rosh hashanah sermon 2014

Erev Rosh Hashanah 2014-5775

Narrod 1

It’s the very beginning of holidays, and I feel like I should

have something really important to tell you. I started trying

to come up with what to write by rewinding the past year in

my head. This past year was crazy for me. Last year, at

Rosh Hashanah I had just quit my job with a large

architecture firm in town to move to Israel for six months.

As I was driving to shul for Rosh Hashanah services, I was

calling an architecture firm in New York to tell them I

wasn’t available to interview for their job opening because

I was moving to Israel. Seriously, days before I moved to

Israel, I was still turning down interviews elsewhere. A

couple days after Rosh Hashanah services last year I moved

out of my downtown Houston apartment and moved to Tel

Aviv. While living in Tel Aviv for six months I worked

part time for two architecture firms, and the rest of the time

I basically just experienced living in Israel. It was a great


Narrod 2

break from corporate life, but eventually, in February, after

six months in Israel, I came back to Houston, where you

see me now. I did get a job with a smaller, less corporate

architecture firm upon my return, where I continue to work

today. In have lost count how many places I lived and

stayed during February and March before becoming mostly

settled where I am now in my own apartment. I can’t

believe how much has happened this past year.

My crazy year seems to keep coming. The holidays can’t

even just be the holidays because this is the third year in a

row that my birthday is on the holidays. Luckily, I love the

holidays. I like spending time with so many Jews, knowing

we’re all doing the same thing, at roughly the same time,

roughly the same way we’ve been doing it for years. BUT,

when I think about last year, I can’t even remember being


Narrod 3

in shul on Rosh Hashanah. I know I was there … I

remember calling that firm in New York on the way, but I

remember literally nothing about the actual service, or what

was said. As a side note, I do remember Yom Kippur – I

was in Israel by that point. Though, to be fair, I don’t know

anything that was said then either because the only part that

was in English were the announcements at the end. With no

recollection from any previous High Holiday sermons, I

had no idea what to talk to you about.

It was bothering me that I had no idea what to talk about

and it kept coming to mind. Then, out of the blue, a few

days or weeks later, during shavasana in yoga my idea for

this sermon hit me. If you’ve never heard the word

“shavasana” before, don’t worry – neither had Rabbi

Kenny until Monday night. Shavasana is a yoga pose – it


Narrod 4

means corpse pose, and I promise it’s not as creepy as it

sounds. Shavasana occurs at the very end of the yoga class

where you lay down on your mat, close your eyes, relax

and let everything go. Now, if you’ve ever taken a yoga

class, you know that this is the time when you’re not

supposed to be letting things come to you, you’re supposed

to be doing the exact opposite. For some people, this is the

hardest part of class – precisely because of the stillness and

the letting go. I love shavasana. Like many people I live a

running around, high stress, crazy life (even when I’m not

dropping everything and moving to Israel). Shavasana is

the one time every day when I am actually supposed to lay

on the ground and do nothing – if only for five minutes, it’s

pretty awesome. Now remember that my inspiration for this

sermon came during shavasana, so I’m not that great at

doing nothing, but I do like an opportunity to try.


Narrod 5

The only way to get better at something is to keep trying at

it; we all know this, our parents and grandparents have

been telling us that practice makes perfect since before we

can remember. To get better at doing nothing, I work on

living in the moment – focusing on the now, and that’s

what I want to talk to you all about.

So why work on living in the moment to focus on doing

nothing? Well, for me, I find that the only way I can truly

let everything go and empty my mind is when I focus on

RIGHT NOW – right now my only job is to nothing, and

think about nothing. I think we all need to work on living in

the moment, and I believe we can all benefit from it; I

know I can. We all need to be able to take a break and

focus on nothing so we can redirect our focus to what really


Narrod 6

matters when the time comes. A month ago, when I was

supposed to be living in the moment, doing nothing, during

shavasana at yoga, I was worried about this. Last year,

when I was supposed to be at shul for Rosh Hashanah I was

worried about everything else to the point where I don’t

even actually remember being there. I think that by

focusing a little bit more on the here and now, we can re-

direct our focus to being what we really want to be. How

many of us want to be better, to do better, and to be our

best selves? Sometimes, we’re so worried about what our

next steps are that we forget to make our current steps

count.

