Now that Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are behind us, tell me the truth; do you feel relieved; “It’s a whole year until I have to go through that again,” or do you feel uplifted; “What an inspirational experience - spending all day in the Synagogue!" Although I wish it would be the latter, too often it’s the former…
One thing is certain, the purpose of the High Holidays is not that we spend a chunk of time praying and fasting… only to leave it behind us. The High Holidays should have an effect on our daily life experience. The million dollar question is, how does that look? What does that mean?
Here’s one of the suggestions that I shared during the Ne’ilah prayer, toward the end of Yom Kippur:
Give thanks. Begin each morning with the Modeh Ani. It’s a one line prayer that packs a punch! You see, every night when we go to sleep, our soul ascends to heaven to recharge. When we wake up in the morning, G-d has returned our soul rejuvenated (re-JEW-venated) for the new day.
Taking a few moments to reflect on this gift, simply that we have been once again blessed with the gift of life, will help us realize that we already have all the ingredients for a happy life.
We tend to take for granted the “simple” things in our life and we concentrate on all our unfulfilled desires. That is a recipe for an unhappy existence. Taking a moment to give thanks to Hashem for restoring our soul, helps us focus our attention on the good and helps us keep a sense of proportion about the rest.
It’s better than shopping – and cheaper too!
Click here for a brief overview and the text, in Hebrew and English, of the Modeh Ani prayer.