Rabbi Angela Buchdahl on Rosh Hashanah, and a return to "our better selves"

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On the eve of the Jewish New Year, we have thoughts from Angela Buchdahl, senior rabbi at Central Synagogue in New York. Her new book, "Heart of a Stranger," is about her journey to becoming the first Asian American to be ordained as a rabbi.

At Rosh Hashanah, we count the years since God created the world, this year being the year 5,786 (give or take a few billion years!).

While this is a season of joy and community gathering, the New Year also begins a season of atonement, where we take an accounting of who we are, and how we can do better. We believe that, with repentance, people – and societies – can change.

This idea of taking stock as we approach a New Year may sound familiar. Many Americans make New Year's resolutions on January 1: Resolving to learn a new skill, lose 15 pounds, or call their mother more often.

This examination happens on Rosh Hashanah, too, but magnified. Jews come together and reflect for hours in synagogue, literally beating our chests as we read through a scripted litany of ways we have fallen short: For spreading lies or hateful speech; for acting callously towards others; for selfishness and greed. The list goes on.

But importantly, we don't confess individually. We do it communally. We take responsibility for one another, and hold each other accountable.

Sounds like it could be an unpleasant way to celebrate a New Year! But it's a fundamentally hopeful message: There is joy in knowing we can change.

This repentance in Hebrew is called Teshuvah, which literally means "return." What are we returning to?

To our better selves. To who we know we can be, as human beings, and as a society.

Imagine if we, as a country, could make teshuvah together? Not pointing fingers to the other side, saying, You're the problem. But collectively:

We have ignored the vulnerable. We have normalized mass violence. We have celebrated the death of opponents. We have rewarded outrage over understanding. We have forgotten how to grieve, and how to hope together.

On the cusp of this New Year, I know we can return, to the best in ourselves, to the best in our country, to the goodness, compassion and generosity that this nation has shown me, as an immigrant, Korean female rabbi.

Wishing you L'Shana Tova.

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