We’re just about there. The year is coming to a close and a new one is beginning in its place. As Jews, the New Year is indeed a time for revelry and celebration, but it’s also an intense time of reflection and prayer. We look to the past in order to look toward the future.
Just yesterday, I was sitting in my car listening to a podcast called Wondering Jews (Rabbi Biton’s daughter, Mijal, is one of the co-hosts). The subject was a deceptively simple question: Why is it so hard for us to admit when we’re wrong?
They discussed at length the many obstacles that stand in our way when it comes to admitting fault. Ego, fear, and so much more can make it difficult, if not impossible, for us to confront the reality that we can be wrong at times. But if we’re able to look more closely at our lives with the understanding that it’s okay to be wrong, then we can begin to see that we all have work to do—and, importantly, that it’s work we can do.
One source cited in this conversation came from Baruch Spinoza, a descendant of Spanish Portuguese Jews who fled the Inquisition and eventually settled in Amsterdam. Spinoza lived in the 1600s, and his behaviors and views ultimately led to his excommunication from the Jewish community. You can read more about Spinoza here.
They quoted something profound that Spinoza wrote in The Ethics (IV): “Repentance is not a virtue, or does not arise from reason; instead, he who repents what he has done is twice wretched, or lacking in power…For first he suffers himself to be conquered by an evil desire, and then by sadness.”
I had never encountered this source before, and it gave me great pause.
How sad.
How sad it is that someone could believe that we have no ability to regret, to change, and to make amends. How sad it is to live in such a way that the past does not matter and making peace with it is impossible.
What Spinoza got wrong is that the impact of our words and deeds matters. What he got wrong is that while we cannot change the past, we can change the future. What he got wrong is that we make peace with the past for the sake of the future.
Spinoza did not understand the basic principle of תשובה/Teshuva/Repentance as taught by the רמב”ם/Rambam: that real תשובה means being confronted with the same circumstances and opportunities and choosing to do differently.
It is through recognizing the errors of our past that we can set ourselves up to build a better future. This is the reality of a person of faith. This is the reality of a person of hope. This is the Jewish vision of תשובה—and it’s at the heart of the moment when we change from one year to the next, looking backward and forward at the same time.
I look forward to seeing all of you this weekend for ראש השנה/Rosh Hashana.
On the first day, we will observe a memorial marking the 25th anniversary of 9/11. It’s so hard to believe that it’s already been 25 years.
As a reminder, there will be no שופר/Shofar on day one because it’s שבת/Shabbat. The שופר will be sounded on the second day, and we cannot wait to hear its beautiful blasts.
Carrie, Ayelet, and Galit join me in wishing a Happy New Year from our family to yours.
שנה טובה/Shanah Tovah,
Rabbi Hearshen
