{"id":47834,"date":"2019-09-16T15:03:26","date_gmt":"2019-09-16T15:03:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/?p=47834"},"modified":"2019-09-16T15:03:26","modified_gmt":"2019-09-16T15:03:26","slug":"hope-and-faith-to-be-transformed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/hope-and-faith-to-be-transformed\/","title":{"rendered":"Hope and Faith:\u00a0To Be Transformed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our great king and poet, David, gave voice to his deepest desire when he wrote, \u201cOne thing I ask of the Lord…to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life…\u201d \u00a0To live in the House of the Lord! Who could contemplate anything grander or more worthwhile? And yet, after the very same verse he adds, u\u2019lvaker be\u2019heichalo <\/em>\u2013 and to \u201cvisit His Temple.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like every great poet, in these words David has captured an essential contradiction. He speaks of wanting to be what he cannot be, both a resident and a visitor! Rabbi Soloveitchik seeks to make sense of David\u2019s contradictory desire by teaching, that permanent residence often results in losing perspective, taking things for granted, no longer appreciating the beauty and wonder of that which surrounds me… A visitor on the other hands, takes notice of all; everything is new to him; everything is fresh… He is awed by what he sees.<\/p>\n

David wants both<\/em> comfort and awe. In other words, he wants emunah<\/em>. Faith. Belief. For the true believer, comfort is permanent and yet always renewed and refreshed.<\/p>\n

How does one realize such a faith, a faith that sees in each new day a new opportunity and new hope? How does one find the grace of emunah<\/em>, particularly during this intense season of searching?<\/p>\n

To the Jewish cynic, the authentic Jewish life \u2013 filled with so many \u201crules and obligations, and strange rituals\u201d \u2013 is the antithesis of a modern notion of spirituality and faith. It is \u201clegalistic.\u201d It is \u201ccramped.\u201d It is without beauty. He sees in the tapestry of Jewish life too many somber remembrances; too many fasts; too many moral teachings.<\/p>\n

Too many demands<\/em>.<\/p>\n

He asks, \u201cWhy can\u2019t I just be accepted for what I am?\u201d He wonders why he can\u2019t simply observe the New Year on the first of Tishrei or, better yet, on the tenth. Certainly, he thinks, that is more than enough time to pray, reflect and make amends.<\/p>\n

Why, he wonders, must Jews begin their preparation thirty days <\/em>before the teshuva <\/em>journey begins?\u201d<\/p>\n

Why, he asks, must Jews be so serious<\/em>?<\/p>\n

His view of Jewish life and practice mirrors the pessimist who sees the proverbial glass as half-empty. The question is, is the pessimist\u2019s perspective more correct than an optimist\u2019s, who looks at the very same glass <\/em>and rejoices that it is half full? Is it more correct than the Jew who embraces David\u2019s desire to be both resident and <\/em>visitor?<\/p>\n

Optimism shows us the power of the period from Rosh Chodesh through the conclusion of Shemini Atzeret<\/em>. \u00a0When we open our siddurim<\/em>, we discover the most optimistic of all Psalms, selected specifically for this awesome period \u2013 Psalm 27. The Midrash teaches that the words L\u2019Dovid HaShem Ori, <\/em>the Lord is my light, refer to Rosh Hashanah while v\u2019yishi<\/em>, and light, reflects on Yom Kippur. \u00a0Ki<\/em> yitzpeneni b\u2019suko, <\/em>He will shelter me in His pavilion, speaks of Sukkot.<\/p>\n

The psalm speaks fully to hope and optimism \u2013 and to David\u2019s vision. Verses 1-6 express the hope, to \u201cdwell in the house of the Lord\u201d and to \u201cbehold His pleasantness.\u201d \u00a0Verses 7-14 are a call for help on behalf of all Jews. It is a call reminiscent of the sign put up by Breslav Chassidim on the gate to their ghetto during the Second World War: Yiden, Zeit Zich Nisht M\u2019Yaesh <\/em>\u2013 Jews, Don\u2019t Give Up!\u201d<\/p>\n

