Rabbi Gary A. Glickstein

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over in the same way and expecting different results.” I have seen this quote ascribed to an old Chinese proverb,to Benjamin Franklin, and to Albert Einstein among others. I support the Einstein theory of quotablility. By this definition, all humanity is somewhat insane. We live our lives repeating patterns that prevent us from achieving our goals. We re-enact over and over the same sequences which produce the same results while we expect that new results will emerge magically.

Elul, the Hebrew month which precedes Rosh HaShanah and the High Holy Days, is set aside for us as Jews to examine again the assumptions that underlie our lives. This period in the Jewish religious calendar offers us the possibility, each year, to look anew at the myriad actions we carryout daily, mostly by rote and habit. In our re-examination, our Heshbon Nefesh (Accounting of Our Souls), we can affirm and hold precious those actions we believe add meaning to ourlives. We also can use this opportunity to eliminate or alter those ongoing habits and assumptions which we have picked up along the way and now find meaningless, burdensome, and counter-productive. As Einstein implies, if we cease to repeat our errors, our lives can produce different results.

The offer is bonafide.

The possibility is real and can be actualized. It only takes our willingness to make it happen.

This summer I had the opportunity to watch closely as my grandson, Elijah, worked on his ritual activities. As he approaches his first birthday, he often continues to be delighted and surprisedby the things that we now take for granted. However, he is also old enough to choose to work on those habits which he needs to progress into the world of upright, independent walking and talking and all the other skills that are necessary for humans to gain our own unique place in life.

One morning, Elijah and I played the game of “open/shut” for almost 30 minutes.He would take an old cell phone that his Uncle Jesse gave him and open it. I would say “open.” He would then shut it and I would say “shut.” After our half hour of consistent repetition ended, throughout the week Elijah continued to pick up the cellphone, look at me, and open and shut it, always waiting for me to say the appropriate word accompanying his act.

Over the years, you and I have managed to pickup thousands of such detailed activities in ourlives. Most are far more complex and involved than the cell phone game. However, many are acts we now do unconsciously out of habitual repetition and yet, they serve us badly. These acts we call “missing the mark.” This is the religious equivalent of sin. We miss the mark because we have allowed our habits to determine our acts. We have allowed our will, our mind, our heart, our soul to slumber.

Time to wake up.

Elulis the alarm clock.

If we choose to respond, there is no telling what will happen.

Perhaps our eyes will once again see, with the delight of a child, the miraculous, blessed world around us.

Perhaps our laughter will erupt anew at perceiving our daily lives as if for the first time. Perhaps our editing process will unclutter and clarify the cloud we drift through. What a possibility - to once again discover the newness of “open/shut,” as if for the first time; to delight at the surprises we have become numb to through time and repetition.

The Shofar is sounding throughout the world this Elul. Let it shake our routine and open our lives to new beginnings.

L’Shana Tova Tikatayvu.

May you be blessed with a good year