Come, come, whoever you are
Wonderer, worshipper, lover of leaving
It doesn’t matter
Ours is not a caravan of despair
Come, even if you have broken your vow
a thousand times
Come, yet again, come, come

Rumi

Our Rosh Hashanah was filled with humor  and tenderness.  We sang our way through the day; we acknowledged our gifts.  We took our intentions, our kavannah, from Torah itself.  There, this most special day was a day of t’ruah, a day of loud exclamatory sounds. Joy, in other words.

No wonder: In biblical days this was not a Day of Judgement (that title arrives a lot later in our history), but a Day of Celebration.

Tomorrow is Shabbat Shuva, when we focus on our return to the elemental — in all its forms.

Challenging work is ahead: What and who have we been in this past year, and what would we like to become.  When we step into the sanctuary on Tuesday evening, for Kol Nidre services, what would we like to forgive in others, in ourselves?  What would we like to be forgiven for?

Let us consider Yom Kippur as an opportunity for cleansing, a day when we can strive to promote wisdom and goodness in ourselves, in others, in our community.  Together, may we enter this year celebrating our hope that we be filled with both.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Barbara