It’s Rosh Hashanah. The air is thick with holiness and the Shaarei Shamayim (the Gates of Heaven) feel close enough to touch. Each year I ask: What do our souls need to hear right now? This year, I believe it’s this: life is fragile, urgent, and holy—and we dare not waste it.
Life is filled with good news and bad news. It reminds me of the story of Leah who phones her husband at work:
“Saul, I need to speak with you.”
“Sorry, darling, this is not a good time. I’m about to go into a business meeting.”
“But this won’t take long. I just want to tell you some good news and some bad news.”
Saul sighs, “I really haven’t the time… so quickly, just tell me the good news.”
Leah says, “All right then. The good news is that the airbag on your new Tesla works GREAT. It saved my life!”
Life is full of good news and bad news, joy and heartbreak.
In this season’s Torah readings, we meet Moses in his final days. The greatest leader our people ever knew is preparing to die without fulfilling his deepest dream—entering the Land of Israel. One mistake—one slip-up—and that was it. Instead He gets a consolation prize. Gd tells him to climb Mount Nebo to see the Promised Land he will never enter. We have to ask: Does Moses’ story really need to end like this?
How does Moses respond? He reinvents himself. He doesn’t collapse into bitterness. He refuses to let heartbreak define him or disappointment silence him. Even at the end of his life, he uncovers another layer of his extraordinary potential.
In the last book of the Torah, Devarim—which is essentially Moses’ last words to the Jewish people—Moses is no longer the liberator who brings the people out of Egypt, no longer the miracle worker who splits the Red Sea. Moses becomes Moshe Rabbeinu—Moses, our teacher. He reviews the past, prepares us for the future, and teaches us the deeper meaning behind Gd’s laws and love.
In his final moments, Moses climbs a 2nd mountain of sorts—a mountain of wisdom, purpose, and legacy. Ironically, it was after all his setbacks, atop that 2nd mountain, that Moses discovered his ultimate greatness.
My friends, each of us will reach moments in life when the road suddenly changes—new realizations, new circumstances, new challenges we never asked for or wanted. And when that happens, we can ignore it, run from it, become bitter… Or we can climb a 2nd mountain, a mountain we never planned for—and perhaps find our greatest accomplishments and treasures there.
Steven Sotloff was an American journalist kidnapped in Syria in 2013 and murdered by ISIS. In a letter smuggled out by a cellmate, he wrote these profound words that were later read at his funeral: Live your life to the fullest. Everyone has 2 lives. The 2nd one begins when you realize you only have one.
Sotloff’s words land like thunder: we live as if our time is endless—until a diagnosis, a financial setback, or a family crisis wakes us up and we realize that we get just one life, one soul, one chance to turn our days into a blessing. The question then becomes not, “What can I achieve?” but “What good can I do? How can I make a difference?”
A teenager once asked the Lubavitcher Rebbe, “Do we Jews believe in reincarnation?”
The Rebbe—as one would expect—gave a marvelous answer: “Yes, we do—but don’t wait until then.” The Rebbe understood the question behind the question: If there’s reincarnation, maybe we can put off some of the important things. Maybe we can take—as golfers say—a mulligan, and leave our unfinished business till we come back again.
So, the Rebbe warned him: Don’t put off to your next life what you must accomplish in this one. For all you know, this life may already be your 2nd, 3rd or 4th chance to get it right. So give it your best shot now and live this life as if it’s your last.
A man who recently made aliyah to Israel received a strongly worded 2nd notice from the tax authority in Tel Aviv. Panicked, he ran to pay the bill and apologized for missing the 1st notice. He said, “I don’t know how I missed it.”
The clerk smiled and said, “Oh, we don’t send 1st notices. We’ve found that sending 2nd notices is much more effective!”
My friends, let’s live as if we’re already on our 2nd notice. The time to bring meaning into our lives is now. True joy comes not by chasing happiness, but by giving ourselves to meaning, to service, to those we love—to finding purpose.
What’s the difference between happiness and meaning?
- Happiness is about satisfying needs and wants.
- Meaning is about finding purpose in everything and at all times.
- Happiness is about taking.
- Meaning is about giving.
Victor Frankl taught that meaning begins not with “What do I want from life?” but “What does life want from me?” You see, life is a mission, and we are put here on earth and summoned to that mission by Gd.
Throughout the Bible, Gd summons people into missions: Abraham, Moses, Samuel, Jonah, for example. They were prophets, however, and we are not. So, how do we hear Gd’s call today? This is what I can tell you. Look at what Gd has placed in your hands—your talents, experiences, wounds, and passions. Then when you encounter a need that stirs your soul, you’ll know. Something inside will say: This is what I must do.