By letting go of everything and focusing a little bit on

what’s going on right now, we can bring our focus to

ourselves when we need to, to others when we need to, and


Narrod 7

even to work when we need it there. If we don’t work on

truly living in the moment, we’re living everywhere at

once. It’s like multi-tasking on crack – none of your full

attention is given to anything really, and it’s beyond not

beneficial, it’s not healthy.

I want to share a story with you, regarding my health and

my yoga practice. I started doing yoga over a year ago, and

continued doing yoga while in Israel, and after returning

from Israel. Each time I moved, my practice certainly

evolved. About a month ago, I decided to go from doing

yoga twice a week to doing yoga every day. I can’t really

explain why, I just felt like I should. Yoga every day just

suddenly became something I had to do, like when you

know you need a new pair of shoes or something. Two

weeks after starting my every day yoga regimen I received


Narrod 8

a medical diagnosis where the doctor actually

recommended that I be doing yoga every day. I was

diagnosed with arthritis, and yes, I’m still in my 20s, it’s

really not cool. The day I got the diagnosis I was too

distracted with the bad news to realize the amazing timing

of my own decision to help my body – I didn’t make the

connection I’m telling you about now (that my body

realized it needed yoga before the doctor told me my body

needed yoga). I was so distracted by how my body was

altered with the new diagnosis that I missed the fact that

my body was already trying to heal itself! That same night,

after spending a long day at the doctor, and continuing that

long day at work, I went to a yoga class with a new teacher.

Almost as soon as I walked into class I felt better! My body

started doing the familiar movements and I remembered

that this is my body. Arthritis or not, I still have control


Narrod 9

over what I do with my body, and one morning at the

doctor doesn’t change that. This realization alone would

have made the class amazing, but the evening got even

better! At the end of class we do this pose called “pigeon,”

– it’s not a fun pose for me, and it’s caused me a lot of

discomfort in the past. As we got into pigeon, the teacher

turned on some music and it was a song that I’ve only ever

heard sung when I spent time in Northern Israel in the town

on Tzfat. I mean, seriously, how’s that for meant to be – a

healing yoga class with a song I associate as Jewish from

one of my favorite places on earth? Sometimes things align

just right when you let go.

Now, I’m not saying I’m an expert on living in the

moment. I still struggle during shavasana (and especially

during that pigeon pose), and sometimes at work I’m so


Narrod 10

worried about tomorrow’s deadline that I can hardly do

today’s tasks. But I’m trying, and each day I try to find a

little part of the day where I focus on just right now and let

everything else go. For me, the optimal time to find this

focus inward time is during my yoga practice, because I’ve

become one of those people who practice yoga every day.

For the rest of us, this time might be with our coffee in the

morning, or while we take the dog on a walk. Whatever the

activity is, I suggest we all strive to make letting go and

focusing on the now a daily practice. When we really focus

on the here and now, and when we take the time to look

inward we can experience greater depths that we may be

missing in our daily lives. To me, this is a spiritual

experience, and it’s vital for our well-being.


Narrod 11

Spiritually is everywhere. From an early age, I’ve always

felt most spiritual in the mountains (I guess I should

mention I’m from Colorado), but now, I’ve discovered this

great way to feel spiritual and find spirituality during my

yoga practice too. Where else can we find spirituality when

we learn to let go and live in the moment? During the high

holidays as we’re sitting listening to the readings, the

prayers, or the music, let’s try to be present. This is the start

of 10 holy days. These days are a great way to challenge

ourselves. On this Rosh Hashanah and the days leading to

Yom Kippur can we be present for 5 minutes a day? It’s 10

days. We probably can, but it’s not easy, it’s a conscious

choice. Our minds will wonder off. When our minds do

wonder off, we just need to gently remind ourselves to

focus our minds and come back to the present. It is here in


Narrod 12

the present that we can be our best selves, do our best work,

and put our best feet forward for the New Year.

Shana Tova!

rosh hashanah sermon 2014

Documents