On Monday evening, Rosh Hashanah begins. The holiday also marks the start of the Ten Days of Repentance culminating with Yom Kippur, our Day of Atonement.
These High Holy Days are foundational to our Jewish way of life. They underscore that renewal and growth are not mere possibilities, but rather our lifelong mission as individuals and as a Jewish people.
We often speak of tikkun olam (“repairing the world”) in Judaism. It can feel like a lofty mandate until we look to the High Holy Days as our starting point.
I’m reminded of how every airline instructs us to put on our own oxygen mask before we help others in an emergency. In that same logic, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur reveal that tikkun, repair, is an inside-out phenomenon. If we want to change the world and the lives of those around us, we begin by seizing this opportunity to change ourselves for the better.
As prominent Sephardic Rabbi Marc Angel notes:
“Rabbinic tradition speaks of ‘teshuvah sheleimah,’ a complete repentance. This entails not merely repenting for this sin or that sin, or asking forgiveness for this transgression or that error. Complete repentance means transforming our personalities, transforming the way we lead our lives, seeing our lives organically, comprehensively, clearly. This is the challenge of the High Holy Days—to judge ourselves truly.”
Self-judgment can be daunting and even painful. But the phrase “to judge ourselves truly” brings to mind the words of Rabbi Yerucham Levovitz, an early 20th century leader in the Mussar movement, who observed:
“Woe to the person who doesn’t recognize his spiritual faults, because he doesn’t know what to repair, but oy va’voy (even more pity) to the one who doesn’t recognize his spiritual strengths, because then he is ignorant of the tools which will allow him to work on himself…”
The same can be said of communities. I’m sure that each of us have had our moments, throughout the year, where oy va’voy captures how we feel about the state of the world and the challenges facing the Jewish people. And for good reason.
But we would be failing “to judge ourselves truly” if we overlooked the tremendous strengths of the Jewish people. Virtually every generation that came before us could only dream of the opportunities and self-determination that mark our daily lives, whether in Israel or the Diaspora. More than blessings to appreciate, these are the tools that will allow us to elevate ourselves and the world around us.
And it starts with each of us, on Rosh Hashanah, when we make the most of this opportunity for personal tikkun—the spiritual repair that enables us to become the best version of ourselves in the year ahead.
I wish our entire community a sweet New Year and a good inscription and sealing in the Book of Life.
May our hostages soon be liberated and the people of Israel, along with all in the region who seek coexistence, be blessed with peace and security.
Shana Tova U’Metukah and Ketivah v’Chatima Tova,
President & CEO
UJA Federation of Greater Toronto