Epiphany
1 Elul, 5771
August 30, 2011
What was the moment that changed everything?
e·piph·a·ny: noun. a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple or commonplace experience.
Revelation. An insight.
Maybe it struck you at Yom Kippur services. Maybe at Yosemite. Maybe on the treadmill.
Today is the first day of Elul, the month leading up to Rosh Hashanah. If done right, the High Holy Days can wake us and shake us and reshape our lives. But for the holy magic of the holidays to kick in next month, we have to start preparing and repairing now. Last year, I asked you to share a story about a time when you unstuck yourself. Hundreds of you submitted your stories - heartbreaking, hilarious, profound and inspiring - and we created UNSTUCK, a sacred testament to our ability to let go and grow, to unstick.
This year, we are collecting our best stories of epiphany to affirm one of the core spiritual claims of the High Holy Days: that every day can be the birth of something completely new. That, as Rabbi Moshe of Kobrin taught, "a single moment of illuminated awareness is worth more than all the wealth of the world."
Think of a time - maybe this past year, maybe years ago - when an experience or realization changed you forever. It can be big or small: an extraordinary event you witnessed or a small comment you overheard in a crowded coffee shop. What matters is that it changed you. It gave you hope. It exposed a truth. It awakened in you the need to shift course. It broke your heart or it helped you begin to heal. It offered perspective on the tangled mess of love and loss. We'll compile our best, most inspiring stories to share with the community at Rosh Hashanah this year.
Please take some time over the next couple of hours or weeks and send me a paragraph or two. You can submit anonymously or include your name. The more stories we get, the better. And once again, extra points if you make me cry.
Please take a few minutes and join me in this exercise. And hodesh tov - I pray that it is a month of inspiration and mobilization. I look forward to celebrating new possibilities with you.
L'shalom,
Rabbi Sharon Brous