From the Rabbi

Introduction to Erev Rosh Hashanah 5769 - September 29, 2008

This evening brings to a close a remarkable and tumultuous year.

We have witnessed the awesome power of nature: a cyclone in Burma, an earthquake in China, and Hurricane Ike along Texas’ Gulf Coast.

We have witnessed the senseless downfall of two promising political stars: the Governor of New York and the Prime Minister of Israel.

Just when the world was chaotic enough, we had to get an emergency geography lesson to discern the whereabouts of South Ossetia and Abkazia, and watch the return of Russia to the bad old days.

And we have watched our nation's economy suffer like never before. The situation last week was so dire that the pundits could only disagree on whether this was the worst financial collapse since the Great Depression, or since the founding of our country. Today's news made it virtually impossible to consider the economy except in the grimmest terms.

All that, and both the Yankees and the Mets failed to make the playoffs.

It is time to start fresh, to put these troubles aside to the extent we can, and pray for blessings for the coming year.

In many ways, these holidays are all encompassing. They ask us to reflect on the past and to improve in the future. They walk us through the high and low points in Jewish history. They have times for both festive meals and for fasting. We are called upon to achieve reconciliation in our existing friendships, and to meet new people as well.

We are going to take a moment to do that right now. Allow me to introduce you to a new face on the bimah. This year we are joined by Rabbinic Intern David Levy. Rabbinic Intern Levy is in his third year of his rabbinical studies at the Hebrew Union College in New York, and will be serving Temple Emeth all year long, working with our youth, teaching classes, and of course leading us in worship about once a month.

I’d like to take a moment right now to give you the chance to meet someone new, or to reconnect with someone you haven’t seen in a while. Please take the opportunity to wish Shanah Tovah to the people around you, taking extra effort to introduce yourself to people you don’t recognize or whose names you don’t know.

We read in the Book of Exodus, that as the people prepared to receive the Ten Commandments at Sinai, the mountain was covered in smoke. It's an odd phrase. In the Hebrew it says: “V’har Sinai ashan kulo.� Literally translated, it means, “Mount Sinai: smoke was everything.�

The rabbis were intrigued by this phrase, ashan kulo. They interpreted that the word is better understood not as meaning "smoke" but as an acronym.

The ayin in A.SHa.N stood for “olam.� Olam is the world. It is the universe. It is all space large and small. It is the first three dimensions of our existence.

The shin in A.SHa.N stood for “shanah.� Shanah means year, as in Rosh HaShanah, but they meant it more generally as time. It is the fourth dimension.

To the rabbis the nun in A.SHa.N stood for “nefesh,� which means soul. The soul is the fifth dimension. Neither space nor time has real significance if the soul does not have the opportunity to thrive.

When you think of it this way, as an acronym, it makes perfect sense to say, “A.SHa.N is everything.� Space, time and soul make up the parameters of our existence.

With regard to the proper observance of our Holy Days, the first four dimensions are taken care of. This sanctuary is our holy space, and this hour of worship is our holy time. Now we must concentrate on the fifth dimension of Jewish existence, the soul.

Our prayers are intended to stir the soul, our melodies to uplift it. Our worship is intended to inspire our souls towards teshuvah—repentance.

Shanah Tovah.
Rabbi Steven Sirbu