From the honor of blessing our five children to the solemn moments of Kol Nidrei, ending with the high of the finale when we proclaimed G-d’s oneness, rocked Nepoleon’s March, blasted the Shofar and prayed for our collective return to Jerusalem, Yom Kippur was epic, just epic. One moment of holiness that stirred me was during Kol Nidrei, when I glanced at the packed Shul and saw four college students Zev, Jacob, Zach and Heshy, all sitting near each other, meditating, praying and singing. I kept thinking of all the “experts”, those who say that “we need to water Judaism down for the youth”, those who say “American Jews can’t handle traditional Judaism, it’s too strict”; in truth, it’s all any Jew, including American Jews, want. They want authentic, warm and inspiring Judaism handed to them like it was handed to our ancestors and when offered they accept and enjoy.

Which brings me to this unique Shabbos, nestled between Yom Kippur and Sukkos, with an idea from Slonimer that I read in Nesivos Shalom:

Every Shabbos is connected to the six previous days of that week and simultaneously serves as a blessing for the following week. As such, the Shabbos between Yom Kippur and Sukkos must carry two seemingly contradictory energies. Yom Kippur, on the one hand, is the epitome of Yir'as Hashem, Awe of G-d, trembling before Him in judgment, and Sukkos, on the other hand, is the height of Ahavas Hashem, where every Mitzvah and the entire experience demonstrate our loving bond with Hashem. Yet, this Shabbos, with its infinite powers, can bridge these two attributes and fuse them together as one.

How can we pull off such an earthshattering fusion?

The Slonimer explains that just as every Shabbos exhibits this Awe/Love fusion, blending the Shabbos laws/prohibitions, the awe/fear-consciousness, with the love/positive-infused Mitzvos of Shabbos, including Oneg/pleasure on Shabbos, so too during our Shabbos of Haazinu we are able to fuse the High Holy Days into Zeman Simchoseinu, the Sukkos Days of Joy, flawlessly, incorporating the perfect balance necessary to be a faithful Jew in service of our Creator.

It's not one or the other. Structure and joy aren’t contradictory; they are the perfect balance for the Jewish soul, including our youth.

Don’t sell them short!

May G-d guard our brethren in Israel and the world over from harm and send us Mashiach speedily. May G-d protect the armed forces of Israel and the United States wherever they may be!

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‍Finite moments infused with infinity.

Moshe Ben Moshe hearing the Shofar for the first time in his life.

Children gathered to make Shana Tova cards at the kids’ program full of holiday spirit.

MSU students attending a Kosher BBQ and many joining for Rosh Hashana dinner.

A blissful march of souls at Tashlich and yet other souls at Shofar in the Park, including Jason who now proudly wears his Yarmulke full time.

Mordechai ben Aaron, a new Jewish baby who had a Bris at our Shul yesterday on the Fast of Gedalia.

A full house for Rosh Hashana dinners and lunches. Birkas Kohanim, priestly blessing, showered upon us on both days of Yom Tov.

The great moment when we ran out of prayer books “Machzorim” and Taleisim (plural for Talis). If you want to sponsor new ones, please let me know.

Trekking to downtown to blow the Shofar for our locals who didn’t make it to Shul, and also for the anonymous Jewess from DC who screamed “Shana Tova” and merited to hear it blown at Main and Black.

Each of these moments took place over the past ten days and each is powerful, uplifting and transformative.

When we internalize, and celebrate, the power of one, one deed, one person, one holy moment, we move away from the American obsession with “crowd size” and focus on what actually matters, which is Jews showing up, each at their own time and pace, to connect with a Higher Power.

This Shabbos is “Shabbos Shuva”, the Shabbos celebrated during the “Ten Days of Return” which takes us from Rosh Hashana through Yom Kippur. It’s a Shabbos devoted to returning home, returning to our true self, returning to soulfulness. We dig deep, we rid ourselves of the superficiality, the cover up, the make-up, the masks, and we allow our inner self to come alive. Who are we? Are we Jewish Americans or American Jews? Which is the true identity? Do our bodies have a soul or does our soul have a body? Does our spirit take precedence over the temptations and “wants” or is it the opposite?

Too often people associate Teshuva with becoming a “Baal Teshuva”, a person who does a 180, changing their life, religiously, in totality, which is a beautiful thing, but certainly not the whole story. We can each tap into a moment, or moments, of Teshuva, when we experience change, when our spiritual core, the fire of holiness embedded within, the SOUL, is inspired, its holy waters begin to boil and eventually it bubbles over into our life choices. We light the Shabbos candles before sundown, we lay Tefillin, we eat a Kosher meal, we fast on Yom Kippur, we visit the sick, we help prepare a fellow Jew for burial, we buy a Torah book for our home, each of these actions is an act of Teshuva, inching closer to home. When we allow ourselves to ignore the noise, chaos and distractions, and connect with our essence which is one with our Creator, we can soar to actualizing our true holy self, which feels really good, really right.

Don’t get lost in going big, microdosing on Teshuva is healing for the soul, for the real you!

May G-d guard our brethren in Israel and the world over from harm and send us Mashiach speedily. May G-d protect the armed forces of Israel and the United States wherever they may be!