A Call to Be Here & Now
/“Are we there yet?” was a popular refrain I howled from the backseat during long car rides as a kid. If the 18-mile drive from my hometown synagogue in North Hollywood to break-the-fast at my cousins’ in Calabasas on Yom Kippur seemed forever long then you can only imagine how I did in the backseat of a Dodge Caravan during rides up the coast of California or the Eastern Seaboard during family vacations. And yet, I can recall many times when I let go of the burning curiosity over our proximity to the destination and relaxed into the joys of family car time. While the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, and Linda Rondstadt blasted from the tape deck we played 20-Questions, counted license plates, and my upper arm is still a shade of black and blue courtesy of the number of Volkswagon Lovebugs my older sister claimed to spot. To be honest, the memory of simply being together and enjoying quality time fills me with warmer nostalgia than Hearst Castle or the many (!) cemeteries my parents insisted we visit. (that’s a different article)
Most of us fly through life in a constant state of flurried distraction in our rush to get where we think we want to go. I am as much a goal driven person as the next. I form an image in my mind of how I want life to look, smell, feel, and taste and put up blinders to the people, places, and things that seem irrelevant to that trajectory. Much of my time is spent looking backward through the review mirror of life and forward through my GPS router so that I don’t notice the passengers right next to me or what is out the side window. The pull of the past impacts my ability to form brand new perceptions. In the mad dash to the future I miss out what life might teach me today. I am anywhere and everywhere at all times … except I am so rarely here. What might happen if I take a moment to stop, look, and listen?
“Okay, campers, rise and shine, and don't forget your booties 'cause it's cooooold out there today … That's right, woodchuck-chuckers - it's...GROUNDHOG DAY!”
– Punxsutawney Morning Radio DJ
The value of being present was made crystal clear in the 1993 classic Groundhog Day featuring the brilliant Bill Murray as Phil Connors, a disgruntled weatherman forced to repeat the same day over and over and over again. Each day he goes to bed and wakes up to the same radio banter and the cycle repeats. At first Phil’s focus is entirely on getting past the day and to greater interests. When he succumbs to the reality of being trapped Phil’s narcissism takes over prompting him to focus only on how we might manipulate the day to serve his own needs in greed, lust, and fame. On these days even Phil’s acts of kindness are nothing more than manipulative ploys to get what he wants. He completely ignores the realities around him, blind to the power of the weather and the opinions and needs of other people. Only when Phil grows aware of the people and forces of nature around him, widens his perspective, dials back his ego, and lets go of his obsession to move forward can he relax into the day and then move forward. Groundhog Day actor Stephen Tobolowsky, who portrayed insurance salesman Ned Ryerson, points to three key shifts in Phil’s attitude:
1. Humility - towards other people and forces greater than he, such as weather and death
2. Outward Facing – the ability to listen and honor the needs of others
3. Kindness – a pivot in attitude from disrespect to kindness
By the end of the movie we see a new alignment of attention, attitude, and action in Phil. When Phil is present he changes.
It turns out that Phil was given an incredible gift that most of us never receive by being forced to grow in such an explicit manner. There is much debate about how long Murray’s character was trapped in Groundhog Day. Technically the film depicts 34 versions of the same day, but the film’s director, Harold Ramis, imagines it spans between 10 to 40 years. Holy moly! Each year (heck, each day) I make resolutions for self-change but lack the luxury of a do-over and the patience to wait up to 40 years.
Enter Rosh Hashanah 5777
We will soon encounter an extraordinary opportunity to open our minds, bodies, and souls with the possibility of an uplifting and transformative experience through the High Holy Days. When Rosh Hashanah begins I have a choice. I can allow previous experiences of Rosh Hashanah and Jewish ritual – positive or negative – to override my celebration of the present one. I can tighten my shoulders and question what can possibly be gleaned from my yet another pass at Rosh Hashanah services. I can close my eyes until the experience is over or flee to the bathroom frequently to see what’s up on Facebook while the cantor leads Avinu Malkeinu for the umpteenth time. I could even decide to skip it altogether. Alternatively, I can open myself to the possibility of change embedded in a new year. Easier said than done. This requires that I lower the volume on the chatter in my mind, allow each exhale to push my To-Do-List further and further away, and immerse myself in the music, imagery, stories, and community that will surround me. I can enter my prayer space as if it is my first experience and see where it carries me.
Jewish ritual has the potential to nourish the mind, body, and soul and stimulate growth for anyone who shows up. Our tradition includes a vault of stimulants to trigger emotion, reflection, and growth, and there are many brilliant Jewish leaders, teachers, and artists who are making the old new and the new holy to optimize engagement:
· Music, poetry, and stories help us to be expressive
· Text, liturgy, and words of wisdom prompt us to be reflective, joyful, humble, and grateful
· Apples and sweet honey, round doughy challot with plump tart raisins, and savory chicken soup (meat, parve, vegan) satiate our hunger for warmth and familiarity
· Our diverse community of family, friends, and even familiar strangers generate and exude a palpable energy that has the power to lift us up
If this feels hard to do it is because we are trying to engage our minds in a manner different than how they function scientifically. The human brain is divided into two hemispheres. Brain scientist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor explains that the left brain is dominated by language, logic, math, and memory. It is like a serial processor, devoting much time to looking back and making calculated decisions on how to move forward one step at a time. The right brain is a highly sensory environment where sight, sound, touch, smells, and movement rule the day. The right brain absorbs all this energy at the same time, impacted by the energy of those around us, and explodes into feelings and impressions that represent our here and now. Each hemisphere of the brain has value, but can we use this Rosh Hashanah as an opportunity to step from left to right in the hope that we can truly immerse ourselves in the start of the year and the energy of those around us?
Tekiyah: The Call to be Present
Built into the construct of the Rosh Hashanah prayer service is an alarm that can guard us from the risk of a snoozing right brain. Throughout the service a talented (or aspiring, as the case may sometimes be) musician is appointed to blow the shofar, a biblical trumpet-like instrument made of a ram’s horn. The blasts of the shofar originally served as a signal to gather together. The great commentator Rambam suggests a deeper meaning in Hilchot Teshuva 3:
It is as if it tells us: Sleepers, arise from your slumber, and those who are dozing, awake from your lethargy. …Those who forget the truth with the passing of time and who waste their years pursuing vanity and folly that is purposeless and cannot save you - look into your souls and improve your ways and your deeds. Let all abandon the ways of evil and thoughts that offer no benefit.
Perhaps Groundhog Day would have been a much shorter movie if Rambam was the DJ on the Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania radio station, blasting the shofar instead of playing “I Got You Babe,” and rousing Phil Connors to action on day #1 of 1. In the movie Phil had the luxury of time standing still until he caught on to how being present is a prerequisite for change. We cannot slow down time and take a do-over on any one moment, but surely we have the ability to step into Rosh Hashanah with the intention to open our minds, bodies, and souls, be present, and see what happens next.