Transcript
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[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]
