Whew. Said the prayers. Blew the shophar. Ate the honey. Let my wife rest through the night.
I showed up, I did my part, I stood with every single being in creation and crowned my King.
Despite everything, Rosh Hashana was, thank God, a success in my little corner of the cosmos.
Barukh Hashem.
Mammash.
But.
As we started the month of Tishri, I opened up Isaiah for the next review. And I returned to the following verses:
“Your new moons and fixed seasons fill Me with loathing; they are become a burden to Me, I cannot endure them.
And when you lift up your hands, I will turn My eyes away from you; though you pray at length, I will not listen. Your hands are stained with crime—
Wash yourselves clean; put your evil doings away from My sight. Cease to do evil;
Learn to do good. Devote yourselves to justice; aid the wronged. Uphold the rights of the orphan; defend the cause of the widow.”
These verses made me think.
I thought of the attacks on farmers and shepherds in Yehuda and Shomeron.
I thought of the devastation in Gaza, excessive beyond the needs of self-defense and exploited for corrupt profit.
I thought of the hostages abandoned to Hamas, their families libeled as traitors for demanding accountability.
I thought of the widows and orphans of fallen soldiers and murdered civilians, sacrificed by career politicians clinging to power.
I thought of our society, built on holy ideals and ancient dreams, but that has become tolerant of too much violence against the vulnerable and too much injustice against the innocent.
How many new years will we celebrate while glibly justifying the ultimately unjustifiable?
How can we crown our King when we can not recognize his image and likeness?
What good are my prayers when both the Temple and Gaza lie in ruins?
Beloved, let us return to the covenant of our ancestors and the ways of our King.
We may have gone astray but all is far from lost.
There is still time for us to reconsider our path going forward.
This is the time.
“Come, let us reach an understanding, —says GOD. Be your sins like crimson, they can turn snow-white; be they red as dyed wool, they can become like fleece.”