Preaching Goes Viral

Reflect, Repair and solve: Taking responsibility for our very lives (Erev Rosh HaShanah)

[don't use] Embodiment

we must take responsibility for our behavior.  This core value is fundamental to being a Jewish person and it is at the heart of these High Holy Days.  Now, you might think we would get a reprieve from the work of self-examination and repair when we are in the middle of a plague.  In fact, the opposite is true.  This is because when we do the work of taking responsibility for our actions, we reveal astute answers to our most pressing questions:  Just how will I find my way through this storm?  How can I remain strongly connected to my loved ones even though we are driving each other crazy?  And how can I best contribute to my struggling community? This is a year unlike any other.  We are entering month seven of the pandemic.  Each of us has been impacted.  Going out to dinner, grocery shopping and entering an elevator now gives us agita.  Jobs have been uprooted.  Family members and friends have suffered, some have died.  Now fall has arrived with a return to colder weather, school, threat of flu, and more.  My friends, we are in it, navigating one of the most difficult periods of our lives. For millennia the practice of taking responsibility for our actions has kept our people centered, humble and grounded. 

2022-12-13

Maurice A. Salth

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