Years ago, during a massive snowstorm in New York City, Rabbi Kalman Epstein—hearing the rumbling of trucks and realizing they must be garbage trucks that had not come for a week—ran outside at 2 a.m. to put out his trash cans. A sanitation worker saw his beard and kipa and asked, “Are you a rabbi?”
The man had just received a call that his mother died. His siblings were considering cremation, but he remembered that, although she wasn’t religious, she lit Shabbos candles every Friday night and he knew she would want a proper Jewish burial.
Rabbi Epstein connected him with a Jewish funeral director, and the next morning the man called to say everything had worked out. Then he asked the rabbi to officiate. Later Rabbi Epstein reflected on how a person reaps what they sow: When this woman lit Shabbos candles, this sent a message to her son that Jewish tradition is important, and for that, his mother received a proper Jewish burial with dignity and honor. So, because of a snowstorm, a missed trash pickup, and one unexpected encounter at 2 a.m., a mission had been placed before Rabbi Epstein—and he answered it.
Ok, we may understand if a rabbi like Rabbi Epstein is called to a mission. But you can ask: Who am I that Gd has a mission for me? How do we know when Gd is calling? Gd has a way of placing us where we need to be at the very moment someone needs us most. It happens to all of us. It’s a whisper, a wink telling you: This is what is needed from you. This may be Gd summoning you to your mission. If you see it and feel it in a way others do not, that probably means you have been given the distinct ability to do something about it.
If someone places an oversized envelope with a million dollars in a homeless person’s cart, but he doesn’t know it’s there—would it change his life? Technically, he would be rich. Practically, he’s still poor. So it is with us. Gd has placed gifts, talents, and blessings inside every single one of us—but if we don’t open the envelope to understand and appreciate how we’ve been blessed, we can’t use what we have to fulfill our mission.
Rosh Hashanah calls upon us to open our envelopes—NOW! Gd has given EACH of us enormous potential, and every stage of life reveals more—not less—of what we can still offer. What you can do in your 70s may be different from your 20s—but it’s no less important, no less impactful.
And this is true not only for ourselves. Every person carries a sealed envelope of gifts, talents, and holy potential. Sometimes our sacred task is to help others open theirs.
Let me illustrate with the story of Louis Armstrong—“Satchmo,” one of the greatest American musicians. Louis grew up in crushing poverty in New Orleans. As a 7-year-old boy, he was basically an orphan on the streets. He was taken in by the Karnofskys—a poor Jewish immigrant family who ran a junk and coal business. They welcomed him to their home, fed him, gave him some odd jobs so he could have some money in his pocket along with some dignity, and treated him with a respect and warmth he never forgot.
Riding through the streets on their wagon, young Louis would blow a tin horn to attract customers. When he saw a battered cornet in a pawn shop window, the Karnofskys bought it for him. That cornet was the beginning of a musical life that changed the world. You see, Louis broke down barriers for African American artists, he became world famous as the “Ambassador of Jazz,” with a smile and unique presence that made everyone love him.
And Armstrong never forgot. Though he wasn’t Jewish, he wore a Jewish star in gratitude to his new family who saw something in him before the world did and helped him take the 1st steps toward his calling.
Think about that. The Karnofskys were struggling immigrants themselves. But when they saw a child who needed some kindness, when they saw the sparkle in his eyes, they helped fan it into a torch—a beacon of love that lit up the world. This is what it means to open another person’s envelope. You never know when one word of encouragement, one meal, one small loan, one act of faith in someone’s future may release so much light into the world. You might not think of much of it while you’re doing it, but this may be an important part of your mission. In the words of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: “There is no greater cure for depression, no greater cure for burnout and aimlessness than bringing happiness into the lives of others.”
So today, on Rosh Hashanah, while the Shaarei Shamayim (Gates of Heaven) are open, let us ask the fundamental questions we spend too much of our lives avoiding: Who am I really? Where am I going? What do I stand for? What am I here to give? And when my time here is done, how will the world be better because I walked through it? Always remember this: You were born an original—Gd needs you in His plan—otherwise you wouldn’t be here. So, don’t become a copy like everyone else!
My friends, none of us knows how many years, how many chances, how many notices we still have left. But this we do know: We have today. We are alive. So, stop waiting.
Rosh Hashanah pleads with us:
- When you see a need that speaks to you.
- When you see a wrong that cries out to be righted.
- When you see a pain you feel called to heal.
Open your envelopes. Use what Gd has given you now. Give more love now. Offer more forgiveness now. Lift another soul now. That’s what your New Year needs to be about… Why? Because this is our One life, our One chance, our One shot at our mission. With Gd’s help this New Year, let’s make it count. Amen!
