Old/New World Discourse: Yomim Noraim 5769: Civility

Rimmonim and Lulavim are among the many signs and symbols indigenous to this holiest of holiday periods. Also, white clothing, new jewelry, special prayer books, plus calls to loved ones, to ask for forgiveness, frequently mark this sacrosanct time.

Just weeks earlier, during Tisha B'Av, we were sitting on the floor imploring The Boss to bring Moshiach and to Grant us mercy. At present, we are still wailing, but now we are praying in a light, rather than in a dark, tone. Today's requests for life, for health, for parnassah, and for happiness are hopeful, plus expectant.

We trust Hashem to Provide for us. We plead with Him that we might be counted among the population receiving His Kindness and Mercy. We cry to him to forgive our trespasses.

Not surprisingly, during this period of inner searching, of retrieving and of revising, Jerusalem hums more softly than it might during other parts of the year. Although "the street" bustles with tourists, with hucksters of sukkah parts, and with residents scampering to tend to their holiday needs, it is also the case that these exchanges seem to be whispered, rather than bellowed and that atypical amounts of courtesy seem to be among the goods and services offered.

Along this holy city's ancient streets and under its modern canopies, people seem to be acting a little more gently, and a little less selfishly. During these ten days, strangers seem to more frequently defer to elders, adults seem to more recurrently assist others' children, and folks, in general, seem to act just a little bit more mindful of each other more often. Consider the drivers who make way for ambulances, the shoppers who encourage laden mothers to cut queues, and even the people, from other tribes, who have been making a point of wishing us a meaningful holiday time. Civility, during this week and one half, seems, additionally, to manifest in friends remembering to make visits and to send emails, in teachers putting an extra effort into checking on students’ well being, and in minyon attendees asking after the health of each other.

This season lives as an invitation to raise ourselves to a more elevated level of human interaction. Many individuals respond to this summons.

We are in the midst of our carefully prepared for Yomim Noraim. It is an auspicious time for us to carefully sing out our prayers with both internal and voiced annunciation, and to squeak out our gratitude. It is also a favorable time for us to keep in mind that the Klal's current moments of progress, in the realm of interpersonal sensitivity, ought to receive more emphasis than does Klal’s dearth, of the same, during the rest of the year.

We truly need wear ourselves out from heeding the yetzer hara's insistence that our small, present efforts are insignificant. Instead, together, let's take into account why it is valuable to make efforts to continue to live with loving kindness and, in doing so, let us succeed, together, to live this year as joyfully as possible.