Shalom friends,

It almost seems like a cliché to muse on how much our world has changed since the last time we gathered for High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  After all, isn’t that one of the points of our prayers of the holidays; to stop and reflect on our lives in our ever-evolving world?

We caught a foreboding whiff of what the year might hold in the economic pages of the paper just before Rosh Hashanah of last year.  What those headlines could not tell us is how it would affect any of our personal lives, the lives of our families, of our colleagues or our community; the election that was immanent and the nature of our collective reactions to the circumstances and news around us.  In many ways those stories are still evolving and the impact still with us.

I can’t help but think of the powerful Unetaneh Tokef prayer of the High Holidays.  It reminds us that while there are times we are powerless against and overwhelmed by destructive forces around us, we have a prescription for reacting to them.   Put in another way, we don’t know what the coming year will bring, but our Jewish tradition offers wisdom to spiritually survive and thrive through challenge.  After all, over the millennia, it’s been our specialty—surviving and thriving.

It also brings to mind a New Yorker cartoon in which a family is sitting around the dinner table in which the head of the family announces, “I just want to let you know that because of the economy I’m going to have to let some of you go.”  The cartoon struck me this year as a reflection of our Jewish community.  Jews are like an extended family who need to periodically check in with one another and be strengthened by one another.  You can never be downsized as a Jew. 

As much as we all need to “check in,” more importantly, as an extended family, we are not complete without you -- especially on the holidays.  As much as any of us might personally or economically be “under water,” our tradition teaches that God offers us a lifeline.  And while we can’t minimize the need for financial and volunteer support as crucial to offering prayer, community and support in time of need at the RIJC, your very presence is what keeps the community going.  Please be generous with what you can donate – in money and/or time – but please, no matter what don’t let that prevent you from being with us. We need one another and, if there are any concerns about this, please don’t hesitate to contact me or one of the synagogue’s Trustees personally.

With that, I offer us all two invitations as the holidays draw near.  One is to approach these coming Days of Awe open to experiencing the power that the days themselves and the prayers offer; be open to the possibility of personal renewal and transformation.  A most effective way to foster this is to take time now during the days leading up to the holidays to review your actions and reactions of the past year (a cheshbon hanefesh).  These reflections will become the personal context and narrative to your prayers.

The second invitation is that of your questions.  As I personally prepare for our services, I’m inviting your questions on what you are curious about to unlock the meaning of any prayer or part of the service.  Additionally, if there is a subject you feel warrants exploration in a sermon or teaching, I’d like to know.   

I look forward to our being together as a community in the coming days and wish you a restful and reflective end of your summer. 

On behalf of my family, I wish us all a healthy, joyous and prosperous New Year.

B’shalom,

Rabbi Leana Moritt