Rabbi Sherman - Honorable Mensch-ion

Rosh Hashana has two names: Yom Teruah, the day of the shofar blast, and Yom Hazikaron, the day of remembrance.

First days of school are always nerve wracking and exciting. In my middle and high school, there was a tradition on the first day. The senior class would line up in front of the school. Every single student and faculty member would walk down the line shaking the hands of each senior. We would gather as a school community and the headmaster would explain the history behind the handshake. The popular theory goes that by extending your empty right hand, a stranger could show that they were not holding weapons and bore no ill will toward one another. Another explanation is that the handshake was a symbol of good faith when making an oath or promise. When we clasp hands, we show that our word is a sacred bond.

When I was a child, an alarm clock sat on my bed stand. It was a real alarm clock-not a phone with a ring, but an old-fashioned clock with a bell. On some days, I dreaded that sound ringing in my ear, and on other days, I could not wait for the ring to wake me up for exciting days ahead.

On a family trip to San Francisco, we visited Alcatraz. As we walked up the steep hill to the cell block which housed the country’s top criminals, our tour guide said, “The guards and their families kept their doors unlocked at night—they knew the bad guys were all locked up.”

The Daat Zekenim teaches that there are seven different names that refer to prayer. The common word we use is tefilah. There is rina, joyous song, tzaakah, shouting out to God, nefilah, falling down, and several others. So why does Moses choose a techina, pleading with God when speaking before the revelation of the ten commandments? We learn that Moses wanted God to know that though he pleads, he is aware that even if God responds favorably, this response would be a gift rather than something he is entitled to.

The Rabbis teach that senseless hatred, sinat chinam, destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem. Beyond the physical destruction, the Jewish community needed to pivot and create what would become modern Judaism, a Judaism spread around every corner of the world.

As Jews, we focus less on destinations and more on journeys. It is no surprise that the book of Numbers ends with a travelogue of places the Jews travelled in the wilderness. You can literally trace this route without WAZE today by holding a Tanach in your hand and reading through Parshat Masei. Yet, WAZE would be frustrated with the route the Jews took, as the people journeyed forward but also journeyed back towards where they came from.

The countdown starts… ten weeks until Rosh Hashana. We know this by the Haftorah cycle that the Rabbis put in place. First, we are faced with three Shabbatot of rebuke, starting with the book of Jeremiah. The Sages characterize Jeremiah as “a book of destruction.” We read of the image of a boiling pot, representative of the impending doom of the Temple in Jerusalem. Most commentaries focus their debate around the question of hope—is there time for redemption?

Tents are scary and unstable. They are difficult to build and unreliable if not built well. At the same time, a good tent withstands the elements and becomes a sacred place. What child does not reflect upon their first camping trip, relationships built with their tent mates, star gazing in the wilderness, and blessing God’s natural world?

JAMODI is a made up word. It stands for, “Just a matter of doing it.” It is a term I learned when speaking with high school basketball coach and former Baylor University player Matt Sayman. His coach used to tell him when he practiced as a kid, JAMODI, “Just a matter of doing it.” That was the way he would meet his goals. When Sayman was in college, he experienced a traumatic incident: One of his teammates murdered another teammate. His dreams of being a college star ended because of the actions of others. His faith in God faltered, he hit rock bottom, and he substituted parties for God. In conversation, Coach Sayman compared his journey to Joshua and Moses. Moses hits the rock instead of speaking to it, and in turn, he cannot enter the Promised Land. He hit the rock out of frustration of the people he led. As the greatest leader of our people, Moses’ small actions mattered most in his quest to enter the land of Israel. Those are what his followers observed, and his small mistake was the one that prevented him from entering the Promised Land.