Rabbi Michael Weiss
Temple Anshe Sholom
We come to Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the new year, but in the Mishnah, at the very beginning of the tractate dealing with Rosh Hashanah, we learn that this is not the only new year. There are, in fact, four new years in the rabbinic tradition. The first of Nissan is the new year for the calendar, the first of Elul is the new year for animals, Tu B’Shevat is the new year for trees and, of course, the first of Tishrei is the new year for counting years. These all served as different moments for accounting of what you had. It was all a matter of figuring out whether your sheep or trees or crops were part of this year’s tithe or the next.
Most of us no longer have sheep to tithe and yet we all have things to account for. How much good have we put out into the world this year? How much harm have we done? Where have we stagnated and where have we grown? Who do we want to be and what can we do to get there? That’s a lot of pressure to put on ten days a year, but the rabbis are telling us that we have more than enough opportunities to do the hard work of a cheshbon nefesh, an accounting of the soul. If Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the only time of year we examine ourselves closely and commit to bettering ourselves, then we haven’t understood the assignment. The best time to take an accounting of our souls and make up for our mistakes was yesterday. The next best time is right now! I hope that each of us will allow the purpose and meaning of these High Holy Days into our hearts, reminding us that any day that we take time to improve ourselves and the world is most certainly a High Holy Day as well.
At this season of new beginnings, I am so honoured to begin my work as rabbi at Temple Anshe Sholom and in Hamilton’s Jewish community!
