Marking the Miracles

            A few weeks ago, the weather finally turned towards winter.  It was the first brutally cold December day and the snow began to fall for the first time.   “Oy,” was all I could think.  I had enjoyed the warm fall weather, the coatless days, and the changing of the colors.  The meteorologists all expected a winter filled with huge snowfalls and I dreaded the impending storms.  “Not again!” 

            As the snow began to pick-up, Caleb and I left home to go pick-up some food from the grocery store.  I was shivering from the cold and depressed by the first snow fall.  Yet, Caleb was all joy.  “Look Abba, look at the snow!”  He was running around in circles and trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue.  He was the happiest I had seen him all day.  “Cool, Abba, it’s so cool!”  It was at that moment, I realized how miraculous it was that it snowed that day.  It was after all, the first snowfall of the season!  How many days of snow would we receive this year?  A dozen perhaps, give or take a few days.  It was a blessing, a miracle!

            I looked at Caleb and told him that this was a Shehechiyanu Moment.  This was a special moment where we should thank God for the miracle of snow.  Together, we recited the blessing, thanking God that we were able to reach this moment together.  Afterwards, I grabbed his hand and the two of us spun around outside on our lawn catching snowflakes on our tongues.

            Just a few weeks ago, Rabbi Paul Kipnes visited Temple Sinai to share some insights from his new book “Jewish Spiritual Parenting.”  One of the best lessons he provided me was our responsibility as parents and mentors to teach our kids how to be grateful.  A perfect approach to move towards gratitude was to mark all of the blessings in our lives.  Taking a moment each and every day to recite the Shehecheyanu teaches us (and our kids) to “thank” God for all of the gifts of life.

            Caleb reminded me to look at the positive and I taught him to be thankful for the blessings of life!  As the cold and the snow begin to beat down upon us, may we reflect upon our bounty and our joy.  Wishing us all a wonderful winter season!

Taking the time to...

We Jews really like to joke that the holidays are either early or late; they never seem to fall on time!  Well, this year they are REALLY late!  Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur both fall during the month of October, towards the later end of the High Holy Day window.  One of the benefits of the Holidays late arrival is that we have more time to prepare for them.  Over the last couple of years, we’ve been buying our round challahs, making matzah ball soup, dressing in our finest, and running off to Temple towards the beginning of September.  We barely had time to adjust from the end of the summer or the start of the school year before the holidays were upon us.

Jewish tradition teaches that we need the days and weeks prior to the holiest days of the year to prepare for their arrival.  Elul, the last month of the Jewish calendar, is considered to be one of the holiest times of the year.  These four weeks officially begin the High Holy Day season.  In most years, Elul falls smack dab in the middle of August.  We rush to buy school supplies, take those last vacations of the summer, and prepare for the year ahead, that Elul often goes unnoticed.  But not this year!

Elul officially begins on Sunday, September 4^th, at the tail end of the Labor Day weekend.  The late start provides us with the time to do things a little bit differently this year.  The rabbis remind us that change is difficult.  We know in our heart of hearts that we can’t change our behavior solely during the few hours we spend at Temple.  We recognize that there are so many forces around us, including our own inertia, that makes change challenging.  That’s why we have Elul.  From the start of Elul till the end of Yom Kippur, are forty days, filled with boundless opportunities to impact not only our lives, but those around us.

We know what steps we must do to change our lives for the better.  Taking time to reflect; jotting down our thoughts in a journal (or on our iPhone); taking some private moments to pray; giving tzedakah; and preparing for our time at Temple.  The rabbis teach that our most important responsibility during the High Holy Days is called Cheshbon HaNefesh, the accounting of our souls.  May we take the gift of these late days of Elul to prepare for the holidays’ arrival.  May we find a few prayerful moments to reflect, journal, and account for our mistakes.  May our individual introspection lead us to improve, not only our lives, but the lives of all those that surround us.  May it be a meaningful Elul for us all!