds us to listen to our own thoughts and dreams and forgive ourselves and others so that we are not held back by grudges or pain and kept from fulfilling our hopes. The Shofar sounds to give us strength when we feel we are depleted.

We celebrate Rosh Hashanah as the birthday of the world, Yom Harat Olam, the day the world was created because from this day forward you have the opportunity to create your world, your reality, your attitude for the coming year.
"In her book Angels in the Workplace (Jossey-Bass, 1998) author Melissa Giovagnoli offers a few simple tips that each one of us can employ to bring hope into our lives and the lives of others.

Be hopeful -Doubt vanishes with the light of hope. "A few sincere words can be a powerful tool of encouragement to those struggling to find their way or stay on the right path.
Define "hope"- Hope balances out all of the negative aspects of life. Giovagnoli thinks of the word hope as an acronym that means: Helpful, optimism, promoting, equilibrium. Spell out what hope means for you!

Ask for help, create hope. Seek the counsel of a neighbor or family member; find a mentor at the office or school. This is one reason the 12 step program proscribes a sponsor. Some people may not realize the talents and skills they possess that others admire in them. Asking for help is a way of empowering the people around you to continue to shine.
There are probably any number of activities that lift your spirits and make you feel hopeful. Whatever those might be, keep doing them. The world can never have enough hope" (Bits & Pieces, p. 24 Ragan Publications).

There are people in the world who naturally see the world with hope. They are the glass half full folks. And there are people in the world that see things as the glass is half empty. They come naturally from a place of lack and deprivation. It is harder for those of you like this to find hope and nurture it. But when we try to nurture hope and overcome our anxieties that tarnish our view of life, when we can hope in God, when we can find that place of peace inside-of equanimity inside and find hope in ourselves then we can help change the world around us. And perhaps most important change the world inside of us! As the book of Proverbs teaches us in 13:12, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick but desire fulfilled is the tree of life."

On Yom Kippur tradition teaches that as the Torahs are taken out and the Kol Nidre Chanted we also recite Or Zaruach l'tzadik ulyishrei lev simcah. Light is sown for the righteous, gladness and joy for those who are upright. As the Torah stands before us and reminds us of the opportunities to forgive and be forgiven the Divine and holy light is implanted within us. And in the New Year we have the opportunity to also have implanted within us gladness and joy—a way to grow our souls toward contentment and hope. Hope that we can become more just, more upright, and cleansed of any deficiencies or errors. This is the hope to believe in ourselves. This Divine light of the Holy One of Blessing shines upon us and penetrates into our very being. Planting visions of hope in us. As the Psalmist teaches 130:7 Let Israel hope in Adonai, For with Adonai there is loving kindness and with God there is bountiful redemption. Remember when we allow that Divine light to shine forth in us once we have removed the occlusions then we can bring that light to others and share hope with them.

Speaker and author Bob Danzig began his career as an office boy at a newspaper; the worked his way up to become the publisher. Later he rose still higher to the CEO Position of the parent company of that newspaper, the Hearst Newspaper Group. Today he serves on numerous company boards and teaches at a university. He's been awarded honorary degrees and memberships, and can look back at a long and successful career with pride. How did he do it? You might wonder to what or to whom Danzig owes his success; honed intelligence? Personal connections or his family's money?

None of the above Danzig would contend. He credits his accomplishments to the simple words of encouragement spoken to him by two caring individuals.

The former executive spent his childhood passed between five different foster homes. Desperately wanting to feel loved and appreciated. Finally at the age of nine, he was assigned a new social worker he would never forget.

She looked him in the eyes and said, Bobby, I want you to always remember these words; YOU ARE WORTHWHILE! This was something she would repeat to him every time they met. And after a while, young Danzig began to believe it. It kept him going through those formative years.

Then a mix-up in Danzig's records permitted him to graduate high school early. He got an entry level position at a newspaper and after six months on the job, his boss called him into her office. He was sure he was about to get fired. I've been observing you" the boss said, "and I believe YOU ARE FULL OF PROMISE."

Again Danzig received words of encouragement and hope. Hope in his future. Hope implanted within him.

Because of his first boss, Danzig began to believe in himself. Her words would bolster him throughout his career. He tries to pass on the positive messages that made him who he is today. For he knows that the right words at the right time can make a difference we shouldn't let them go unspoken. (Adapted from, The Simple Truth of Appreciation, Barbara Glanz Bits and Pieces, Ragan publications p. 4-8 March 2009.)

Like God who implants joy and gladness and light and hope within us, we too have that ability to implant that within ourselves and within others by the encouragement and hope we share. We can all become glass half full people by nurturing the light and hope in us that we receive this Holy Season.

Many of you no doubt are familiar with the tradition of the wearing of a red string for good luck and protection.. The wearing of a red string has become popular. And a shekel will procure a red piece of yarn on any street in Jerusalem supposedly blessed with magical powers.

But the traditions of the red thread and its relationship to hope go beyond the notion of a magical protective amulet. We only have to look at the book of Joshua, chapter 2 in the Tanach, The Jewish Scriptures. Rahab the innkeeper who protected the two Jewish scouts spying on the city of Jericho helped them escape and they gave her a symbol of hope –what they called a tikvah. They gave her a red thread to hang in her window so Joshua and the Israelites would keep her and her family safe when they came to conquer the land. The red thread is called a tikvah. The word is the same as the word for hope!

Tonight our Congregation begins a special year of hope and life. We begin our 18th year and it will prove to be a year filled with special events, special opportunities and an opportunity to celebrate life! Of course 18 spelled in Hebrew letter chet yod, CHAI – life. That is why we give in increments of 18 or 180, or 1800 or 18,000 or 180,000. We give life by the tzedakah that we give. We toast life –with a glass of wine or a drink—we say L'chaim - to life. And in this 18th year of Congregation Kol Ami we will celebrate the life of our community, its members and its friends. We will celebrate the hope that we have instilled in the world.

Tonight as we kick-off our 18th year of life and hope we invite you to join with us in celebrating this congregation and its achievements. We will have a series of special events and celebrations to mark this special year.
That is what makes this sacred community of Kol Ami different. We are in the business of helping create hope. Hope in our lives where sometimes chaos has reigned. Hope that the world will be made more just. Hope that we can feel the wholeness that the Holy One of Light and Blessing intended for us.

The life of our congregation and your lives, the lives of our members and friends of Kol Ami are important. This is what gives meaning and hope to our community. Even in this past year of especially difficult times we can take this opportunity to celebrate life and make meaning for our lives in the ways we connect to one another and implant the Divine Light in one another with words of encouragement and hope.

To celebrate Kol Ami and most importantly as a reminder to you of this message of hope in this New Year—each of you will receive on your way out tonight a red band of hope. Wear this as a reminder for you when your doubts plague you. When you feel you have lost your way. Wear it and pause for a moment of solitude and quiet and invite hope into your inner world. When you are striving to see this crazy world as a place of opportunity—and to help you see the glass half full –wear this red band. This Tikvah—This Hope. And let the power of the Divine Energy help transform you and your potential for the New Year.

And so as we pray to be written in the Sefer HaChayim The book of Life in this year of life—our chai, our eighteenth year, we pray to build a life of meaning. To examine our hearts and listen to the calling of our souls to become the persons we are yet to be. We are called to make meaning and live lives of holiness and hope!
May this be our prayer, and May God helps us on this journey of life and meaning!
Ken Yehi Ratzon.

Rabbi Denise L. Eger
rabbi@Kol-ami.org
1200 N. La Brea Ave
West Hollywood, CA 90038
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Posted by Eric at September 20, 2009 01:18 PM