L’shanah Tovah – New Year greetings! I hope our time together during the High Holidays will be meaningful to you and that you will conclude this season with a sense of renewal.
The High Holidays offer a gateway to growth, encouraging us to open up the gates in our hearts and in our heads so that we may live with integrity and authenticity. Our Jewish tradition is profoundly optimistic in asserting that human nature is never fixed and that all of us can heal and grow, regardless of our past. There is no expectation that we be perfect. Rather we are taught to be persistent in our willingness to change for the good.
The ultimate purpose of the Days of Awe can be summarized by the words of an early Hasidic teacher, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov: “Let the good in me connect with the good in others, until all the world is transformed through the compelling power of love.”
Ken yehi ratzon – may it be so.
Rabbi Drorah Setel