A Word from Rabbi Schulman - 9/25/15

From Rosh Hashanah Evening sermon “Days of Awe:” Jewish tradition orients us during these holy days to experience the sacred; to feel a sense of connectedness to a purpose larger than ourselves; to view our lives within a continuum of tradition that stretches back millennia. To experience awe is to be touched by the divine; to return to a more primal sense of well-being; to glimpse a broader view of our place in the world; to know that our lives have meaning. To be filled with awe is to view all life with reverence and to see in each human face a reflection of God’s holy spirit. From Rosh Hashanah Morning sermon “Pregnant with Possibility:” Hayom Harat Ha’Olam. On this first day of rebirth, each one of us can transcend our most base nature and activate the divine soul that is within us. We are not here on this earth to act like babies, ravenous for more milk, voracious to consume for the sake of survival. We are not here on this planet to act like toddlers, reaching for a slice of cake before someone else snatches it. On this day, we are born fully aware, completely formed, and called upon to act not as babies or children, but as partners with God in the ongoing work of creation. Hayom Harat Ha’olam – the fundamental truth of Judaism is to recognize the inherent worth of every human being. Each of us has been born not only with the capacity to act like animals. But more significantly, in the panoply of creation, we are the only creatures who are fashioned as well with a spark of the divine. And I say to you, that divine spark never glows more brightly than when we act to heal the world of its travails. Rabbi’s High Holy Day sermons will be available in their entirety after they have been reviewed for scribal errors.