I was dreaming last night. It was one of those dreams on the edge of becoming a nightmare but you’re not yet sure. I was late to get on a cruise. I knew that if I didn’t get there in time, the boat would leave without me. I finally arrived with my family and I saw that there was a line twisting and turning through the parking lot, then out of the parking lot and up the sidewalk along the road. Everyone was hopelessly late. I felt better knowing I wasn’t the only one and hoped that the ship would be forced to wait for all of us latecomers. If it was to leave, it might be a mostly empty ship. As I was standing in the line (it seemed to move fairly fast) I noticed the name on the front of the ship. It was called, “Truth of the Seas”. I guess my subconscious prefers Royal Caribbean. (Of course, “__ of the Seas” is how Royal Caribbean names all their ships.) I got very excited and tried to tell everyone around me, “Look at that!! What a name!! The best cruise ship of all!!!”
As I was thinking about what to write in the High Holiday bulletin, it occurred to me that my “dream-mare” was about the upcoming High Holidays. Every year the holidays sneak up on me. “Don’t worry”, I said in June, “I’ll work on my High Holiday speeches over the summer.” Well, “summertime done come and gone, my oh my”. But more than the lack of speeches (don’t worry, I have a lot of ideas), it is the spiritual preparation for the holiest time of the year where I feel like I’m running most behind schedule. But not to worry. We’re all late!!
The most important spiritual journey of the year for us Jews is getting ready to depart and so many of us are running way behind. Buying High Holiday seats and inviting friends and family as well as cooking meals are just a minor part of the planning. What about the purpose of the cruise itself- A journey towards finding, reminding ourselves, reawakening, and reuniting with Truth. Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur (not to mention Sukkos) are a spiritual voyage towards Truth on the Royal King of Universe Cruise Line. This voyage stops at no less than three separate truth destinations- personal truth, the truths of others, and God’s truth.
The first destination is that of personal truth. The High Holidays are a time for us to clarify and distill our own understanding of what is true. We want to be able to trust and listen to the inner voice that comes from our heart- the voice of our soul. In order to do that, we need to clean the shmootz that gathers over a year. We need to atone and go through a process of teshuva in order to revive our integrity, the power of our word and will, and a renewal of our self-respect and belief that we are good people who are destined for good. Then we can know that the voice we hear is a reflection of our true and noble soul- the voice of Emes.
The second destination is considering the truths of others. On the High Holidays we think about people we may have hurt or wronged. Many of them even live with us!! We acknowledge that the truths of our loved ones, friends, and even our co-workers and neighbors should mean something to us. It is a time to ask for forgiveness from those we wronged and to forgive those who ask us to free them from guilt. Emes is intimately linked with Shalom.
The third destination is to do our very best to accept God’s Truth. The High Holidays are the primary time to reawaken a sense of gratitude and wonder for the gift of life. Remember that life is not a given but rather a gift. It is the time to remember the Torah and try to grow in little steps towards living our lives in consonance with Jewish laws and traditions. Our predecessors didn’t pass these from generation to generation for us to abandon them. Finally, it is a time to become God-Conscious trying to go through life with the feeling that All is One- that God is One. When we realize that All is One, our truth, the truths of others, and God’s Truth move towards alignment and the world is healed.
I learned something beautiful about the Shema this year. The Rabbinic understanding of the Shema, “Hear of Israel, The Lord is our God, The Lord is One (Deuteronomy 6:4)” is not just a proclamation of faith but rather an expression of hope. The Lord is our God (Now). The Lord is One (In the future everyone will recognize God’s truth and God will be One) as it says, “On that day, Hashem will be One and His Name will be One (Zechariah 14:9). As in the big finish by the High Holiday Choir! “U’shemo-O u’shemo-O u’shemoooo eeeechhhaaad.” We end our prayers morning, noon, and night, with the expressed hope for a day when everyone knows that All is One.
We may be late but the line is moving fast and soon we’ll all be onboard together. We embark on this lovely voyage on the “Truth of the Seas”. The MMAE High Holiday Love Boat is certainly one of my favorite places to be. The singing, the ruach, the chazzon, the choir, the honey cake (and this year coffee!), and some people even like the rabbi’s speeches (I promise they will be shorter this year😘). I can’t wait to share this meaningful yearly experience with you once again.
May we all be blessed with a Sweet, Happy, and Healthy New Year.
Shana Tova with Love,
Rabbi Yerachmiel Shapiro
