Time to chart a new course

Rabbi Howard S. Herman DD

I’ve always been enamored by the song “Turn, Turn, Turn” written by singer, songwriter and activist, Pete Seeger. It applies the lyrics lifted from a fragment of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, which reads: “A time to rend and a time to sew; a time to keep silent and a time to speak; A time to love and a time to hate; A time of war and a time of peace.”

Seeger wrote the song in the late 1950s and added “turn, turn, turn,” to the text to create a chorus. He also included his own hopeful line, “A time for peace; I swear it’s not too late,” for audiences during the Cold War. Seeger composed the song as a protest and a clarion call for change.

So why do I bring this up now? Well, simply because we are coming into our High Holiday season which, thematically, is about turning and change. When we turn, we chart a new course. We are looking at this season of the year to right old wrongs, to acknowledge slights we have made, to look ahead and see where we want to be in this next year, and to alter our direction to get us there.

It is hard to imagine anyone who doesn’t want to accomplish some kind of turning. We want the transition to 5785 to feel peaceful. In fact, if we were pressed, we would say we want it to feel simple and easy. But this is a year that is already fraught with uncertainty as we look toward an election that really feels disastrously contentious.

There are some who teach us that the Jewish High Holiday season does not begin with Rosh Hashanah. They contend, rather, that the Jewish High Holy Day season commences on Tisha B’Av, the day we remember and mourn the loss and catastrophe of the destruction of the Temple. So, the High Holidays do not begin with celebration or even introspection, but with everything falling down around us.

Work in anyway you can to bring about the best world for yourself and all people, not just some.

Judaism has much to say about what to do when you find yourself in places where it feels like everything has torn asunder.

A teaching from Brachot, a tractate of the Talmud about blessings, tells us that a Rabbi Yossi, while walking along the road enters the ruins of an abandoned building to pray. While praying, he notices the prophet Elijah guarding the entrance. After greeting Elijah, they have a conversation:

And Elijah said to me, “My son, why did you enter this ruin?” I said, “To pray.” And Elijah said, “You should have prayed on the road.” Rabbi Yossi said, “I was unable to pray along the road, because I'm afraid that I might be interrupted by travelers and would be unable to focus.”

Elijah said, “You should have recited the abbreviated prayer instituted for just such circumstances. You cannot pray in a ruin, regardless of the goodness of your intent.”

It seems the lesson, especially now, is this: You cannot stay in the ruin; not just because everything it represents is gone, but because, eventually, it will very likely collapse around you. You are not freed from your responsibilities, but you “turn” and take them on the road. You keep moving and turning. And you work to build something for yourself and the community.

Just because something is ruined doesn’t mean it can’t be rebuilt. That is the lesson for Rosh Hashanah and for this upcoming election season.

Work in any way you can to bring about the best world for yourself and all people, not just some. All humans are God’s children, not just some.

There may be days in the coming weeks — and in this election season — where everything will feel like it is falling apart. We begin the High Holidays every year in mourning, but we don’t stay there. We keep going and being the change we want to see. We end the cycle with Sukkot — a holiday in which we are literally commanded to feel joy.

As we begin this holy time, joy feels like a big ask. But keep encouraging yourself to turn. It may not bring you joy, but it will give you hope. And with hope you will keep going.

Rabbi Howard S. Herman DD serves at Naples Jewish Congregation.