Rosh Hashanah: Time For a Personal Reset

This weekend, when Jews worldwide begin the observance of Rosh Hashanah, the start of the new Hebrew year that ushers in a 10-day period of reflection, repentance for our sins and, hopefully, absolution as well, many of us wonder what does God want from us this next year?  is there something specific that we can do that will make the world a better place next year than it was this past year?

In biblical times these questions were more easily answered.  We will read over the next 10 days examples of direct communication between God and our patriarchs, matriarchs and prophets.  We will hear about how the Lord told Abraham to take his son Isaac, his only son, travel with him to Jerusalem and sacrifice him, only to be saved at the last moment by an angel.  We will also read God’s very specific instructions regarding the sacrifices in the temple on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement as well as the Jonah story and his experience in the belly of the whale.

I believe God talks to us even today but through a different medium.  The earth on which we live is now experiencing once in a century, almost cataclysmic events, but seemingly on a daily basis.  Devastating floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, mountains collapsing as glaciers melt, record breaking heat as well as killer storms are now the norm.  Perhaps the daily weather and climate related catastrophes are God’s way of telling us that we are messing up his creation “big time” and, if we don’t change our ways the projection that rampant AI development will destroy mankind may yet occur (maybe as early as 2030 as predicted by AI whistleblowers from both OpenAI and Anthropic during today’s news updates).

But, what would God have us do?  What is there that we are doing that if we could change it might alter the course of history.

It seems to me that today’s inability to have constructive dialogue with people with whom we disagree may very well be the “keystone” that has fallen away from the arch it supports and is the root cause of most of our distress. The binary construct in the way we now look at each other: oppressor or oppressed, ally or enemy, 100% right or wrong, has made it impossible to have a respectful conversation with anyone with whom we disagree.  Not only is it impossible to have the conversation, in too many cases we don’t event want to have the conversation as we are simply not interested in hearing why or how someone disagrees with us.   After all, why bother when we already know that the other person’s opinion is simply wrong?

Perhaps if all of us were to take a step back, perform a personal reset, and consider that it is possible that the people we disagree with may have one or more valid points to share.  Is it possible for us to call the relative we no longer speak with and offer to meet and share mutual concerns with an open mind?  Is it possible for leaders of nations to reinvigorate diplomacy in order to avoid armed conflict, and be willing to work together to find common ground?  Is it possible to greet everyone we meet with a smile rather than a frown in order to signal our readiness to listen and actually hear?

Perhaps this is the lesson that we all need to learn from this year’s holiday experience.  Perhaps even today God speaks to us, albeit in a different fashion and not face to face as in days of old, and perhaps we should listen.  Because one thing we know for sure, that remaining on the current path on which the world is traveling is a road to continued conflict, not peace and tranquility.   God seems to be sending us signals which we ignore at our own peril.

Let us hope that the new year will bring a new spirit to mankind, one of openness to hearing “the other” and a path to abandon the binary outlook on humanity that too many of us have adopted.

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To all my brethren around the world, “Ketivah v’chatima tovah” (כתיבה וחתימה טובה), may you all be inscribed and sealed in the Book of Life for the coming year.