A message from Rabbi Sarah Livschitz
Hineni: Rosh Hashanah as a call to presence
Shanah tova.
Every Tuesday of my first year of rabbinical school, we had a class called Second Temple History. After a full morning of classes, we would enter this dingy lecture hall with too much dust and not enough light, and for an hour and a half, the
teacher would read from very dense notes with barely a breath between words.
To make matters worse, the building maintenance staff would test the alarm
system, an hour into class, every week without fail. There’d be confusion over whether to evacuate the building or not, chaos would reign for a few minutes, and then the lecture on King Josiah or the Hasmoneans or whoever would
resume.
Needless to say, I would spend first half of class anticipating the alarm, and the
second half thinking about the chaos that had followed it. Let’s just say it was not
my best subject.
Over the past few months, I’ve been thinking a lot about what gets my attention.
It feels like alarms are ringing all over the place. The news is full of them, events
happening so fast that the headline articles on many major news sites are
updated multiple times a day. Our social media pages overflow with opinion
pieces and emotions. And then there are the alarms from the smart watches we
wear, the vibrations from our phones, and our email and message inboxes.
Just like in that Second Temple History class, I’m finding myself preoccupied as I
anticipate the next alarm or mull over the chaos from the last one. And I imagine
many of you feel the same way.
Increasingly, the question we must ask ourselves is “what should I pay attention
to?” There are many good answers to this question. And while I’m not going to
tell you what to prioritize in your life, I would like to offer some Jewish wisdom on
where to start.
The Mishnaic rabbis, who lived around 200CE, said there were four days in the
year where we really had to pay attention. Just four days. Each of those dates was
called a Rosh Hashanah, a new year. Those four Rosh Hashanahs were: (1) the
new calendar year (today), (2) the anniversary of a king’s reign (what might today
be inauguration day), (3) the new year for tithing (the equivalent of tax day), and
(4) the new year for the trees (Tu Bishvat).
Those four days point to four different aspects of life that we need to focus on.
Election day represents thinking about what kind of world we want to live in and
voting accordingly. Tax day represents asking what we contribute to our society.
The new year of the trees, Tu Bishvat, represents giving thanks for nature and
commiting to looking after it. And today, Rosh Hashanah of the calendar year, we
set our path for the year ahead. We hear the shofar – a literal call to attention –
and refocus ourselves.
Unlike the chaos of my History class, each Rosh Hashanah comes with a clear
focus. But to notice that the moment to focus is coming – indeed, to even hear
the shofar – we have to be fully present. There’s a Hebrew word for that decision
to be present in each of those moments: hineni, here I am. It is composed of
two parts (hine + ani): hine – here I am, physically present in this place; and ani –
here I am, intellectually and spiritually arrived. In reflecting on hineni, Rabbi Amy
Grossblatt Pessah (Hineni: The Power of Presence) says that:
Hineni connotes a willingness to show up, even when we are not sure how
things will unfold or what will happen next. This fullness of presence brings
courage and commitment, bravery and belief—that our being there
matters and makes a difference.
Rabbi Ruth Sohn, director of Spiritual Direction at Hebrew Union College, adds
that hineni is an ongoing process. We grow our ability to be present and to notice.
Sometimes we get lost in our minds and lose the moment, before coming back to
noticing again.
Today, this first day of 5787, is one of those calls to say hineni. Here I am in the
world. Here is the space I am taking up. Here I am, spiritually and intellectually
present in this moment, perhaps hesitant but here nonetheless. It takes bravery
to say hineni: thank you all for choosing to say it by being here today. But it is also
deeply hopeful. In saying hineni, we are affirming that this is a moment worth
being present for. And once we are present, we can be intentional in what comes
to fruition.
Keeping in mind this intention of hineni, I invite you to ask:
What is a moment that you want to say hineni to this year?
When we hear the call of the shofar – the alarm clock of our people – may we
each be inspired to say hineni.
With warm regards,
Rabbi Sarah