Like most Jews, this week I observed the holiday of Rosh Hashanah. This is the time of the year when we begin thinking about how we behaved for the last twelve months and participate in the process of atoning for any wrong doings or wrong behavior. I see this as a chance for introspection and self-improvement. It’s an opportunity to change and to become who I want to be.
Do You Like Your Reflection
From a Kabbalistic perspective, the holiday, often thought of as the Jewish New Year, is actually not a time when you are judged by God and punished for your actions. Most of the liturgy that speaks of “books of life” and “decrees of life and death” just use these symbols to get us thinking hard about the effects of our actions. In actuality, on this holiday you have an opportunity to see your own misdeeds reflected back to you. You then determine if you like those behaviors or if you want to change them. If you truly want to change for the better, then forgiveness is possible—from inside yourself. You atone for your behavior. This brings you into a state of at-one-ment with yourself. Since you are connected to God, this also brings you into alignment, or connection with God.
Basically, Rosh Hashanah offers us a chance to choose who we want to be in the New Year. We are told the moment is filled with potential, just like the first moment of creation. We can decide what we will create and how we will recreate ourselves.
The Energy of Punishment
As for that judgment and punishment, we do that to ourselves. You see, God doesn’t punish or judge. The energy that comes from the Creator is always the same and is typically referred to as love. Yet, most everything about the characteristics attributed to God are on a spectrum. Just like electricity can do harm or good—it turns on a light or causes electrocution—the energy of the Creator is available for good or for bad.
Each one of us makes the decision about how we will use that energy. So you cause your own punishment based on how you behave.
No matter if you use your energy for good or bad, your behavior comes back to you energetically. Imagine this like a boomerang. What you put out comes back in kind. Send out good energy and behaviors, and you will receive the same in return. Do the reverse, and you get “bad” experiences (punishment) in return.
The basic lesson, therefore, is that your own behavior determines the “decree” you are given in the future or for the year. God does not determine this. You are connected to Divine energy, and that energy is happy to provide positive energy and good experiences. But it will provide you with the opposite if that is what you create.
Listen to the Shofar
According to the Kabbalists, the shofar, or ram’s horn, blown on Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur, 10 days later, has the ability to cleans you of your sins—to remove the effects of those past negative or unwanted behaviors. It stops the boomerang from flying back into your life. Much like sound healing or vibrational healing, the call of the shofar penetrates the body, heart, mind, and soul. It purifies you and removes the reason for the boomerang to return with experiences you might perceive as Divine “punishment.” Instead, it allows new and different experiences to move into your life based on the “new you” that you choose and the new energy you choose to express.
It’s no wonder we are told that it’s a mizvah, a commandment, to hear the shofar blown on the holiday and to listen to its call. doing so is your chance, if you truly want to change, to avert the “negative decree” you have created.
That’s great if you’re Jewish and go to religious services on the High Holy Days.
Applying the Principles
But what if you aren’t Jewish? What does this holiday have to do with you?
At any time of the year you can see a reflection of your deeds. You can look in the mirror and examine your behavior and see what you are creating, or sending out energetically. You can imagine what type of experiences might come your way based upon the experiences you created for yourself and for others. (Just see it in the mirror.) You can evaluate the energy you put out and how it has determined the energy that will return to you.
And you can choose to change your behavior. You can change the energy you put out into the world. You can choose to be someone different. And that will change the experiences you have.
As for the shofar, if you can’t hear it blown live, you can still hear it and allow the sound to help cleans your of your past misdeeds. Listen to my son blowing it by clicking on the link below. This was recorded during the Shofar Service at our Jewish Renewal community in Santa Cruz, Chadeish Yameinu, a few years ago.
You must have faith that the sound will clear the effects of your misdeeds, and must want to repent from your previous ways for the sound to do its cleansing work.
L’shana tova (to a good year)!
Photo © Blueenayim | Dreamstime.com
