July is upon us. All winter long I anticipate summer’s long daylight: the luscious green curves of our hillsides, how the pollinator garden behind the synagogue becomes a riot of color and leaf. And we’re here! We made it! This place where we are blessed to live is beautiful in all seasons, but this is the season I love the most. And… spiritual life never stands still. The wheel is always already turning toward the holidays to come.
“So we’ll be building our sukkah on Sunday,” I said to my kid a few days ago. “Wait, what?” he asked. “I thought Sukkot was a week and four days after Yom Kippur!” Nope, I told him: it’s just four days after. “Oh yay,” he said. “That means Sukkot is sooner than I thought!”
This is the speech that Natalie Matus offered at Rosh Hashanah services this year.
On Kol Nidre, teshuvah, balance, “the holy atonement reset button,” and more.
This guest post is the D’var Torah that CBI member Ziva Larson offered at Rosh Hashanah 2 Morning Services on Tuesday, September 27, 2022.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
