Nitzavim Vayelech 5783 ~ Sept. 8, 2023

Some have asked, “Have you met our new shinshinim? We noticed, Rabbi, that you were not in the picture that JFEC had distributed in last week’s message.”

Our Torah reading for this Shabbat speaks of those who silently are there, but cannot be seen.  “Yes” to your query.  I was in attendance and had an opportunity to meet with Hila and Netanel and the others who were present. Unfortunately, I had a previous meeting at the Hilton Garden Inn to visualize and map out our seating plan for our Rosh Hashanah services and the photo was taken after my departure.

This past Tuesday, by chance, as I entered the lobby of Temple Emanu-El to look over our Sifre Torah in our classroom ark, Hila and Netanel were at the door. We spent about half an hour simply chatting about their own personal lives, and mine. I shared with them that when I was in high school back in Toronto, my teachers in Judaic studies were mostly “shlichim” who, as rabbis and educators, were sent over for three years to teach us everything from Talmud to Jewish Literature. Recently, some of us reconnected and spent time remembering one of those rabbis who passed away. We remembered others in appreciation for the lessons they imparted within us. 

Many of us here have had special connections with the shinshinim who have worked here in the past. And some of us are still connected to them. They touched our lives and we in some ways have made a roshem, an impression upon them. And I know we look forward to continuing that connection, from Israel to Southeastern CT.

As the High Holiday season quickly approaches, our Torah reading for this Shabbat reminds us of several key concepts that will be part of our prayer services and moments of introspection. As Moses presents his final words to the Children of Israel prior to his death, he reminds them of the need to reflect upon the concepts of life and prosperity, death and adversity.

Many of us, as we grow older, recognize that the concept of life and death is not in our hands. We cannot choose one or the other, that is in the hands of God alone. But what we do have control of is being masters of what life means, not only in terms of days or years ahead of us, but how we can make each day meaningful or challenging. We can be our own life’s adversary or our own champion in how we not only live life, but how we make changes to enhance our lives in a positive manner. 

Rabbi Jan Urbach, Director of JTS’s Block / Kolker Center for Spiritual Arts,  shares with us her unique understanding of this concept in the Jewish Theological Seminary’s Rosh Hashanah message. She writes: “ To choose life we must actively, consciously, and continually choose who we will become. We must choose to create ourselves and our lives, rather than passively allow ourselves to be shaped. At the most basic level, we must choose to choose.

The command to choose life expresses a reality that life energy comes from the exercise and expression of the will, from making choices. We are most fully alive when we are actively, intentionally engaged in the process of choosing who to be. The moment that we allow ourselves to be a certain way, simply because we have always been that way, or because society or a particular person pressures us to be that way, or for any other reason other than a conscious, thoughtful decision to be a certain way—we have died a little. We have chosen death, not life.

This choice itself—to embrace our power to choose; to actively and deliberating create ourselves—is neither intuitively obvious nor easy. The opportunity on Rosh Hashanah to create ourselves anew is a tremendous privilege and also a tremendous responsibility.”

This Saturday night as we usher in the High Holiday season with our Selichot services, we sense that Hashem is inviting us to embrace that power of choice. We will set the mood in our minds and our souls in preparation for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. We will chant the words and hear the melodies of the High Holiday season, including the sounding of the shofar.

I encourage you to join us, and three of our sister congregations, on Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m. at Temple Emanu-El.