A Time of Jewish Growth: A Message for Tishrei

The Chief Rabbi Sacks’ pre-Rosh Hashanah message, written in 2010 as an introduction to the United Synagogue’s Guide to Tishrei and shared with communities across the Commonwealth.

The month of Tishrei is a sustained tutorial in spiritual growth. It begins with the clarion call of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, telling us that the King is sitting in the throne of judgement, the universe has become a courtroom, and our lives are under review. It is the beginning of 10 days of self-reckoning, in which, in total honesty, we ask ourselves how far we have achieved our mission as God's ambassadors on earth. It is a challenging time, but also a potentially life-changing one. Without this annual exercise, our lives can drift and we can fail to direct our energies to achieve our deepest aspirations and ideals.

Then comes Yom Kippur, the holy of holies of Jewish time. This is when we admit our failings, throw ourselves on God's compassion, and come to know one of Judaism's most empowering truths, that God forgives us for the wrong we do, when we recognize and admit that we did wrong. This frees us from the burden of the past, allowing ourselves to rededicate ourselves to a renewed future. It is a supreme moment of cleansing.

Next comes Succot, when we remind ourselves of the long journey of our ancestors through the wilderness on their way to the promised land. The succah tells us that we can live in the most temporary of dwellings, exposed to the wind and rain, with only leaves as a roof, and yet still rejoice, knowing that we live beneath the sacred canopy of the Shechinah, the Divine Presence.

Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah conclude the long stretch of sacred days with a sense of new beginnings. We read again of how God created the universe at the dawn of time, and we prepare ourselves to become His partners in the work of creation in the year ahead. We rejoice in the Torah, the living testimony of the covenant our ancestors made with God at Mount Sinai, and which still, 33 centuries later, defines us as a people.

The more we learn and study about these holy days, the deeper our experience of them and the more powerful becomes their impact on our lives. The more we learn, the more we understand and the more we grow. May this year be a time of Jewish growth for us all.

Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks
September 2010 / Ellul 5770