The Gates are Opened

It never matters!  It always seems that I make the wrong choice.  It begins about a mile before the toll plaza.  My hands grip the steering wheel; I look up. “Which lane is moving the fastest?  Do I stay where I am or move over?”  As I begin to slow down, I scan the horizon.  There seem to be countless EZ-Pass lanes with their purple lights beckoning me.  I choose a lane that looks to be moving, but without fail, the car in front of me approaches the gate and nothing happens.  The gate stays closed.  Not again!  I wait as always, for the police officer to come and write a ticket.  Slowly, I nudge up and the electronic signal beckons.  The gate goes up and I begin to cross the bridge, off on my journey.

We are in the midst of our own journey, our Jewish journey, towards our best selves, our highest selves.  This is the month of Elul, our moment in Jewish time when we reflect upon all of the choices that we’ve made.  According to tradition, the gates of our lives are about to open!  Over the next few weeks, we’re provided with an incredible opportunity to mend fractured relationships, to ask for forgiveness, and do our part to improve our lives.  The gates are now open: the gates of forgiveness, the gates of justice, the gates of kindness, the gates of renewal.  It’s during this time of year that we’re more willing to listen to our conscience; that our friends and neighbors are more open to forgiveness, even the Holy One looks upon our mistakes with more compassion.  The gates are opened, but in just a few weeks, on Yom Kippur, the gates will close.  Our best opportunity to begin anew will close, just like that toll plaza gate.

Our Torah offers us words and teachings to prepare for these High Holy Days, to provide us with the tools we need to enter that gate towards a better life.  Last week’s Torah portion, Ki Tetzei began with these words: “When you go out.”  That Torah portion spoke about the lessons our people learned after leaving Egypt.  We are reminded that before we can move forward, we must look backwards.  We can’t start anew, until we understand our past.  

These High Holy Days provide us with the perfect opportunity to reflect upon our past.  Moments of quiet, beautiful haunting melodies, and a chance to step-back from the hustle and bustle of daily life.  We need to seize these moments to remember the times where we personally missed the mark.  When didn’t we do our best.  When we could we have acted more kindly or justly or compassionately.  As we look to journey forward, we take time to remember who we were: looking at all of our warts and wrinkles, and all of our beauty and splendor as well.

Now, it’s not just the past we reflect upon, it’s the future as well.  This week’s Torah portion Ki Tavo begins with these words: “When you enter…”  Written there are the lessons our ancestors took with them as they entered the Promised Land.  Their hopes and dreams as they began a new life in a new land.  These the same question that we ask ourselves: what are our hopes and dreams in the year ahead?  What do we hope to accomplish?  What do we hope will come to fruition?

Now, our ancestors didn’t just enter the land of Israel empty-handed.  The Torah teaches us that they brought gifts of their first fruits with them.  These were their most prized possessions, their first fruits and vegetables as gifts of Thanksgiving to the Holy One.

As we begin our new year, we also think about the gifts that we possess.  And we each have many gifts.

We have our talents and passions, which make each of us unique.  Gifts that no one else possesses that we can use to better our families and our world.  What are those talents?  How can you use them to their fullest potential?

We also have the gifts of our time and energy.  We all are overworked, overwhelmed, and exhausted, but even with all of our complaining and all of our kvetching, we still have a few extra hours of time throughout the year.  How can we use this gift of time to give back to our community, to help?

Finally, we have the gift of money – tzedakah – which can be used to help our broader community and organizations who are doing incredible work.  How can we use our dollars to make a difference?

When I enter the toll plaza, I never seem to choose the right lane.  The gate always seemed closed, blocking me from my journey forward.  The gates of our lives are now opened, but shortly they will close, we’ll be unable make the change we hope possible.

As the gates open, we are given an incredible gift, the gift of reflection, openness, a new beginning.  May we take the time in the weeks ahead to think about our past, the mistakes we made and the times where we missed the mark.  May we reflect upon the journey ahead: our hopes and dreams for 5777.  And may we recognize all of the gifts provided to us: our talents, our passions, our time, and our tzedakah.  May we each journey forth to a year full of goodness, sweetness, and growth.  Amen.