Shana Tova

767 words



I received a panicked call from my mother  whose  concern for my spiritual wellbeing  went beyond maternal comfort zone and spilled  into an immediate area of nonstop talking , whining and plain hysteria . When I picked up the phone I knew it was her (G-d bless caller ID ) so within the time it took me to reach for the phone and actually hearing her voice I knew I should  come up with a plan or an excuse , or anything that would absolve me of the incoming lashing I anticipated 

So , at 4 o’clock in the morning (my mother lives on the other side of the Atlantic and never  figured out the time difference  concept  )  I started , reluctantly albeit , to explore my spiritual course under the pressure coming from  the other end.

Oddly, never having been fanatically religious before, she has slipped lately into a stage where she’s afraid a strike of divine lightning will zap her any time she’s not thinking of G-d or pestering someone to think about G-d.  I assume her recent scuff with this sanctimonious new life she’s experiencing is an age related outcome or maybe the result of her own approaching mortality.  Either way, Rabi Iazzar is the only one fully reaping benefits out of this phase she is going through.  Invited every night for dinner, he delights in her epicurean kosher take on redemption. Of course, my dad, who at his golden age is only looking for full jurisdiction over the remote control during football season, is the rather annoyed casualty of my mom’s enlightenment  .

Myself, I certainly know Rosh Hashanah as the day on which G-d created Man.  This is the time as I remember when G-d reviews the status of his creation and determines if we merit another year in this world. It  was a very scary thought process  for me when I was growing up and I remember my parents assuring me  any divine entity is a benevolent one and a child has nothing to worry about . That was 30 more years ago , now  my mother takes an active role and asks  me before I even have the chance to mumble a greeting on the phone if I thought about my transgressions , made a plan for redemption  and chose a  fresh start .

I love her too much to complain, but at 4 o’clock in the morning even Moses himself would have a tough time dealing with spiritual matters in a devout and serene mood. And remember, the man packed a considerable amount of years in the dessert so one could safely assume he acquired an astute state of wisdom and patience vis a vis human anguish.  Secretly and smiling by myself  I  imagine how  my mother would  easily  reduce him to a monosyllabic mumbling idiot  just like she does with me.

So in a nutshell, it is known amongst Judaic worshipers that G-d looks especially at three areas during the time between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, the so-called Ten Days of Repentance.  By praying with sincere regret for the past and commitment for the future, a person can erase his or her misdeeds and hence improve judgment before it is sealed on Yom Kippur. That being said, as far as I am concerned I’m off to a clean fresh start as long as I admit my transgressions and promise to work harder next year. "Repentance, Prayer, and Charity can remove the bad decree” is the corner stone of JudaismI grew up with.

My mother  now is so concerned with my potential clean sleight ahead of me that she feels it  is her duty to call me and make me vow, on the phone , at $1.78 a minute , that I’ll take my redemption seriously..  And I do, honestly, I do, but by sort of playing G-d on the other end of the line my mother is squeezing promises out of me which I most likely won’t remember once the sun is up hence making this whole process recycle itself for next year or worse, self destruct itself as soon as I hang up the phone and slide back in bed next to my protestant better half.

And then it hits me. This is the entire gist of it. To think about your life, reinvent yourself and live a better life each year. How could I have missed it?  It’s like getting rid of the contents of your pockets before crossing an imaginary river.

“May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year."