Full (and Wanting More)
Dear friends,
Rabbi Abby was dancing in the corner. Frank was showering notes on the heavens with his trumpet. The band banging away a Moroccan rhythm. Not a face to be found in the house without a big smile. The emergence of an ecstatic happiness in the final minutes of the fast. When the gates close in such celebration you know the God we created and invoked is smiling and hopping with us.
I emerge from these High Holidays full: of gratitude to all of you for bringing your best, honest selves; of gratitude to the many community members who helped with every aspect of these special days; of so many moments in which the inner tides rose to the surface; of deep thoughts and feelings from the incredible speakers; of melodies offered by our incredible musical team; of pride in the beautiful young people who led prayers (ATHENA!!!!) and chanted Torah (ADELINE WOW!!!!); of amazement at the ease and beauty of a new collaboration with Daphna and Beineinu; of a building sense of love and community among us; of a deeply rewarding sense that Teshuvah happened this year at The New Shul.
I was especially moved by so many of you who were moved into action on the Day of Atonement. I heard about people calling old friends to smooth out a painful problem, of people reaching out to family members to reconnect or re-establish roots, of sincere apologies between community members. I also heard from several of you who have found ways to improvise in moments of difficulty. I'm sure those of us with basements will need that improvisation today....
Sukkot, which begins this evening is the holiday of joy and impermanence. I don't remember another year in which I felt so ready to embrace those two, so full of a non-verbal understanding of the connection between them, so ready to sit in the Sukkah.
One of my takeaways from these holidays is that I want more of what went down at VCS and Brooklyn Bridge Park. I want to keep singing with you guys, making ritual happen, finding the newness in the ancient and the ancient in the new. I want more music in my life. A week from today we're going to gather on a Greenwich Village rooftop for a Shabbat/Sukkot concert. Our own Dana Herz, who filled the skies with her singing of Kol Nidrei on Sunday night (no wonder it's pouring today) will perform some of her own music that she's been touring the world with, and some Shabbat melodies. I'm looking forward to breaking bread with you all there.
Last thing. I would love to hear from you about what you liked or didn't like these High Holidays, and how we might make this funky community the coolest, most worthwhile experiment in Jewish life it can be. I'm planning on spending much of the next few weeks hanging or talking with folks about all that, so please send a shout out my way.
Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Misha