The High Throne

I believe in god and that he is within me. I know myself to be lazy, reactive, and willing to do the easy thing... even when it may not be the right thing. Given that, then where is this god that is within me.

God as the better self; who is constant & moral, the ever solid rock of boundless love, the all seeing & wise care giver. That profound piece of myself that is shared by every other being on this planet, cannot occupy the same space as my daily self.

Rabbi Darby requested that we not react to that show stopping phrase "God sitting on a high throne" in our prayer on Rosh Hashanah; that we simply see what it might mean in our lives. Pondering this provided a meditation I have found rich and rewarding. It became easy to see where the god in me resided. Above it all, detached from the considerations that so often run our moments, being in the space that offers the quietude and opportunity for reflection that we so often bemoan the absence of when looking back on our actions… -> "sitting on a high throne".

It is easy to understand that metaphor when you imagine a world devoid of our modern language of psychology.

Shanah Tovah,
Robb McDougle

Services in LA

I was in LA over Rosh Hashanah to look at colleges for our son Max. Attended services at Royce Hall, which is a magnificent music hall on the UCLA campus. There were about 800 to 1000 people attending that night. There were three rabbis, a canton, musical director and 20 person choir. The next day, we joined the congregation for Tashlic to throw our sins into the Pacific Ocean. Though it was fun to experience another synagogue and the novelty of sea gulls flying away with our sins, I was home sick for the intimacy of the New Shul.

Fortunately, I got to be with the community for Yom Kippur. There is so much to say about the service but the one image that keeps rolling around in my head is seeing Zach, Ellen and Darby standing next to each other, all in white- Zach playing the mandolin and chanting a prayer in hebrew, Ellen staying in tune and singing the prayer in english and the Darby singing using sign language. That defined the New Shul for me. Anyone else feel that way?

Gratefully,
Andy Cohen

Did You Do Your Homework?

On Rosh Hashanah, Rabby Darby gave us the following assignment:

Listen to/or rediscover your "inner longing" and find a text that speaks to that longing, something that you connect to/with on a deep level. By "text" we mean, a piece of music, story, film, photograph, or written text, poetry, theater, song lyrics etc. Then after finding the text, and connecting with it, you need to communicate it, and your connection to it to someone else. We also encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to explore a Jewish "text" and to perhaps use this opportunity to discover a piece of Jewish music, art, theater, text, etc.. something in Judaism that speaks to your own true longing...

It's not too late to do your homework. We will be discussing this at shul on Saturday. Kol Nidre starts this Friady night at 7pm. A reminder to wear white to our Friday night service.