Looking good is not enough #RoshHashana#devarTorah

Researchers from Virginia Tech University, along with police administrators, determined that distracted drivers put others in more danger than aggressive drivers. Drivers who eat, discipline children in the backseat, or talk on the phone are the most hazardous.  I once read on Facebook: “If you want to talk to God, find a quiet corner and He will always listen to you.  If you want to see God, text while driving.”

When residents in Grand Rapids, Michigan, were asked about the bad habits of drivers that made the highways unsafe, most felt that others caused more problems than they themselves. One woman said that she talked on her cell phone a little, but at least she didn’t dial the phone numbers while on the road. She concluded her comments by stating that others “aren’t following the rules of the road . . . . They put us all at risk.”

It’s our nature to point a finger at others. It all goes back to Adam and Eve.  When God asked Adam, “Did you eat of the tree from which I had forbidden you?” Adam passed the buck to Eve and God replying, “The woman You put at my side-she gave me of the tree and I ate.”  Of course Eve blamed the snake saying, “The snake duped me.” (Gen. 3:11-13)

When we don’t look at our own actions but instead compare ourselves with others, we often come out looking good. But, looking good and being good are two different things.  The goal of our High Holidays is to help us become the people we truly want to be so that we are good through and through.  If we succeed, surely God will inscribe us in His book.

 Shabbat Shalom and Shanah Tovah,

Rabbi Greene