Jewish Life Digital Edition September 2015 | Page 46

ROSH HASHANAH 5776
IN THE SPIRIT OF THE TEN DAYS OF REPENTANCE,
RABBI POWERS ASKED US EACH TO TAKE OUT A PEN
AND A PIECE OF PAPER SO WE COULD… COMPILE A
PRIVATE LIST OF WHAT WE WOULD EACH LIKE TO
CHANGE ABOUT OURSELVES IN THE COMING YEAR IN
ORDER TO BECOME A BETTER JEWISH PERSON.
though, and we followed his instructions.
He then asked us to do the unthinkable: to again cross out half the remaining
items. We were perplexed, and murmuring could be heard. Most of our lists were
left with only one or two items of possible
self-improvement. (One classmate from
Chicago whispered to me that since his
list was originally so short, he now had
nothing left to improve about himself.)
Rabbi Powers quieted the room and went
on to explain that our Talmudic Sages had
long ago taught: “Tofasta merubah lo tofasta – if one attempts to take hold of too

much, he takes hold of nothing.”
The reason why most of us never carry
through with our New Year’s resolutions
is that we have taken on too great an assignment. While it is important as human
beings to dream big, it is crucial that we
remain realists.
More than 20 years have passed since
that morning’s lesson, yet it is one I try to
remember each year at this time. Self-improvement is a difficult business, and it
goes against our basic nature. In order to
experience the satisfying taste of success,
our resolutions need to be realistic – and

we need to be careful not to bite off more
than we can chew.
We are about to enter the Ten Days of
Repentance. There is no period during the
Jewish calendar year that is more conducive to spiritual renewal. When it comes
to rebuilding our individual relationships
with G-d, we all have some work to do. By
setting realistic goals for ourselves, we
stand the best chance of achieving the
outcomes we desire. JL
Reprinted from The Jewish Press (www.jewishpress.com)
Rabbi Akiva Males
serves as rabbi of
Kesher Israel Congregation – an Orthodox
Union-member synagogue in Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania (USA).
He and his wife
Layala moved from
Kew Gardens Hills,
New York to Pennsylvania in 2007.