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From the Bimah
September 2006

One message inherent to the upcoming Days of Awe is that time is unstoppable. As unsettling as that thought may be, our religious tradition instructs us not to fear the future. If anything, Judaism teaches us we have the spiritual resources to deal with the changes that inevitably come in life.

Most importantly, it teaches: not all change is bad; not all change is filled with hardship and loss.

Figuratively, the pain we feel the result of change, can be likened to the feeling we get when using underdeveloped muscle. Sometimes it is the result of pushing ourselves to new levels in life.

Let's face it, we would never grow if we did not sample new things, visit new places and encounter new experiences; we would never grow if we didn't push ourselves.

Significantly, the Torah reading for the first Shabbat of the Jewish New Year includes the re-reading of the story of Adam. A rabbinic commentary points out Adam teaches an invaluable lesson. He quickly learns -- and by extension, we too can learn -- that with every sunset comes another sunrise.

Never having experienced a sunset before, the prototypical human, while at first terrified and pained by what occurred, understands and grows; flexing unused muscle -- he comes to realize there is a built-in rhythm to life -- one filled with unstoppable time and constant change.

When Judaism emerged, it brought with it an entirely new frame of reference. It brought the idea of linear time.

To us Jews, time has a beginning and it evolves; it does not repeat. God gives us time, and it is up to us to infuse it with deeper significance. That is our challenge!

Yes, time is unstoppable, and we can all agree it advances at breakneck speed. But all of us can make something of the time we have been given -- the changes that inevitably come our way -- should we choose.

With the Days of Awe soon upon us and as the Jewish New Year approaches, and with every year to follow, choose wisely -- the time has come.

Rabbi Michael Gotlieb