Rosh HaShanah and the Work of Teshuvah
Rosh HaShanah: September 6, 2002/5763
Rabbi Jeffrey Summit

"For my sake the world was created. I am but dust and ashes."

A story is told that once Rabbi Yosse was walking down a road as darkness fell. Now Rav Yosse was a fine scholar and a clever man. And as he looked down the road, he saw a blind man making his way towards him. In one hand, the blind man carried a long cane to tap the road in front of him and in the other hand, he carried a lighted torch which he held aloft. Now, Rav Yosse was usually a fairly sensitive man but this time he was quick in his reaction and spoke to the blind man and said, "that is the most foolish thing I've ever seen in my life. What are you doing? You can't see. What good can that torch possibly do to help you find your way!" The blind man looked in the direction of the rabbi's voice and answered, "Sir, the torch is not to help me see. I've been blind all my life and a torch does nothing for my darkness. I hold the torch so that others will see me. Often when people see me and realize that I am blind they have compassion and help me find the way and avoid dangers in the road. That is the reason I carry this torch." And so the blind man became the teacher and the rabbi was humbled.

Now, we know from other stories in the Talmud that Rav Yosse was not a bad man. While that Talmud doesn't tell what happened next, I hope Rav Yosse said "I'm really sorry. I feel like a jerk. Please accept my apology for my thoughtlessness." He was smart and he knew that he was smart but this time, he had spoken quickly and foolishly and it felt really bad and there's not one person in this room, who at some point, has not felt the same way. And it's good for us to carry around one of those memories because they help us remind ourselves that there are times when we all make mistakes. As we look back over the past year to review our actions, that's good to remember.

The essential work of Rosh Hashanah is the work of teshuvah, reassessment of where we are in our lives at this particular moment. That reassessment takes courage, insight and the ability to really look at ourselves and admit where we have gone wrong in the past year. We consider what we've done and think about what needs to change. We think about people whom we might have hurt and consider how we can apologize and reconcile with them. This is hard work especially because we are all intelligent and accomplished. For years, parents and teachers have been building our self esteem and telling us that we're smart and people like us. And we're pretty good looking to boot but that does not obviate the fact that each of us has made mistakes over the past year. We have hurt people who we love and who love us. And knowing that, and accepting that, is the first step towards change. So my first point this evening is that humility is an essential component in the process of doing teshuvah.

But humility is only the first part in the process of teshuvah. Because an absolute fundamental of Jewish belief is that we are in control of our actions. In our tradition, the devil doesn't make us do it. It isn't our mother's or our father's fault. We bear the responsibility and the upside to this revelation that that because it's nobody's fault but ours, that means that if you wish to change, nothing in the world can hold you back. We have the power to effect change in our lives. In the Mishna, the rabbis basically say, "Hey, we know you can't change the world, you think we're naïve? The task is great. But get in there. You are not free to desist from it."

You know the starfish story? I think about it even though it's a little too "chicken soup for the soul" for my tastes. A kid walks down to the beach and sees that high tide has deposited hundreds, no, thousands of starfish on the sand. The tide goes out and there's a lot of starfish dying on the beach. So the kid walks down to one end of the beach and starts picking up starfish, one by one, and tossing them back in the water. A man walks up to him and in all his experience and practicality says to the kid, "son, there's an awful lot of star fish here. Do you really think you can make a difference? The kid doesn't even break his stride as he picks up a starfish and tosses it in the water and says to the man, "Made a difference to that one." I love the midrash where the rabbis teach that teshuvah, the ability to direct your efforts productively, was created even before the world was created. And I believe, that a key element in being Jewish is understanding that a motivated individual can make real, positive changes both in his or her life and in the world.

One of my favorite Hasidic teachings says that every person should carry two pieces of paper, one in your right hand pocket and the other in your left. On one of the pieces, you write the verse "I am but dusk and ashes." On the other piece, you write a very different verse "Bishvili nivra haolam/For my sake the world was created." The key to living a successful life is to be guided by both of those statements and keep those two opposing truths in balance. On one hand, our lives and our troubles and accomplishments are part of a much larger whole happening in the world. Sometimes we just take ourselves too seriously and think that if we get a B+ rather than an A-, or don't get into a specific graduate school, or if a relationship breaks up, the world will fall apart. As difficult as those situations can be, very, very rarely do they throw a person's life off track. But they can throw our perceptions off track. For the times when we think we have to be perfect, or, for that matter, when we get a little too impressed with our own success, then it's time to pull out that slip of paper that says, "you are but dust and ashes" and put some of our hubris in perspective. We're human and the goal is not to do everything perfectly right, it's to continue to be in the game, to keep figuring out how to put our precious time into things that really matter.

But. When we begin to forget that our actions really matter in the world, and when we forget that each of us has an important things to accomplish in life, when we forget that, as the Torah teaches, each of us has been created in the image of the Holy One, that is when we pull out the second piece of paper and read "The world was created for my sake." Now, this doesn't mean that everything in the world was created to serve us; it means, I think, that each of us has a unique role to play in this world. We have a particular contribution to make in our family and can do much to determine the quality of love and joy we experience in our homes. And while it sounds clichéd, we have been given amazing opportunities and each of us has a contribution to make in the world. Your actions matter: no one else can make your contribution but you.

The goal to living a successful life is to know when to pull what message out of which pocket. Rosh Hashanah comes to say, The year begins and you have tremendous power." What will we do with this year? What will we make from our precious lives" I hope that these next ten days, these days of awe, will be a good opportunity for us all to reflect on those questions. From deep within my heart, I wish you a sweet, fulfilling year.