Rosh Hashanah D'var Torah - 2021

Erev Rosh Hashanah 5782

LilyFish Gomberg

Vanderbilt Hillel

Shanah Tovah!

First of all, I want to welcome you again to Vanderbilt Hillel’s High Holyday programming. My name is LilyFish for those I haven’t met yet, I use she/they pronouns, and I’m the newest staff member here at Hillel. My job is to handle all things Shabbat, holidays, and Jewish learning. 

When I first found out I was in charge of making sure the High Holydays happened smoothly and meaningfully, I was overwhelmed. Then, when I looked at the calendar and saw that the High Holydays started on September 6, I was a little panicked. The Holydays are so much earlier in the Gregorian calendar this year than normal, and of course it had to be the year I was starting this job. 

How many of you felt like the High Holydays snuck up on you this year? Like they were really early?

Yeah, me too. 

But then I thought about it more, and right now does feel like a new start. For me, starting a new job, and for First-Years coming to campus for the first time, but also for Sophomores who haven’t been in-person in college yet, and Juniors and Seniors who are coming back to the campus you’ve missed for the past three semesters. Watching students arrive during FYSH-Fest and move-in weekend was incredible, seeing you reunite and be able to finally hug your friends- such joy! 

This year, the High Holydays are actually more in step with the traditional academic year than on a “normal” year. It’s right on time.

But that begs the question, what does “on time” really mean? 

When I finished High School, I didn’t feel like I was “ready” for college, ready for at least four more years of intense classroom learning. Instead, I started “late” and took time to travel in Latin America, learned a new language, and did some really important self-discovery work. My time abroad was super important and has helped shape me into the person I am today. 

Starting a semester “late” also meant I graduated a semester “late,” last December. My friends mostly graduated six months earlier, and were already working or studying. This time though, I wasn’t as concerned. I knew that I wanted to go to Rabbinical school, but again going straight into more academic learning didn’t feel right.  Instead, I found a job teaching Kindergarten and then later, I moved to Nashville and started working here. 

My collective gap year; my time abroad and then teaching, didn’t feel like a gap. It was full of really important and identity-forming experiences. I learned a lot by taking gap time, and what’s more, I don’t feel like I’m “late.” I’m right on time. 

Something I love to do is study the Talmud, a set of laws and stories written by early Rabbis. I study with a yeshiva, a school, called Svara, and I study with a hevrutah, study partner. In my studies this past year, I learned a part of the Talmud called Rosh Hashanah 25a. It’s talking about a tradition in which two witnesses would come to Yavneh, which is where all the Rabbis hung out, and tell them when there was a crescent moon so that the new month had started (because the Hebrew calendar is lunar). In this specific passage, two witnesses come and say “We saw the moon at the right time, but then the next night it wasn’t there.” Now, this is a predicament because what they said is actually not possible. The moon at that point should have been getting bigger, not disappearing. 

Nonetheless, the Rabbi in charge of the assembly accepted their testimony. The other Rabbis were aghast, why would he accept this testimony if it wasn’t true?? In real Rabbi fashion, they argued about it for a bit and insulted each other and brought up a whole bunch of proof texts. Ultimately, the Rabbis come to the conclusion that once they themselves have declared a time, that is the Real, Only time that should be followed. What they called G!d’s time is dependent on people. 

This bit of wisdom from our ancestors suggests that the “right” time, or the scientific time or G!d’s time, is actually arbitrary, and what matters is YOUR right time, and you are right on time.

Think about what that means. It means that everything you do is towards progress. Not necessarily that you’re always doing the right thing, it’s still incredibly possible and probable that you will make many mistakes in your lifetime, but rather it means that what you’re doing is right for you. Even if it sets you back, whatever that means, it’s actually still important and you probably learned something from it. 

And this is exactly the time of year to remember that. In the next 10 days, known as the Days of Awe in Jewish tradition, we are actually given built in time to recognize what we have done that is wrong, and repent and try to make it right through the  process of “Teshuvah” the spiritual “turning” that happens during these days. We have the chance to return to who we are, our morals and goals, and make renewed commitment to them in the coming year. 

This year, when you think about things you might have done differently, I urge you to consider your actions based on their “right-ness” but not their “on-time-ness.” If something you did delayed something else, that is okay. You are right on time. On your own, self-appointed time.

Take a minute to arrive in this space of the High Holydays, to really arrive. To recognize yourself as you are now, without judging whether you’re ahead or behind. Arive. Here. Now. You are right on time. 

Over the next ten days, the “Days of Awe,” I’d like to invite you to bask in your on-time-ness. Give yourself a chance to celebrate this new beginning however YOU need to - whether that’s by cleaning your room, taking a hot shower, coming to Jewish programming, or something completely different. Take time to notice when you’re feeling rushed or behind, and soothe yourself. You are right on time. 

L’Shanah Tova U’metukah!