Shanah Tovah

Rosh Hashanah starts tomorrow night.

And I'm not ready.

I'm not talking about cooking — I won't get anywhere near a stove before the holiday starts, as I'm currently in the States on business and don't get back until hours before Rosh Hashanah starts.

I'm talking about my soul.  Elul is the time for us to wake up, to repent, to hear the call of the shofar.  I've done some studying of texts on teshuvah, I've done some "cheshbon hanefesh," some taking stock, I've heard the shofar blown at morning minyan in three different countries, but I feel my efforts are inadequate, I haven't done as much as I wanted to do, and now I'm almost out of time…

But only almost…I'll try to put the 12 hour airplane to good use, at least the part in which I'm awake.

How about you?  Have you thought about how you would like to change and grow in the coming year?  What you want to do different?

Remember the joke about how many psychoanalysts does it take to change a light bulb?  Only one, but the bulb has to really want to change?

Life is like that.  Nothing changes unless you want it to change.

If you want to change — if you want to be more "x" but aren't sure how to get there — let me suggest the practice of mussar, the character improvement from the Jewish ethical tradition.  Check out my friend Alan Morinis's Mussar Institute.

May 5770 be a year filled with blessings, with peace, with health, with prosperity, with love for you and yours, for k'lal Yisrael, and for all mankind.

Reb Barry