Prepare. Are we ever really ready? Can we be? Writing this blog has helped me prepare. So has talking with friends and family, reading lots of books, shopping for a new dress, polishing silver, changing the linens from blue to white, singing on the bimah, adjusting the mikes and hiking at Starved Rock. Am I ready? No. It will be what it will be. I hope that it is enough. It will be enough. G-d does not demand perfection, even in preparation. G-d only demands that we try. That we return. That we turn. If you take the first step, G-d will meet you half way.

“Like water, teshuvah is both destructive and creative. It dissolves the person you were but simultaneously provides the moisture you need to grow anew. It erodes the hard edges of your willfulness but also refreshens your spirit. It can turn the tallest barriers of moral blindness into rubble while it also gently nourishes the hidden seeds of hope buried deep in your soul. Teshuvah, like water, has the power both to wash away past sin and to shower you with the blessing of a new future, if only you trust it and allow yourself to be carried along in its current.” Dr. Louis Newman

When we were walking in Starved Rock, we climbed to the highest point, Eagle’s Cliff Overlook. It was beautiful and we felt we were on the top of the world. We then started hiking back. There were sign posts along the way. They were each marked with a single word, “Return”. I took a picture of one at the start of a bridge. I was thinking of Nachman of Bratslav’s words which have become a popular Jewish camp song, Kol ha’olam kulo, gesher tzar me’od. V’ha’ikar, lo lefachda klal” The whole world is a narrow bridge, the central thing is to not be afraid.”

Don’t be afraid. The central thing is to return. G-d is waiting. We don’t have to complete the journey but we have to begin.

When we got back home and I looked at the picture, a rainbow appeared in the picture. I didn’t see it on the trail! It is a reminder that G-d is ever present and will not destroy G-d’s beautiful creation.

We have looked at the 13 Attributes from many perspectives and that study has enriched me immeasurably. When I hear these strains this week I will reflect on what each of you has taught me.

As children, when playing Hide and Seek, the person who was “It” would hide his or her eyes, count to some impossibly high number while the others hid and then call out, “Ready or not here I come!”. In the story of Adam and Eve, after they eat of the apple, perhaps the pommegranite some of us will taste for New Year’s, G-d calls out, “Where are you?,” in some kind of Divine game of hide and seek. Doesn’t G-d know where they are? The answer to that is yes. However, G-d is waiting for their return. Sometimes it seems that we hide from G-d and sometimes it seems as though G-d hides from us. Sometimes we are surprised by G-d, like with the sign saying “Return” and then the hidden rainbow.

So here we go. We have counted to 13. I know I am not quite ready, but “Ready or not here I come!” Ready to seek the One G-d, to seek G-d’s presence, to return to G-d. May this be a sweet year, a fulfilling year, one filled with peace, with sustenance, with health.