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3 Elul 5783 | August 20, 2023
Change Towards More Optimism
Rabbi Lawrence Malinger
The month of Elul is a time for personal reflection and growth. It is essential to approach this time with a genuine desire for positive change. Hope is an active spiritual quality that we can cultivate during Elul. As we begin to recite Psalms 27 over and over again, the last line(27:14) is a call towards hope: Kaveh El Adonai - Look unto God, Chazak V’ya’ametz Libecha – be strong and of good courage, V’Kaveh El Adonai – O look unto God. Note that the verse actually tells us not to hope once, but twice. Hoping is hard work - this verse assumes that we will try to look for the light, and something will get in the way of us walking towards it, so we’ll need to look harder. Hope is born out of the vulnerability of trying once, struggling through it, and hoping again. The words of Jeremiah (31:17) on the second day of Rosh HaShanah proclaim that God declares there is a hope for your future. Let’s make it our practice for this new year of jumping in and trying to hope, even when we’re not sure if we’ll succeed. Let’s make it a year being curious instead of negative when our instinct is to shake our heads or dismiss. A year of knowing that every single act--between us and our fellow human beings and between us and God, are an opportunity to be surprised by the goodness that can come out of it.

4 Elul 5783 | August 21, 2023
Rabbi Simone Schicker
As we rush towards the first of Tishrei, and a month full of holy days, we take this moment to reflect on how we ourselves have changed this year, this month, this moment. Have we changed in appearance? Have we changed our outlook? Have we changed the goal posts that we are heading toward?

Judaism celebrates change. Noting the ever changing status of individuals throughout Torah and the need to go to the mikveh (ritual bath) whenever a change has occurred. The ever-evolving evolution of the use of mikveh (with thanks to Mayyim Hayyim and the members of the open mikveh movement) allows us today to see a whole new way of embracing change and transition in our lives.

While many see the mikveh as relevant only in regards to conversion or family purity, the shift in recent years towards a broader understanding of the role of water in helping us acknowledge, accept and move through change in ourselves or in our lives is powerful. 
Ceremonies for: 

• Starting or concluding medical treatment
• The birth or adoption of a child
• Graduations
• Weddings
• Deaths
• Coming out

And so many more moments that change us. 

Each moment that changes us, whether big or small, is a moment to celebrate. To acknowledge the role of our faith in our lives, and to embrace the opportunity to ritualise any moment we feel connected to.

May you be blessed as you acknowledge and celebrate change.

5 Elul 5783 | August 22, 2023
Rabbi Don Weber
Shana means “year,” as in Rosh HaShanah – the Beginning of the Year. But in another form, veshinantam, it means, “teach,” as in, “you shall teach it to your children.”

So, what does this word actually mean? In a famous Hebrew expression we are advised, meshaneh makom, meshaneh mazal – If you change your location, you change your luck. Here the word means “change.”

So, does shanah mean year, teach, or change? To the Jewish mind, they are all the same.

What happens when you teach something to a child, or to an adult? You change them. What happens in the fall, when Rosh HaShanah occurs? The world is… changing. Now we understand: Rosh HaShanah means, literally, “The Start of Change.”

In my part of the country, things look very different now than they will in October. By then, the green leaves will transform into bright colors and the birds will be heading south. Change will surround us every day, and Judaism calls us to reflect these changes in ourselves.

This period in Jewish time is designed to help us start to change. The theme of Jewish life from now until Simchat Torah is, change – human change..

Seen this way, Rosh HaShanah is a challenge. We declare this season to be The Start of Change, and we invite all who choose to be part of this changing world to join us.

The world is changing. The question of the season is, are we?

6 Elul 5783 | August 23, 2023
Rabbi Ben Sharff
This has been a big year of change and transformation for me. I switched congregations and moved with my family halfway across the country. One of the most important conversations about this big change in our lives was what we were going to take with us and what we were going to leave behind. There were many items of furniture that simply would not fit in our new house. And there were unopened boxes and unworn clothes that needed to be donated.

But there was also the psychological component as well. What past behaviors did we need to leave behind? How could we be more open to others? How could we be more considerate? How could we be more deliberate in creating genuine and honest relationships?
Moving is one of the most challenging experiences one can go through in a lifetime. Part of it is trusting others with your lives, if you are so blessed to be able to afford others to move you. Part of it is navigating a new town or city. But it is also about starting fresh. It is about metaphorically leaving some boxes behind, while being ready to be open to new possibilities.

Any change, any transformation can be a scary, overwhelming and stressful experience. Moving so much the more so. And yet, starting new. Starting fresh can also be one of the most invigorating times of a person’s life as it is not just about a new place, but a whole new world.

7 Elul 5783 | August 24, 2023
Rabbi Eric Linder
Let’s face it, change is hard.
This is true even when the change is clearly for the better!

As soon as the Israelites left the confines of slavery, what did they do? They begged Moses to bring them back into Egypt.
If this was true after more than 400 years of slavery, kal v’chomer, all the more so, it’s true for us in our lives.

Many of you likely know the famous quote from Rabbi Nachman of Bratzslov: The world is a narrow bridge. The important part is not to be afraid.
But as beautiful as this quote (and song) is, and please forgive my hubris in disagreeing with Reb. Nachman, I actually think that not being afraid is not the most important thing.

The most important thing is to walk across the bridge, whether fearful or not. Let’s acknowledge that change can be hard, fearful, and scary, and then do it anyway.

8 Elul 5783 | August 25, 2023
Rabbi Michael Birnholz
At a recent community meeting to respond to a local act of anti-Semitism, one of the participants shared his favorite story (1) about hope in a dark time.  It was a story I had heard but this retelling was so powerful as it drew this community together. As I heard the story and felt the power of the group being engaged, I thought of one of my favorite stories (2) and the feeling of sharing it with a collection of people.  
 
As this year comes to an end, and we are preparing for the new year, these acts of storytelling call to me as I witness so many examples of people using their voice and the stories they tell to divide us and harm other humans and communities.  
Even as I search for ways to stop those who will tear down those around them, I find myself looking for the stories and the gatherings of sharing and listening that can be a counter for the darkness and cruelty.  
 
In this new year, with kavanah/intention, make an effort to look for and share stories that bring can bring people together in unity.  May we take time to listen in partnership and community as others also share stories with us.  Let us,  each in our own way invest energy to tell the stories that speak to us so we can inspire and  empower others.

9 Elul 5783 | August 26, 2023
Prayer for Change
Rabbi Deana Berezin
Judaism tells us that we should strive, every day, to live our lives with intentionality. Our toolboxes are filled with texts and rituals and theologians and prayer. But among those that I find most useful in holding myself accountable to living with intentionality are blessings. Most of us know that we bless food before we eat it and thank God for that food after we enjoy it. Most of know that there are blessings for kindling the Shabbat lights and even for washing our hands. But the Talmud tells us that we can’t only offer blessings sporadically; we have to immerse ourselves fully in this practice to cultivate a life of meaning and gratitude. To do so, we offer no less than 100 blessings every single day.[1]

Poet Alden Solovy offers one of my favorite blessings – a blessing for change. It is one that is eternally timely and relevant, for, as they say, “the only constant in life is change.”