Optimism is woven in the very fabric of Jewish life and practice, for the foundation of all Jewish belief, expression and experience is God. Of all the pleas we bring before God during the Yamim Noraim<\/em>, the Malbim <\/em>notes that it is the desire to be one with God \u2013 the Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? \u2013 that enables us to overcome our spiritual obstacles. To know oneness with God is to know that, \u201ceven though an army were arrayed against me, my heart would not fear; though war shall arise against me, still would I be confident.\u201d<\/p>\n

The task of Elul is to renew, reaffirm and reattach oneself to God, to genuine emunah<\/em>. Absent such renewed faith, almost all of what we do and say during Elul and the Yamim Noraim <\/em>is reduced to just words; at best vague prescriptions to \u201clive better\u201d and empty recitations of having \u201cfallen short\u201d the year before.<\/p>\n

But words are not the goal of our renewal! The goal is to reconnect to God, to seek and feel His presence constantly and consistently, to both live with and visit<\/em> Him no matter where we are \u2013 caught in traffic, in a hospital bed, at work \u2026<\/p>\n

It can be hard work, this optimism. Even thoughtful and well-meaning Jews sometimes find themselves \u201cgoing through the motions\u201d of the season \u2013 flipping the pages of the Machzor, beating on their hearts during the Vidui<\/em>, giving more charity, awakening early for Selichot<\/em> \u2013 and then patting ourselves on our backs feeling pleased with our efforts and accomplishments. But what have we done really? Endured the season? Or truly brought God closer?<\/p>\n

Have we merely spoken words, or have we felt and sensed His presence? Is our trust greater than before the season began? Or do we find ourselves even further from Him?<\/p>\n

If, on the day after Yom Kippur, we feel no different than we did before the season then of what use was all our effort?<\/p>\n

The purpose of Elul is to get us somewhere<\/em>! To get us closer, closer to God, closer to residing and <\/em>visiting. That is the reason for reciting the L\u2019Dovid HaShem Ori<\/em> again and again \u2013 bring me closer! Let me see the glass as half-full! It is all we should want to accomplish during the Days of Awe.<\/p>\n

The \u201chumanist\u201d Jew, the Jew who wants only to show up on Kol Nidre <\/em>evening, dressed in his best suit, and fulfill his \u201cobligation\u201d of the season, should know that it is only <\/em>by forming a greater reattachment with and emunah<\/em> in the Ribono shel Olam, that we experience greater attachment and relationship with ourselves and others!<\/p>\n

Only when we truly believe He is in charge and that all emanates from Him do we quickly realize that jealousy, anger, and frustration are meaningless. As our love for Hashem grows, so does our love for others, and for ourselves.<\/p>\n

David is a wise \u2013 and clever \u2013 poet. He begins, \u201cOne thing I ask\u2026\u201d but asks so many more things than that. He asks for shelter. He asks for comfort. He asks to be able to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord; to worship in His Temple.<\/p>\n

Yes, he asks for many things and yet, he does <\/em>ask for only one thing, for in these requests he is really seeking only one thing \u2013 rapport, a relationship with God. He is seeking emunah. <\/em><\/p>\n

In God, there is hope. In God, there is comfort. In God, there is meaning.<\/p>\n

The cynic may not see it, and the pessimist may be blind to it, but for the Jew, the glass is always half-full for it is God who has poured it. The authentic Jewish life is always an optimistic life.<\/p>\n

Hope. Be strong. Be brave.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our great king and poet, David, gave voice to his deepest desire when he wrote, \u201cOne thing I ask of the Lord…to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life…\u201d \u00a0To live in the House of the Lord! Who could contemplate anything grander or more worthwhile? And yet, after the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":296,"featured_media":47835,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-elul"],"yoast_head":"\nHope and Faith:\u00a0To Be Transformed - Jewish Holidays<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/hope-and-faith-to-be-transformed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hope and Faith:\u00a0To Be Transformed - Jewish Holidays\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our great king and poet, David, gave voice to his deepest desire when he wrote, \u201cOne thing I ask of the Lord…to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life…\u201d \u00a0To live in the House of the Lord! 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