As you are reading this blog, you have most likely just flipped the page on your calendar. Many of us are back into the school routine of packing lunches, checking homework, setting up carpools, etc. Perhaps on your smartphone you sought out one of the many apps that are designed to insure that we are organized, informed, motivated, coupon-savvy, physically fit, environment-friendly, positive-thinking, family-focused, vocabulary-enriched, and performing at our very best. There must be an app for monitoring every single task or goal conceivably possible. Now that we have programmed our calendars and portable electronic devices to remind us of all the details to which we must attend, let us remember to also take some time to “download an app” to enhance our spiritual side. In just days we will observe Selichot, the late evening service which helps us to perform a scan” of our souls in preparation for the upcoming High Holy Days. What will your scan reveal? Is there any “malware” that you would like to delete? Are there regrets of harsh words, neglected relationships, broken promises? How can we “eliminate these harmful threats” to our soul’s “operating system”? Judaism “has an app for that” known as t’shuvah. T’shuvah, from the Hebrew meaning “to return,” is our opportunity to turn back from the regrets of the past year and “perform a hard reset” so that we are once again on the path of goodness, wholeness, and truth. Maybe you will find that the “T’shuvah app” will awaken your awareness of the Divine in your life.
In her book The Superstressed Solution, Dr. Roberta Lee dedicates an entire section to the effects of spirituality and religion upon our health. She cites a study of some 126,000 people that concluded that those who regularly attend worship services increased their odds of living longer by 29 percent! Lee explains that these individuals have a greater capacity for coping with stress as well as for recovering from illness. Spirituality and communal worship “connects [us] to the world, which enables [us] to stop trying to control things all by [ourselves].” Being a part of a sacred community provides a support network, and when we participate in helping others, our health, too, benefits from those positive feelings. Bonding with others of common beliefs and practices is also beneficial to our well-being as is the hope that a faith can offer to us. Who knew that coming to services could help us live longer!?
I wish you and your family a Shanah Tovah—a year of peace, blessing and worshipping together.
