Stop Sleepwalking Through Your Life - Rabbi Efrem Goldberg

[music] >> Sleep is not only something that we do at night and in our bed. Many of us find ourselves sleepwalking through life. Have you ever arrived at a destination [music] and you don't remember one moment of driving there? Have you finished a meal and you don't remember eating one [music] morsel of food? So many activities we engage in each and every day, we're creatures of habit, we're creatures of rote. The momentum is carrying us and we're living that same day over and over, sleepwalking through [music] life. On Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, we blow the shofar and the shofar is an alarm. It wakes [music] us up, it stirs our soul. It says, "Wake up to a better you." It's not only a new year, it's a new you, it's a new day, it's a new and fresh opportunity >> [music] >> to grow, to make progress, to change, to be different, to realize who we are meant to be. Stop living the same year again and again and calling [music] it a life. To truly be alive every day, every week, every month, every year, we grow, we change. [music] The world is filled with invitations and opportunities to be a better us, to make a bigger difference, to have better relationships with the people around us and with our creator above. That shofar this Rosh Hashanah, as you hear [music] it pierce not only your eardrums but your heart and your soul, is calling you to wake up, to embrace life, and embrace a better you. The one who blows the shofar takes a deep breath in and pushes that air out [music] in order to produce that piercing sound that is the alarm to wake us up. That breath that comes [music] from inside ourselves reminds us on our birthday of being created, Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, the anniversary [music] of the creation of humanity, when God first breathed life into us. The Torah, the Bible, tells us that at creation, God [music] took a deep breath and breathed into us. He put a piece of himself inside each and every one of us. We are an animal being. We have animal impulse, animal instinct, but we also have a godly soul. A chelek eloka [music] mimaal mamash. We literally have a piece, a breath of God in us. It gives us that sense [music] of discipline and control. It gives us that drive for holiness, not just happiness. It inspires us to make [music] the world a better and more elevated place. And when we hear that sound of the shofar from the one who produces it from the breath inside, >> [music] >> we affirm, "God, that piece of you is still inside me." As we celebrate [music] our birthday, the anniversary of you having created me, I'm still in it with you. I'm your partner. I'm waking up. That alarm is working for me to be your partner in making the world a better place. So, this year on Rosh Hashanah, when you hear the sound [music] of the shofar, let it not only pierce and penetrate your ears, but let it enter your heart and your soul. Take a moment as you hear its alarm sound [music] to think about three things in life where you're a creature of habit. Three ways that you are being carried by momentum. [music] Three areas you're sleepwalking through life. And affirm with the breath of the shofar that you are going to wake up. How are you going to be a [music] better husband or wife, mother or father? How are you going to be a better friend to God and to people around you? In what way will you be more mindful while you eat and sleep and drive [clears throat and music] and live life? How will we study and challenge ourselves to leave our comfort zone? How will we volunteer to do chesed, acts of loving kindness for [music] others? Stop sleepwalking through life. Let the shofar wake you up, not only to a new year, but to a new you. >> [music]