|
|
||
HOME
|
|
Renewal and
Perseverance If ever there were a need for a new year, it would be now. In the midst of our shock, fear, and the incomprehensibility of the horrible crimes perpetrated in New York and Washington, we welcomed the New Year with less than our usual joy. The pall of smoke that rose over New York cast a shadow over all of us. Many of us are challenged, wondering, "What should I do? What is an appropriate response?" Despite any sorrows, the New Year arrived, and we celebrated it in the traditional way. We prayed, we sang, and we listened to the shofar. It was notable, if for no other reason than its complete normalcy. Perhaps there is a lesson to be drawn form our ability to continue with our way of life in the face of those who would take it away from us. This lesson about the imperative to carry on was underscored for me a few days before Rosh Hashanah, when I received an email from our "adoptive" family in Israel. When Bettina and I were living in Jerusalem, we were adopted by a family in an Israeli Reform congregation, who invited us regularly to their home for Shabbat and holidays. This year, their New Year's greeting was a bit more somber than in the past. They knew only too well what it was to suffer from terror attacks, and the terrible toll that they exacted from those who wish only to live without fear. Yet their letter told us in no uncertain terms that they knew that the only response that they could make to terror was to determinedly continue with "normal" life. Perseverance and hope for a better day sustain them, even as they must sustain us in our hour of need. An "end to life as we know it" can only be brought about if we acquiesce and let it happen. It is our obligation to resist anyone who would try to do such a thing. The Jewish path through life is one of hope, perhaps what seems at times an irrational hope, that the world and the lives of its inhabitants must surely improve with the passage of time. Throughout the history of our people, hopefulness and confidence in the future has been an ever-present companion to us, sustaining and energizing us. As so many generations have sung even during the most terrible tragedies, "Ani ma'amin b'emunah shleimah b'viat ha mashiach, I believe with a perfect faith in the coming of the messiah, and all that it represents. Even though that day might be delayed, I still believe." We believe, and we carry on. Our joys are still our joys. Our ways are still our ways. Our festivals are still our festivals. Our people are still our people. We remain faithful to a better way, even in the face of a world that would deny it. May that faith in ourselves, in our tradition, and in our God, and the strength to act on that faith to be an inspiration for our children, be renewed for all of us in 5762. Rabbi David Freelund |
