We Begin Again

Ecclesiastes (and Peter Seeger) are famous for reminding us that “to everything there is a season.”

Our sacred text continues…the Ecclesiastes one… 

A time for being born and a time for dying,
A time for…
planting and a time for uprooting the planted;
slaying and a time for healing,
tearing down and a time for building up
weeping and a time for laughing
wailing and a time for dancing
throwing stones and a time for gathering stones,
embracing and a time for shunning embraces;
seeking and a time for losing,
keeping and a time for discarding;
ripping and a time for sewing,
silence and a time for speaking;
loving and a time for hating;
war and a time for peace. 

We will move through these experiences as we begin again. We begin Torah again. As we rabbis like to say, “We re-read the Torah every year, and the text does not change, but we do.” 

Life doesn’t thrive only in the planting or the uprooting, the wailing or the dancing. Life is what we do in between all that brings us joy and all that may wear us down. We find our true selves in these journeys.  

May we all have the strength to be present through the spectrum of emotions that accompany our quest, and through our own strength, may we strengthen one another. 

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Rachael