Rosh Hashanah 2012: The Jewish New Year Explained

There is a saying from the sages that "nothing stands in the way of Teshuva." This means that if a person wants to change their life for good, nothing can stop them, that they can overcome any obstacle. The most powerful prayer is a prayer that is put into action.

What actions can we take that will guarentee us to be written in the Book of Life? Actions that are a reflection of Teshuvah.

A few Rosh Hashanahs ago, for a very good reason, I was walking out of a bar, the night before Rosh Hashanah, and I overheard a woman speaking to someone, and I heard her saying that so and so had not called her back and so she had written her off. The phrase "to write someone off," essentially means that if they were God, they would not write this person into the Book of Life.

I saw that many times I have not only written off other people, but, for reasons that seemed good at the time, written off myself. People write themselves out of life all the time. How many young people write off their bodies because they think they are not good enough, or write of their personalities because they want to fit in, or write off their dreams because of external pressure and despair.

I saw that if I wanted to be written in the Book of Life, in terms of how I lived, I had to write myself into the Book of Life. I had to live a life that was an affirmation of my life, that my life was valuable and special and worth living, and that I had to write everyone else in the Book of Life, too. That I had to treat them with the love, respect and compassion they deserved as someone who was alive.

"Nothing stands in the way of Teshuvah." This means that not only should I write myself into the Book of Life, through living a life worth living, but that the story I write, through the life I live, should be one that is a reflection of my highest self, or my greatest potential. If I do this then I will have all of those good things in my life.

May Hashem bless you to jam with the King and be written in the Book of Life for a good and sweet year.

-- Eitan Press (@EitanQuest)

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/16/rosh-hashanah-2012-the-je_n_1887610.html

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