“Items returned must be in original condition with tags attached” I recently read at the register when I went to take something back to the store. Retailers expect that we will return merchandise with tags intact, unworn and in pristine condition.
Thankfully, that is not so with our own return. God does not expect us to walk into 5782 in our original condition. We enter the New Year worn, dented and scuffed, assured that our return is still accepted. Our mistakes and imperfections do not preclude God’s acceptance. Our return encompasses the entirety of our experience: the parts that made us proud and the parts we regret.
The month of Elul begins the season of return and invites our introspection and reflection on the year past. Our mistakes can be repaired and left behind. The true blessing is that we are gifted with the opportunity to do it over again. Lessons learned and wisdom gleaned are ours to keep to inform the next leg of our journey.
We shouldn’t be afraid of our dents and scuffs and stains as we begin anew. If the tag is detached, so be it. That is what it means to be human. That is what it means to lead a life well lived.
Services this weekend will be in-person masked and socially distant in our Sanctuary while also available through Zoom and streamed live on our Facebook page.
YAHRZEITS Irena Goldgaber Paul Levinger Clara Miller Ruth Pliner Laurie Joan Ruttenberg Rosemary Towles Leslie H. Weisman Belle Zias Robert Kotlen Jay Orson Eileen Parker Stanley Smith Lenore Rakatansky
Lawrence Hoffman Sherry Royall Gladys H. Jacober Dr. Henry Gewirtz Janet Engelhart Gutterman Melvyn Blake Joan Adler Mark Bernie Levine Anna Cohen Haberman Herman Haberman Donald David Jaffa Jean Moverman Jaffa Sloan Myles Jaffa Farrel A. Jaffa
YIZKOR ELOHIM The Congregation joins in mourning the death of
Yuval Cohen Justin Stoecker Stacie Heller Cohen Jordan Lee Rice Charles Dress
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Temple Beth-El 70 Orchard Ave Providence, RI 02906 401.331.6070
