Every year, when the sound of the shofar blares at the beginning of the new moon, I am reminded of a teaching I heard years ago in one of our synagogues:
“Although the blowing of the New Year’s shofar is a biblical command without reason, it does indicate the following: “Awake from your slumbers and sleepers from your deep sleep and examine your deeds. Repent and think about your Creator!”. Those of you who in the midst of your daily futile activities have forgotten the truth: “all your dreams are fleeting vanity, useless nothingness.” The warning is addressed to them: “Look within yourselves and make your ways and actions better! Let every one of you leave your evil way and your wrong thought!” (Maimonides, Book of Mishnes, Laws of Repentance 3:4)
The words of our great medieval jurist, who is considered by many to be the greatest Jewish philosopher of all time, sound as relevant in many ways as if he had addressed them directly to Hungarian Jewry in the 21st century. From my childhood in Győr, I remember that a significant part of the Jews living there woke up from their “sleep” only during our big autumn holidays, and only then did they come to the synagogue, but this is basically no different in today’s Hungary either. Reading Maimonides, however, it seems that the phenomenon of only Jews taking part in major holidays in the life of the community is not a product of the much-praised and cursed modernity, but was known in all ages. It is probably one of the basic psychological characteristics of human existence that we forget about the really important things “in the midst of daily futile activities”. How many times do we hear this from very “modern” people who live within a religious framework, that they realize at a certain stage of their lives: living in the dream world of everyday life, money, career and everyday tasks actually took their time away from much more important values: family, from friends and the community.
During the “outgoing” synagogue year, as president of the Association of Hungarian Jewish Faith Communities (Mazsihisz), I was committed to serving our fellow believers with an ever-expanding range of religious, cultural and social opportunities, regardless of age, interest, or gender: we organized countless programs that provided opportunities for community building and meetings or we supported the young, young generation, and of course we further deepened our already strong relationship with our older brothers in faith. In addition to all of this, we not only supported the operation of the institutions belonging to us on a professional and maintenance basis, but also began the “fine-tuning” of the association itself: we developed a medium-term strategy with core values, goals, and structure that increase cohesion and efficiency. In this, we followed Maimonides, who was also a doctor and community leader: he did not push the “wrong” down, but offered them guidance: it is natural that we tend to forget the really important things, but that is why we must constantly try to concentrate and return to our eternal values .
The heritage of the autumn holidays is universal: it is significant not only for all Jews, but for all people. All of us, religious and non-religious people, need the warning: don’t allow ourselves and our loved ones to forget our truly important values in the rush of everyday life. It would be wonderful if we were able to live as Rabbi Eliezer suggests in Pirke Avot: “Repent one day before you die!” (Chapters of the Fathers 2:10) Maimonides adds this explanation to this mishna: “A man never knows when he will die, perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow, so repent every day.” For most of us, this is an impossibly large task, precisely because of what Maimonides states: the activities of everyday life make a person sleepy from a spiritual point of view. From the first of the month until the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the sound of the shofar, the sound of the New Year’s shofar, and the blaring of the horn at the end of Yom all serve the same purpose: let us conduct self-examination in the area of our principles, beliefs, goals and, of course, our actions. We are not perfect, neither religious nor non-religious people, but the opportunity to reflect on ourselves is given to everyone. With the help of this, we are able to repent, i.e. to correct our sins against our fellow humans and the Eternal One. (If it is difficult for someone to understand the concept of sins against the Creator, then think about the eternal values and ideals that are beyond man, to which it is sometimes so difficult to remain faithful.) The universal message of the ten days of conversion, the jeme hatsuva of Aseret, is that we all need a period , when we break away from our everyday life and make room for self-reflection, regret and correcting our mistakes. During the autumn holidays, our synagogues offer everyone the wonderful opportunity to carry out this self-examination with the help of the community and to feel that a Jew is never alone, the gates of the Jewish community are open and you can enter them at any time!
Prof. dr. Andor Grósz, president of Mazsihisz
