Best wishes to the world

Rabbi Fishel Zaklos

Happy Birthday, world! Make a birthday wish! Now enjoy the apple and honey cake! And have a happy sweet new year.

That pretty much sums up Rosh Hashanah. It’s the day we celebrate the fact that we have a world. The Milky Way. The planet. Nature. The animal kingdom. You and I – the human beings.

“Hayom Harat Olam” – today is the world’s birthday, we announce after blowing the Shofar. And that is why we celebrate.

We celebrate by spending hours in the synagogue praying (and listening to awesome sermons, of course) and then spending many hours around the dining room table replete with familiar familial antics. Let’s be honest, no one does a New Year celebration the way we do!

A cynic might ask, “What about this world is worth celebrating? Have you seen how broken society is? War? Sickness? Mental health crisis? The collapse of families and communities? Are you naïve?”

Yes, I am frustrated by the agony around me. Sometimes I pinch myself as a reminder that this is not a movie. But, at the same time, I am hopeful for our future. Frustration without hope is like a joke without a punchline — it leaves us empty.

When G-d created Adam and Eve, He did so knowing the complexity and darkness that is part and parcel of the human condition. He was well aware of how humans can harm themselves, each other, and the world they inhabit.

At the same time, He knew (and created) their potential for love, grace, forgiveness, redemption, generosity, holiness, empathy, joy and light.

In the words of our sages, the human is half animal and half angel. We have incredible potential for the highest or lowest of creation.

Rosh Hashanah is when we celebrate G-d’s belief in us, as much as our belief in Him.

Each morning when we wake up, we traditionally say the words of the Modeh Ani prayer, in which we thank the Creator for restoring our lives to us:

“I thank you, living and enduring King, for You have graciously returned my soul within me. So great is Your faithfulness.”

Read that last sentence again. “Great is Your faithfulness.” Whom does the Almighty believe in?

You and me. People. Messy and complicated Homo sapiens.

Each day we wake up is another day that G-d tells us, “I believe in you. You are up to the task. The world needs your light and love. You can bring healing to this hurting universe; go make a difference!”

To be honest, I sometimes wonder why G-d keeps believing in humanity. I sometimes struggle to believe in our potential to get things right. Our history is packed with evil, stupidity and apathy.

But then I look at the many special souls living around me in this corner of the world, and I regain my faith. The incredible acts of kindness that occur daily in this G-d-given community give fresh and inspiring meaning to the term “Sunshine State.”

Could that be why it’s called the Paradise Coast?

And I look at history and see the majesty, saintliness and heights that we have climbed.

After the last few years, I contend that we could all do well to work on regaining our confidence that the best days are ahead of us! It doesn’t take courage to be a pessimist. It takes courage to believe. I believe. In G-d, of course – that’s the easy part. I believe in you. I believe in myself. That is tough. But I am in good company. G-d does not make mistakes. He believes in me. I’ll trust His judgment.

Rabbi Zaklos Fishel serves at Chabad Jewish Center of Naples.