Over the High Holy Days, a rebbe walked through the marketplace and overheard banter between a merchant and his customer. The customer was clearly frustrated. He was disappointed with the price the merchant offered for the product. “C’mon! I know you can do better than this!” The merchant sighed and offered a different, slightly better price. The customer gave a dirty look. “But you know me! You know my family! How could you not do better than this?”

That’s when the rebbe looked towards the heavens and smiled. “Ahhh, Master of the Universe, this is what the High Holy Days are all about. You look at us and grow disappointed, frustrated, and sometimes, angry. You know, you just know, that we can do better than this.”

This High Holy Day season, we can all do better. We can all be better.

May it be a year filled with introspection, reflection, doing better, and reaching higher and higher.

Gmar hatimah tovah and Shabbat Shalom.

In partnership with The Jewish Journal, you can also find Rabbi Guzik’s blog post HERE.