You are a scientist. Your mission is to find the cure to a terrible disease. A powerful and wealthy INVESTOR is ready to spend yearly 1,000,000 dollars in your wisdom. He trusts you. He gives you the money one year at a time. In twelve months He will meet with you again to examine His investment together with you. He will not expect you to find the cure in one year. And He is willing to keep investing in you. To reinvest, however, He wants to make sure that you stick to the plan both, you and Him have agreed upon. He wants to make sure that you did the best you could. And if you made mistakes (you probably did!) He wants to know that you are capable to learn from them and avoid them in the future. At the time of the annual meeting you should be capable of identifying your own mistakes and articulate them in front of Him. Then, He knows that you will not repeat them next year. He also knows that precisely those mistakes, when recognized, have the potential to get you closer to find the cure. On the contrary, if you deny your mistakes and you neglect to look back and detect where you failed, you will probably make those mistakes again. And if so, you become a questionable investment...
God is the INVESTOR. He invested in us. He gave us our lives. Expecting that we will make good use of the resources that He generously granted us. He expects great things from us. Every one of us has the potential to make a change and affect our lives and the lives of others. Each year, in Rosh haShana, we meet with our INVESTOR to submit our annual report and examine it together with Him, knowing that the money for the next term (=life), is not automatically granted. First, we have to show that we have followed (or tried!) the INVESTOR'S plan. Second, that we have not wasted His investment doing nothing. And third that we are capable of identifying our mistakes and learn from them.
In Rosh haShana, we have to persuade God that it is worth it for HIM to reinvest again in us, in our lives and efforts.
Shabbat Shalom Shana Toba!
√ For candle lighting time, schedule of Selichot, Hatarat Nedarim and Rosh haShana prayers in different Minyanim and other activities, please see: www.kanissanews.com