Week 4: Response from
Rabbi Arthur P. Nemitoff
In this passage, Maimonides teaches us one of the hardest lessons in life: that we are responsible for ourselves. So much of what we do and how we do it is based on OTHERS. We learn in school as our teachers tell us. We work at our jobs as our bosses tell us. We read the news that the media conglomerates want us to consume. And so, we are conditioned to believe that life is out of our control.

How often do we say, "It was beshert. It was meant to be." Or perhaps we say, "It is in God's hands." While comforting to believe that another cares for us and will make decisions for us, Maimonides reminds us this is merely illusion.

The message of the Yamim Noraim -- the coming Days of Awe -- is that of the insightful Rambam. Each of us holds responsibility for who we are and who we become.

We are born with a clean slate. Nothing is determined for us -- good or evil, rich or poor, health or illness, friends or a life of loneliness. We have the ability to paint on the canvas of our own lives whatever image we wish -- full and vibrant or dull and empty. What makes up the paint are the attitude and behavior and knowledge we bring to the palette. And each is within our own being to determine.

Simply put, if we are miserable it is because we have CHOSEN to be miserable. If we are compassionate, it is because we have CHOSEN that path. There is no one to blame; no one to thank. We determine who we will become.

And so, the Yamim Noraim offer us a moment in time to reflect. Do we like what we have become? Can we be "better?" Can we change? Can we grow? If we are honest in our reflections, we will recognize that each of us can do better. There are many stumbling blocks in the way, to be sure. But they are all external forces. There is but one true force which permits us to alter our ways. And that is our own internal "neshamot" (souls). God has given each of us the power to determine our own destinies vis-a-vis other human beings. We have free will to push others away or to embrace mightily.

May these days of Elul encourage us to reflect. We have control. Our lives are NOT pre-destined. Who do we wish to become in this New Year?

Temple Israel
Columbus, Ohio