Rosh Hashanah is coming, the beginning of a new year and a new cycle in the life of every Jew in the world.
These are days of inspiration, introspection and self-evaluation. Meeting and reunion times.
On Saturday August 28th, I had the great opportunity to reconnect with the place where I grew up and began my Torah studies: the Bet David Yeshiba, from the Community of Lavalle, led by my dear colleague, friend and teacher, Rabbi Abraham Chehebar.
This time, like many other times, I shared words and reflections about Chodesh Elul with students.
“Teshuba is for us, the older adults. Because Teshuba is to return. The young people still have to go, lalejet, not lashub, to return.”
We generally think that the world is born with us and we know everything. We think that we can act and decide simply with what we see with our eyes.
To go the right way, we need to be inspired by eternal reality, not just temporary. We should get advice from the person who has already gone through that road, to see if there is a hole or a dangerous place.
To get the right way, we have to draw inspiration from the past. Thus we will walk on the correct path. We will not fall into traps, ambushes or obstacles.
There are many tips that I would like to share with young people, based on my own story. Perhaps they can be summarized in 7 points:
- Know the History, where we come from.
- Take advantage of the time to study and not be distracted by the things around us.
- Get involved withy the world.
- Do teamwork, like chains that only have power when they are together.
- Check and analyze what we receive.
- Choose our future well ,according to what we are and what our parents and teachers tell us, not according to fashion.
- Know that the Torah is for everyone.
To sum up, the most important thing, always, is to understand where we come from in order to understand where we want to go. “Mehain batá lehan atá olej”.
Shana Toba Umetuka!
