Rabbi Linda's blog

On the High Holidays we attend to a deep truth that we spend most days fending off: We and everyone we know and love are mortal and vulnerable, and we can never know how much time we have left on this earthly journey. Our holy days provide a profound opportunity to face this fact with courage and heightened awareness. We are directed to do teshuvah, to repair what we can repair and to clarify our priorities so that we use our time wisely, reaching for our best selves and sharing our love, our capabilities and our resources as wisely and as generously as possible.

These holy days also offer the joy of community and connection, the comfort of age‐old rituals, and the beauty of prayer and music and Torah. They offer a chance to get reacquainted with ourselves and to explore our spirituality and connection to the Divine, in our own unique way. We look back on the year that just passed and gently evaluate who we have been and how we have behaved in the months behind us. We set intentions for how we want to comport ourselves, which attributes of character to work on, and how we want to spend our time in the year ahead.

The wisdom of our tradition instructs us not to wait until we get to services on Rosh Hashanah for this contemplation. We are guided to take a full month, the Hebrew month of Elul, to prepare for the new year. This year Elul lands squarely in September, beginning the evening of September 3rd. Here at Beth Israel, we have created four very different opportunities to come together to ready ourselves for the days of awe, with three different adult ed classes and one special service, Selihot, dedicated to this spiritual and emotional preparation.

My Zoom class, purposely scheduled on 9/11, will kick off the offerings. I’ve called it “Wisdom From The Narrow Bridge, Cultivating Resilience.” The title was inspired by the Rebbe Nachman teaching, that all the world is a narrow bridge but it is essential that we not be consumed with fear. In these turbulent times, it is easy for anyone to fall prey to anxiety or despair that can diminish our own vitality, our strength, our purpose and our joy. The world weighs on us, speaking of which….

As most of you know, July ushered in some new personal challenges for me and for my family as my husband was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, upending our lives and plans and calling on us to walk a hard road
with faith and fortitude. I am profoundly grateful for the Jewish practices and perspectives that continue to be a source of
strength and comfort to each of us. At our 9/11 zoom class I’ll share some of these teachings and encourage participants
to share what keeps them strong through life’s inevitable challenges. There is an ocean of Jewish wisdom to help us navigate the inevitable storms of life.

We have scheduled two additional classes, taught by our new, temporary adjunct Rabbi, Elyse Wechterman. Allow me to introduce Rabbi Elyse. Given my current personal situation, I have cut back my time at Beth Israel, releasing the better part of my compensation so that we can bring on an adjunct rabbi to help out for the immediate future. Rabbi Elyse will lead some Shabbat services, will teach some classes, and offer pastoral support. She is contracted to work with us through December, with the possibility of continuing for several months beyond. She is highly experienced and eager to join me and Rabbi Nathan in serving Beth Israel. Rest assured, I will continue to serve BI as your senior rabbi, as a thought partner to Rabbi Nathan and to lay leadership, offering teaching and pastoral care and showing up as I am able.

Back to Elul: Whether or not you are able to participate in these offerings, I invite you to find some quiet time this month to focus on yourself and to do what is known as “cheshbon nefesh” – looking at how you spent the last year and setting intentions for the new year. We are each writing the next chapter in the metaphorical book of life with every action that we take. May the chapters that we write be filled with kindness, thoughtfulness and purpose. And may we find all the courage, strength, and wisdom that we need to hike on the narrow bridge.

I look forward to sharing the new year with you.