So, here is the “411” on our High Holidays just a few days away. We start with the idea that all humans are created in the image of the Divine. Part of that gift is that we have free will…and that we also have “dual” natures or “inclinations” – one towards good and order, the other towards chaos and evil. So, welcome to the complexities of being human!

The Torah this week also tells us that each one of us has full freedom of choice  — “Behold, I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil” —  and we are encouraged to choose well. Life experience tells us that choosing well is certainly not easy because the world is not easy and our insides are quite complicated as well.

This is where the High Holidays step in. This is when we reset. We give ourselves a big window, 10 days in length, to figure things out. We gather as a community, we contemplate, and we take ownership of everything in the past year. We identify where we went off target, and we commit to amend those wrongs right now.  We seek forgiveness from others and to forgive ourselves. And we commit to return to the best of ourselves in the year to come.

And we also focus on the good that we did and commit to do more. We also remember Judaism’s central tenet – to fix the world (Tikkun Olam) and to strengthen our community with acts of lovingkindess. And with that in mind, we also strive to do a lot more “good things” in the year ahead, using our Torah as our guide to ethical living.

So: Take care of the negatives by doing less of them, and take care of the positives by doing a whole lot more of them?  That’s the plan! This is how we truly honour our covenants with God, with the Jewish people, and with ourselves.

Wishing you all a sweet and happy new year ahead, Shana Tovah u’Metukah.

Rabbi Allan