Shalom All,

There is something about the end of summer that always feels a little bittersweet. The days are still warm, the sun still sets later than it will in a few weeks, and there is still time to enjoy an evening outside. But we can also feel a change coming. Vacations are ending. Children are returning to school. Schedules are filling up again. The pace of life begins to quicken.

And, for those of us in the Jewish community, we know that another season is approaching: the High Holy Days.

The Jewish calendar has its own way of reminding us that time is always moving. The summer months can offer us a chance to slow down, to travel, to spend time with family and friends, or simply to enjoy a little more space in our lives. But as summer ends, we begin to turn our attention inward.

Soon we will gather for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. We will hear the familiar melodies and encounter words and prayers that we may have said many times before. Yet the invitation of the High Holy Days is to ask ourselves a simple but profound question: What is different about me this year?

The prayers may be the same, but we are not.

A year has passed. We have experienced joys and disappointments, beginnings and endings, successes and failures. We have welcomed new people into our lives and perhaps said goodbye to others. The world around us has changed, and so have we.

The High Holy Days give us an opportunity to pause and take stock. What do we want to carry forward into the new year? What do we need to leave behind? With whom do we need to make peace?

Perhaps the end of summer is the perfect time to begin that reflection. Before the rush of fall fully arrives, we can give ourselves a little space to think about the year that has been and the year that lies ahead.

May the end of summer bring each of us a moment of rest, reflection, and renewal. And may the coming year be one in which we find new opportunities for connection, compassion, and hope.

Be well, I hope to see you all soon,

Rabbi Todd