Dear Friends,
Please join us for our Rosh Hashanah Tashlich service on Saturday, Sept. 19 at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship; 4225 NW 34th St. The service begins at 3 pm (2:15 set-up). Veggie/dairy potluck follows the service. It's the world's birthday and Rosh Hashanah is a very unique kind of celebration.
What do we do on the earth's birthday? We remember the birth of our mother planet. And we explore what it means to say that it was an INTENDED birth, just as all creation is intended by a consciousness of which we are part. We too are part of the intention of this unbelievably immense infinitely divine process.
The big bang? Evolution? My teacher, Rav Avraham Kook Z"L, makes sense when he said, after learning about Darwin's theories: OH! So that's how God does it!
There are lots of things to love about the birth of a baby. But what is so mind-blowing, so expansive, is the sense of what feels like infinite possibilities: the openness, the freedom, and the innocence. Yes, the ignorance of no experience.
So, as hard as it seems to believe that it is a real possibility for us, this Rosh Hashanah, let us be mindful that we need to make peace with our planet, with Shekhinah, God-godding as the planet. It turns out that to make peace with our planet, we need to make peace with each other. It turns out that to make peace with each other, we need to make peace with ourselves. That's what this time, especially Rosh Hashanah, is about: making peace with each other and with ourselves and with all who co-inhabit our homes and our home planet. Making peace requires our t'shuvah, that inner transformation that happens when we can recognize and say how we have missed the mark and then align our will with changing how we do things. Reb Tzadok Ha-Cohen of Lublin (late 19th century) speaks of t'shuvah/transformation that comes from yirah/fear, and t'shuvah based on ahavah/ love.
When t'shuvah comes from yirah, our changing may be motivated by fear of the consequences of not changing diet, exercise, or ways of relating because we’re afraid of losing someone. Or we may fear that God will punish us with illness, ill fortune, social shame. Or maybe the punishment will be saved for the afterlife. Hellfire!
For many of us, it's hard to accept the notion of being divinely punished. We know that we make our own heaven and hell, inside us and between us. But we'll change out of fear of suffering. And so often, the threat of pain and untimely death just isn't enough for permanent change. And the fear and anxiety are themselves sources of suffering.
When t'shuvah comes from love, that's the sweetest teshuvah! It's not that I change because I fear my body's deterioration. Rather, I change because I love life and I love those with whom I share this adventure of life. When I change because I love, that's how I love God. And when I change in this way, the simple truth is I’m happy.
Maybe the truth of it is that we need a balance. Another meaning of yirah is Awe. These days are the AWESOME DAYS! So t'shuvah from love and awe is what we try for.
Sometimes when we're children and happy, it feels like God is everywhere; everything is alive, every flower shouting HalleluYah! We're so happy to wake up and realize, Wow! I have another day! But there are times when we wake up hating how we're going to spend that day, really hurting. No wonder we forget how incredibly lucky we are to have the day to spend! And on Rosh Hashanah, we get to think about the year ahead, and we recognize and acknowledge that we don't know if we're going to be blessed with life for another minute, never mind a year. We never know how long the miracle will last.
So we want a renewal of our subscription, a re-upping, for this coming year. And we want the year to have the quality of whatever is best. And so we declare during these awesome days, this is how I want to do it better. We allow the Shofar to break our hearts open so that we can change, we can do our t'shuvah.
Please join us, and please make your reservations for the Yom Kippur retreat.
Blessings for a healing and happy New Year.
Love from Bahira and me,
Shaya
