The Only Thing to Worry About on Rosh Hashanah

Advertisements
Advertisements

5 min read

FacebookTwitterLinkedInPrintFriendlyShare

The judge is in fact our Father. He understands our struggles and He wants our success.

We all know the joke about the classic text message from a Jewish mother: "Start worrying. Details to follow."

The truth is there is much to worry about these days:
Worried about the economy and inflation
Worried about hurricanes and the weather
Worried about Covid and other health challenges
Worried about Israel and its enemies
Worried about the increase of antisemitism
Worried about the divisiveness and polarization in this country

And of course, worried about Rosh Hashanah and the High Holidays. Some are worried about coming before God in judgment and others worried about their seat, who will they be near, and yet others worried about how long the rabbi will speak.

We have so many things to be worried, anxious and afraid of, especially this time of year.

Oddly enough, beginning Monday night, we will introduce an expression into our prayers – "Please God, instill fear within us." Rabbi Soloveitchik describes that one year an eminent psychiatrist said to him, we should work to be free of fear, worry and anxiety, not be praying for more of it.

He answered: Everyone is struggling with a fear. Some are afraid they won’t succeed in their careers, others about losing their wealth, other about status or prominence. Some are afraid of sickness, others are afraid of heights, public speaking or the weather. Said Rabbi Soloveitchik, I am not a psychiatrist, but I do know that one major source of fear can wipe out all of these lesser fears and that is fear of Heaven. We pray that we our fear of God overtakes and uproots all other fears that lurk everywhere and upset our lives.

There are essentially two types of anxiety and worry. We worry over things not in our control, because they aren’t in our control. We worry about illness, weather, traffic, delayed flights and more. Then there are things we worry about specifically because they are in our control. For some, having free will is both liberating and terrifying at the same time. We worry about how well we will perform; will we execute, meet expectations, surpass them, or fall short of them. Can we endure and handle whatever comes our way? What if we fail?

We need to silence both voices of worry and it starts with believing we can. As I shared a few weeks ago, when those thoughts come and knock, firstly, we can decide if we let them in. And we can by choosing to replace these negative and anxious thoughts with confident and positive ones.

If Only

We are in the final days of the month of Elul, a month dedicated to getting us ready for the new year. The word Elul when read backwards spells "lulei", which means “if not,” or “if it weren’t for.” This word only appears one place in the Torah.

We need to work on feeling and seeing God in our lives, knowing there is an infinite, omnipotent one choreographing our lives.

When the brothers are trying to convince Jacob to send Benjamin with them back down to Josef so that he would release Simon, they appeal to him by saying: “For we could have been there (lulei) and back twice if we had not dawdled.” Rashi explains, “We would have already come back with Simon and you would not have had this anxiety all these days.” Lulei is associated with anxiety, with what if, what could have been, what will be.

We also recite the word "lulei" in the Psalm we say every day during Elul – "Lulei heemanti -- Had I not believed in you God and that I would enjoy your goodness…"

We can quiet our worry by exchanging one "lulei" for the other. Instead of feeling if only this and what will be with that, we need to work on feeling and seeing God in our lives, knowing all is orchestrated from above, there is an infinite, omnipotent one choreographing our lives.

But what about the worry when it comes to ourselves and how well we will perform?

The Torah tells us that when we start to panic and feel that getting done what needs to get done or being who we need to be is as far away as the heavens, on the other side of the ocean, we need to know "the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it." God doesn’t ask for anything that is beyond us. Yes, we will come before Him Monday night, we will be asked to reflect and holds ourselves accountable. But the very fact that He is forgiving and forbearing should itself be reassuring and encouraging.

Standing Before Our Father

Those who panic with anxiety over appearing on Rosh Hashanah before the Heavenly court are picturing the court as occupied with harsh, cruel judges. But we need to know the judge is in fact our Father. He understands our struggles and He wants our success. That is why we wear beautiful clothing and have a festive meal on Rosh Hashanah because our judgment day is the day we come before our Father.

So, it turns out that there is literally nothing to worry about. Mark Twain once said 'I've had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.' Studies show that over 85% of the things we worry about don’t ever happen. And as far as the 15% that do, worrying never made them go away, never made them better and never did anything other than compromise our own health and happiness.

Stop worrying by remembering that all that happens is meant to be and we have what it takes to deal with whatever comes our way.

Photo Credit: Ernest Brillo, Unsplash.com

Click here to comment on this article
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
EXPLORE
LEARN
MORE
Explore
Learn
Resources
Next Steps
About
Donate
Menu
Languages
Menu
Social
.