shul<\/em> members.<\/p>\nI see others too.\u00a0 The guy who comes every day with his dachshunds, and the paraplegic guy, Brian.\u00a0 I run into a Swedish-American who is a convert.\u00a0 He says, \u201cThe Swedes taught the Jews about herring when the Swedes conquered Poland.\u201d Good info.<\/p>\n
The Recons<\/strong><\/span> leave, and a chavurah<\/em> (small worship group) from a large Conservative synagogue comes through.\u00a0 A member tells me about a bar mitzvah in Minnesota that was too loud.\u00a0 Tell me about it.<\/p>\nThe Recons at 3:30, the chavurah<\/em> at 4:30.<\/p>\nI could go to Park Synagogue at 4:45 p.m., but that would be too much tash-likhing<\/em>.<\/p>\nThe Park<\/strong><\/span> Synagogue rabbi, at the morning service, had said, \u201cIt\u2019s easy to do the right thing when you\u2019re in shul<\/em>, but the big test is the day after Rosh Hashanah — the days after the holidays. The routine days.\u00a0 The days when your wife shrinks your favorite sweatshirt, or you run a stop sign.\u201d<\/p>\nQuestion, rabbi: Am I allowed to be bad on Rosh Hashanah — before I start to be good?<\/p>\n
I get a phone message from a new tenant Rosh Hashanah afternoon. \u00a0He has yet to move in. \u00a0He needs to talk to me.<\/p>\n
I tell<\/strong><\/span> my wife, \u201cThe guy doesn\u2019t want to move in.\u00a0 I can smell it.\u201d<\/p>\nI can\u2019t resist calling him back. \u00a0It\u2019s late<\/em> Rosh Hashanah.\u00a0 Around 6 p.m.\u00a0 I can do business at 6 p.m.<\/p>\nThe guy is going to catch a break. I am not going to be vainly ambitious, grossly envious, insanely selfish, or indifferent to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother<\/strong><\/span> is very sick,\u201d he says.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t move in.\u201d He is 25.\u00a0 His mother is very sick like my mother is very sick; my mother is dead.\u00a0 The guy is lying.\u00a0 Not many 25 year olds have very sick mothers. \u00a0I could ask him what exactly his mother has.\u00a0 I could ask him for a letter from the doctor.\u00a0 Instead, I say, \u201cI\u2019m sorry to hear about your mother,\u201d and I tell him he won\u2019t get his security back because he kept the apartment off the market for five weeks.<\/p>\nHe says, \u201cHow about half back?\u201d<\/p>\n
I say no.<\/p>\n
I have heard too many young people talk about their very sick mothers.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy God,<\/strong><\/span> the soul you have given me is pure.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s in the Tashlikh <\/em>prayer.<\/p>\nMy soul is about 49-percent pure.\u00a0 That\u2019s as good as it gets in the real estate biz.\u00a0 The kid found a cheaper place down the street, or moved in with his girl friend.\u00a0 That’s my guess.<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
Footnote: This was Rosh Hashanah, 2010.
\n<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n—<\/p>\n
SIDE B<\/strong><\/big><\/span><\/p>\nROSH HASHANAH PRAYER<\/big><\/big><\/strong><\/p>\nThere are<\/strong><\/span> risks that go along with being active.<\/p>\nDon\u2019t be static.\u00a0 You\u2019ll have plenty time for that when you\u2019re gone.<\/p>\n
The devil (yetzer hora<\/em>) is always working.\u00a0 He don\u2019t <\/em>take no vacation.<\/p>\nAdapt.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nAdapt to a colostomy, mastectomy, prostate surgery, the inability to walk, depression.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t focus on what you\u2019ve lost.<\/p>\n
Focus on<\/strong><\/span> what\u2019s good and what’s right in front of you: your children, your parents, the memories of your parents, your relatives, your friends,\u00a0 your community.<\/p>\nLife is not for the weak-hearted.\u00a0 Display some willpower!\u00a0 Do not take the short view. Seasons come and go.\u00a0 Get used to it.<\/p>\n
This year we will not get wrapped up in things evil, harmful, or petty.<\/p>\n
The health of our body is not just our singular \u201cbody,\u201d but it\u2019s our \u201cbodies\u201d — the people we work with, the people we love, the people we hang out with, the people we pray with.<\/p>\n
Social isolation<\/strong><\/span> is not good.\u00a0 We\u2019re all connected, particularly on days like Rosh Hashanah.<\/p>\nThis is a day of aspiration and hope.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s our only hope.<\/p>\n
Do not<\/strong><\/span> dwell on the bad. That is too easy.<\/p>\nAspire to change.\u00a0 Focus.<\/p>\n
Praise God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On the afternoon of Rosh Hashanah, I\u2019m on the Shaker Lakes bridge, hanging out with the Reconstructionist crowd. The Reconstructionist Jews are here for the Tashlikh ceremony.\u00a0 (Tashlikh is Hebrew for \u201ccasting off\u201d —\u00a0 the symbolic casting-away-of-sins ceremony. Participants toss crumbs into a river or lake.) I\u2019m not a Reconstructionist, but I know a lot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shul-talk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11056"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11056\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11157,"href":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11056\/revisions\/11157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/home\/yiddis6\/public_html\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/tashlikh-bread-toss.jpg\" "\\"tashlikh")
<\/a><\/p>\n