In preparation for Rosh Hashanah, our day began (and continued through 3rd period) with celebration and joy. Led by Rabbi Plotkin, students were treated to a host of Rosh Hashanah foods representing the simanim (signs) that are part of Rosh Hashanah tradition. As we came together as a community, the sound of the shofar and the joyous voices of our students filled the halls while students snacked on the different foods and recited the various brachot (blessings) for each of them.
During Town Hall, in 4th period, our mood changed.
We assembled in Zinman Hall to honor those who lost their lives on September 11th. With participation by both faculty and students, I delivered a dvar Torah about the importance of seeing the “other” in a positive light. Students read a timeline of events on September 11th. We watched short videos about what happened that day and about how one father turned his grief into an opportunity for learning and healing. We uttered prayers for those who perished, for the United States of America and for the US Armed Forces. We concluded with the sounding of the shofar.
On one day, in just a few hours, we experienced a spectrum of emotions.
While the events and the horrors of September 11th are a unique moment in history, the ups and downs of our programs this morning are a reflection of this thing which we call “life.” In a single day, there can be good and bad, joy and sadness, love and hate. There can be lots of different experiences on a given day or in a singular moment with specific emotions that follow them, some of which complement each other and some of which conflict with each other. It may not always make sense and these experiences and emotions may not always fit nicely together. But they are, together, part of what it means to live in what can sometimes be our complicated world.
As we all enter into this period known as “The Chagim,” the Holidays, I pray that we find a way to make sense of the good and the bad, of the highs and the lows. I pray that we find a way to see light when there also exists darkness. I pray that we find a way to see positivity when we know there is negativity as well. I pray that we find a way to make order out of what sometimes might look to us like a completely chaotic world.
On Rosh Hashanah, we celebrate the birthday of the world. But even more than this, we celebrate that God was able to make order out of chaos by bringing competing elements together and figuring out a way for them to exist in harmony with one another: light and darkness, day and night, land and sea, animal and human being, and so on.
May we all have the strength and the ability to both see and to create this sense of order for us, for our children and for our communities in this upcoming year, working towards a day when joy, love, happiness and peace become the standard in the world in which we live.
Shana Tova...may you and your family have a joyous and sweet new year,
Rabbi Lesack
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