On Rosh HaShanah we are tasked to look in the mirror, with eyes wide open, and to recognize the reality of what we see.
Mirrors are strange things.
Especially, when we look into them. Really look into them.
On the surface, what you first see is merely a reflection of your appearance, but if you can hold your gaze, and look softly into your own eyes, the mirror will show you much, much more.
If you let it, the mirror will show you a picture of yourself next to pictures of who you used to be. One from when you were a child. Another, is of you as a young adult, confident that you have a long life ahead of you. A 3rd image from a few years later. A 4th… All of them the ‘you’ of your past, each staring back at you in this moment, right now, this Rosh HaShanah day.
Mirrors are strange things.
Especially, when we look into them. Really look into them.
If you let it, if you continue to face your reflection, you will see that you, in this moment, are much more than an image, but rather you are a set of experiences. At first it looks like some sort of highlight reel, the big moments that one would deem worth capturing. But when you focus, you see the small moments as well. Some may seem inconsequential. But each moment, each experience, builds into the next, eventually to culminate in your cornerstone life events that define who you are in your essence, in your soul.
Mirrors are strange things.
Especially, when we look into them. Really look into them.
For now, you see that each image of you is set in a landscape. Each landscape around you are the times in which you have lived. Each age contains different challenges. Some challenges are microscopic and intensely personal, with the quality of your life, or even life itself, on the line. Other challenges reflected in the mirror are so huge that they seem impossible. They are not yours alone, but belong to the entire society. These, too, are part of the landscape of who you are today, for they influence the quality of your life, and perhaps your literal existential existence.
The ‘you’ of each moment does not appear in the mirror alone, but rather surrounded by other people. Those who were part of your life before. Some of them are clearly identifiable, and others are almost shadows of influence that expand beyond recognition, names, or even conscious awareness.
If your mirror were to speak, it would remind you that ‘No man is an island. No woman is an island.’ We are all connected to one another, through our personal history, and through infinite time.” Shmah Yisrael Adaonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad. You are part of a Jewish story that goes back millennia, and our story continues to shape the world in a way most profound.
May this New Year bring you and your family, and our entire congregation a year of health, love, and profound meaning.
L’shanah tovah tikateivu-v’teichateimu!
