This Rosh Hashana video is sure to wake up your soul and get you in the mood for the upcoming High Holidays. Once again, Boys Town Jerusalem have come together and produced this incredible video.
“Oseh shalom bimromav Hu ya’aseh shalom aleinu V’al kol V’al kol Yisrael V’imru, amen.”
“May He who makes peace in high places, make peace for us and for all Israel, and let us say, amen”
As we approach the high holidays every year we look back at our actions of the past year and forward to our wishes for the upcoming year. I think that every person has one thing in common when thinking about what they want for the upcoming year. Peace. We all pray for peace, both on a personal level and also on a national level.
Peace
Sitting here in Israel, and if we are honest all over the world these days, peace is not a given. Terrorism across the board is on the rise and unfortunately peace is not something that can be take for granted. Too often we open the newspaper, or turn the news and read or hear the awful atrocities that are going on throughout the world.
But world peace isn’t something we as indivuals can conquer. The time of the High Holidays in Judaism is a time of introspection and judgement. A parent doesn’t expect their child to perfect. They just expect their children to try their best and continue to improve. So too, G-d wants to see us trying. He wants to see us doing our best and improving on the mistakes we made.
Repentance in Judaism
Repentance in Judaism isn’t about just focusing on the negative. We don’t just focus on the mistakes we have made. Infact, the word for repentance in hebrew can also be translated as “returning”. We are “returning” to our original purpose. The correct path of choice. This time of year is not about be sad and punishing ourselves, rather we should be focusing on learning from our mistake and returning to G-d.
In this auspicious time, I pray that we should all be inscribed in the book of Life and find peace in our hearts and soul.