A Time to Act

by Rabbi Renee Bauer

Moishe shot up out of bed. He had been dreaming that in the marketplace there was a man dressed like a beggar who was, in actuality, the Messiah. He hastily dressed himself and dashed to the place he had seen the beggar in his dream.

Huffing and puffing he found the beggar, looked in his eyes, and asked, “Are you the
Messiah?”

“I am,” the beggar answered.

Now this was a big moment. After all, how many times do you come face to face with the Messiah? Of all the things you could ask.

And Moishe? Well he accosted the Messiah, and in a gruff voice shouted, “There is so much misery and pain in our world, between people, and even in our own homes. What the heck are you waiting for?”

To which the Messiah responded, “There is so much misery and pain in our world, between people, and even in our own homes. What the heck are you waiting for?”

Indeed, Jewish tradition teaches us that only our actions, our hard work, will bring the Messiah, or if you prefer, the Messianic age, a time when there will be peace, an end to hunger and poverty, and harmony throughout the world. It is only once we have repaired and perfected the world that the Messiah will come.

This month we will join together to celebrate Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur to ask ourselves and each other, “What we are waiting for.” We do not simply come together to pray and hope that the Messiah will come and save us this year. Instead we use the prayers and the time we set aside to celebrate the holidays to engage in the real work of the season which is to examine our lives to see how we have been passive - wondering why things are not changing and blaming others for the many problems we witness. We then must ask ourselves what we can do in the coming year to bring change to our personal lives and to the world around us.

The liturgy, the songs and the companionship we experience at services are not an end in themselves. They are tools to renew our hope, to challenge our assumptions, to open our hearts, and to commit, once again, to doing our part to alleviate some of the pain and misery all around us. The challenge feels great, but as we learn in Pirke Avot, “it is not incumbent upon you to finish the work but neither are you free to desist from it.” (Pirke Avot 2:16) If each of us commits to act in small ways to strengthen our community, to treat our loved ones more generously and to help those in need, then we can make a significant difference. As it is taught, “God said to Israel, ‘My children, show me an opening of repentance no larger than the eye of a needle, and I will widen it into openings through which wagons and carriages can pass.” (Song of Songs Rabbah 5:2.2).

I hope to see each of you over the upcoming holidays and join with you in the holy work of opening our hearts to making change in the New Year.

Shanah Tovah,
Rabbi Renée