Happy 5783 Birthday world!  

The opposite of old is not young. The opposite of old is new.  

As the sun sets on an old year, a New Year is literally being born.  The mystics teach that the Divine Energy that sustains the world each and every moment throughout the year is retracted and energized anew at the time of the blowing of the Shofar.

This is experienced in some manner each and every day, as the darkness of night dissipates and a new day is born.  Yesterday is literally gone, forever!

Imagine what opportunities this affords us.  Yesterday’s shortcomings, this past years frustrations, the angst and anxiety, the pain, they are all gone, past, history.

As Hashem creates a New Year, we too can create a new reality for ourselves.

Now, don’t get ahead of yourself (like I do).  Let’s go slowly. I didn’t say we stopped being human.  We are still human and we need to embrace that reality.

And so, let’s find small areas in our lives of change. The kind of small changes that we can be truly committed to and the kind of small changes that overtime makes big change.

What is that for you?

Remember that although we are Human we also have the power of our Neshama, an infinite source inside of ourselves that anchors us in something bigger and something infinite.

In our tradition, resolutions of small steps are made around areas of Torah Study, Prayer, Mitzvah observance or enhancement and acts of kindness.

Try these on for size or come up with your own.

Torah Study – commit to attending a class once a week.  Or commit to study something online once a week Chabad.org or subscribe to a short daily thought that arrives in your emails. 

Prayer – say the morning Modeh ani and Shema, say the bedtime Shema, and/or commit to going to services one more time each month.  Wrap tefillin on occasion (join us Sunday mornings at 9:00).

Mitzvah – put a penny in the tzedakah box each day, put a mezuza on a door you don’t have one on yet, bring Jewish books into your home, light Shabbat candles, explore the laws of family purity.

Acts of kindness – find someone in need and make it your routine to call them once a week to wish them good Shabbos (it can change a person’s life, yours too), volunteer at a seniors home, bring food to someone who is shut in, visit the sick in the hospital, give a friend a break and help them out with their children.

Little steps make big change. And since everything is new, the sky is the limit.

Best wishes for a Shana Tova! 

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