This week’s Torah portion contains a remarkable Hebrew phase, Ha Yom, that teaching something about time. It means “today,” perhaps, or more poetically, “a special day.”

“See,” says this week’s Torah portion, “I place before you Ha Yom the blessing and the curse.”

Ha Yom reminds us that time is running out. Another years has gone by, and once again, we’ve faltered. There were times when we hurt our loved ones and times when they hurt us. And year after year, we cling to the same habits, afraid or unwilling to grow.

But the verse can also be read differently. “See, I have given you one special day,” teaches Netivot Shalom. “In a few short weeks it will be Rosh Hashanah, and God will give us a chance to start again.”

“On Rosh Hashanah,” Netivot Shalom reminds us, “God opens three books before Him, one for the totally righteous, one for the totally evil, and one for those in between.”

For most people, says Netivot Shalom, the books are about the year that is ending – about the mistakes that we made and the acts of kindness that we performed.

But the truth, says Netivot Shalom, is that the books are about the year that’s starting. And we get to decide where we want to be written.

On Rosh Hashanah, God asks us what we aspire to. And if we decide that we’d like to improve, God helps us, teaching us, guiding us, hugging us when we fail.

Each year, Rosh Hashanah comes, and we try to become better people. And we never completely make it.

But God never abandons us. Since the beginning of time, God has given us the day of Rosh Hashanah – the day when we can be renewed. And in a few short weeks, He will give it to us again.

Rosh Hashanah is a day when, no matter what we have done, God forgives us. And just as God loves and forgives us, we must love and forgive ourselves.

Savor the day and enjoy it. And most importantly, forgive yourself.

Shabbat Shalom,
Art