Waiting… for Rosh Hashanah
In the 2004 Pixar movie The Incredibles (a favorite of my children), there is an iconic scene in which Mr. Incredible pulls up to his house, gets out of his car, and notices a boy on a tricycle staring at him from the end of the driveway.
“What are you waiting for?” he asks.
“I don’t know. Something amazing, I guess.”
“Me too, kid,” Mr. Incredible sighs.
It’s hard to enter a new year with a feeling that we are waiting for “something amazing” to happen — for the remaining hostages to come home, for Hamas to finally be defeated, for the sirens to stop wailing, for soldiers to return to their families, and for life to resemble some kind of normal. The kind where we no longer live under the constant weight of fear.
It has been a long, exhausting, and painful two years. Our energy is depleted. The air sometimes feels heavy with despair. It takes imagination to picture events unfolding positively. We wonder if there is even a plan and how much longer this will take.
Our waiting has been anything but passive. As civilians, we have been fully invested in this process in multiple ways. Volunteering on farms, taking care of children and grandchildren, helping families of soldiers, visiting the wounded, supporting the relatives of hostages, donating money and of course praying and doing good deeds.
Our soldiers continue to fight, giving their all for our country. Passionate, idealistic, eager and sometimes frustrated and upset. But they, too, are often waiting. Waiting for another draft notice. Waiting for orders. Waiting to advance to the battlefield. Waiting to go home for a weekend. Waiting to know how it will all turn out. Waiting and wondering when this war will come to a close.
We are tired of waiting. We have so many questions, anxieties and doubts.
In his book, Oh, The Places You’ll Go!, Dr. Seuss addresses the challenging feelings of being stuck in what he calls “The Waiting Place,” where people just wait:
“Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come,
or a plane to go or the mail to come,
or the rain to go or the phone to ring,
or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.”
It doesn’t feel good to wait. Waiting makes us feel helpless, restless, on edge. It makes us all the more frustrated when we feel like we have invested our all and we are still waiting for results. Waiting can feel like a total loss of control.
In a few days, we will celebrate Rosh Hashanah. The timing could not be better.
On this holiday, we remind ourselves that, even when we are waiting, there is a Master of the Universe who runs the world. Though we can’t always see it, there is a master plan, and He is the One pulling the strings. In the meantime, we can — and must — do our part to work hard, improve ourselves, and make good decisions.
But ultimately, Rosh Hashanah is about feeling God’s support. The King has left His palace and He has come out to His people.
On this day, we admit that He is in control. Instead of clinging to anxiety, we can embrace His presence and feel that He is holding us. Even when we wait for the ultimate redemption, it does not mean we are waiting around. We can make our best effort. And then we can find solace in the knowledge that God is close.
Like that kid on the tricycle who has seen Mr. Incredible’s feats before, we too have witnessed wonders. Even amid the pain of the war, we have seen the IDF accomplish extraordinary missions. Sometimes only afterwards do we realize how miraculous they were, especially when others fall short. When our impatience creeps in, we can pause and remember — we are human. And we do not see the full picture.
Rosh Hashanah invites us to lean into our trust in God, to strengthen us as we feel weakened by the burden of waiting. Rosh Hashanah marks the start of a new year — a chance for fresh perspectives and new beginnings. A time to ask God to make His glory known. A time to pray that He reveal to us “something amazing.”
מלוך על כל העולם כולו בכבודך והנשא על כל הארץ ביקרך והופע בהדר גאון עזך על כל יושבי תבל ארצך. (מתוך תפילת ראש השנה)
“You, God, rule over this entire world in all your glory. You, God, be exalted over the entire earth in absolute splendor. You, God, reveal your majestic and amazing strength to all the inhabitants of earth.” (From the Rosh Hashanah prayers)
May we merit to be worthy.
Shanah tovah.
