Tuesday, October 1, 2024

You can become the best version of yourself this year #RoshHashanah#devartorah

When Bryony turned thirty, she was sad to still be in a sales job she’d never liked. She decided it was time to stop procrastinating and find a new career. For David, Erev Rosh Hashana had him looking in the mirror vowing this would be the year he lost weight. And for James, it was watching another month pass without his angry outbursts decreasing. Next month, he promised himself, he would try harder.

If you’ve ever vowed to change at the start of a new month, new year, or a major birthday, you’re not alone. Researchers even have a name for it: the fresh start effect. They suggest that at calendar points like these we’re more prone to assess our lives and try putting our failures behind us to start over. Wanting to be better people, we long for a fresh start.

Our tradition speaks powerfully to this longing, offering a vision of what our best selves can be and calling us to leave our past selves behind . Repentance, teshuva, offers this change not by decisions and vows alone, but by our actions.

Becoming the best version of ourselves is the ultimate fresh start. Rosh Hashanah provides us the opportunity to become the people we truly want to be. Your new life can start right now in 5785.

 

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