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To be human is to delight in an extraordinary cornucopia of gifts.
We relish the gifts of sight and hearing, smell and taste, touch and thought. But there is one that stands out to me as perhaps even more sublime – the gift of memory.
Memory allows us to be in two places at once. We can live in the present moment and simultaneously be transported to events gone by.
Memory returns us to the past, not only to relive what once occurred, but to study and learn from what we experienced.
The celebration of the New Year is given many names. Rosh HaShanah – the Head of the Year. Yom Teruah – the Day of the Shofar’s Blast. Yom Harat HaOlam – the Day of the World’s Foundation. But it is also called Yom HaZikaron – the Day of Remembrance.
Why is memory the focus of our spiritual process as we enter into a New Year?
Life moves so quickly. Present moments fly by. And it’s so difficult to truly capture all that a moment can mean as it happens. So, we use memory to relive our lives. We can stop the replay and focus on an instant, drawing our attention to details we missed in the moment, and examining the meaning they hold and the lessons they teach.
As I remember September 11, 2001, so many memories come back to me. We lived in Livingston, New Jersey, just a few miles from New York City. I remember that crisp, clear blue day. After Aimee left to bring my two older children to school, I turned to the television to see smoke rising from the World Trade Center, the newscaster reporting that a plane had hit the North Tower. I watched in horror as a second plane struck the South Tower.
I raced to the synagogue, where I had just recently begun my work, and we watched the events of the morning unfold – the attack on the Pentagon, reports of a fourth flight downed in a field in Pennsylvania. We mobilized the congregation to reach out to call every single member. We heard extraordinary stories of escape, and awful stories of missing loved-ones.
I remember my fear, the butterflies in my stomach, wondering what would come next, and how I would lead my new congregation in the New Year just days away. I remember my anger and rage at murderers who destroyed the lives of innocent thousands.
I remember my awe and gratitude for the valor of those who ran toward the towers and up the stairs, who dashed through hallways covered in fuel and fire, who rushed a cockpit, sacrificing their lives in an effort to save another’s.
I remember how my heart soared from episodes of shared humanity – the pilots who drove stranded passengers thousands of miles to get home, those who offered cash to help strangers pay for groceries, the people of Gander, Newfoundland, who landed 38 international flights at their small airport, and welcomed and fed nearly 7,000 people for days until the skies opened up again.
By remembering these moments, we don’t simply relive what happened in the past. Our memories teach us how to live in the moments that will come.
The legacy of 9/11 teaches us to build a future where we renounce hatred and violence, and instead champion the values of freedom and understanding, where we resist the temptation to harden our hearts in anger and resentment, and instead cultivate love and raise up our shared humanity, where we show our gratitude for the uncommon valor of citizen servants and first responders by showing each other more patience and grace, and where we summon resilience and resolve to heal from pain and loss and sorrow.
And this is what we do. Rosh HaShanah demands we use the gift of memory so that the lessons of this past year teach us to build a better future.
May this Yom HaZikaron – this Day of Remembrance – help us to recall our values and principles, to remember what a holy life is supposed to be, and inspire us in the New Year 5787 to make best use of the gift of life – the greatest gift of all.
Shabbat Shalom – L’Shana Tova.
Rabbi Dan Levin
Temple Beth El of Boca Raton
