Keeping the Flames Going

At this time of year, it is easy to forget that Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur ever were. Remember those long hours in the Shul? Remember those welled up tears as we remembered our loved ones and reflected on lost opportunities and foolish errors? Now that we're into the swing of things, those memories seem distant, almost surreal. Could I be the same person who spoke of repentance, danced wildly with the Torahs, and felt the sense of euphoria with the lulav? It seems as if from another existence.

Actually, our ingenious Jewish calendar is fully aware of the great fall from grace after the holidays. There is actually an ancient post high holiday series of fast days which address just this issue. It is called Taaniot Beha"b, the fast days of bet, hey, and bet, (BH"B, the second, 5th, and 2nd days of the week), observed on the Monday, Thursday, and Monday after Rosh Hodesh Heshvan (the month after the holidays). They are there to atone for the lost opportunities of the holidays, the prayers of Rosh Hashanah that didn't move us sufficiently to make a difference. They atone for the days of Succoth which we treated like any other day, the moments on Yom Kippur when  we lost focus of what it was all about. I would add that they atone for having climbed so high and yet having fallen so hard after the holidays.

In some way, this is also what Hanukah is about. One tradition has it that the year of Hanukah they were not able to celebrate Succoth. In an
attempt to atone for that lapse, they established Hanukah, also an eight
day holiday, to  make up for lost opportunities. time of year to reflect
on past omissions, and to try to do better, to try to get the candle
burning and the flames of Jewish passion rekindled.

At this time of year we also read of Isaac and Jacob. They had an
enormous task ahead of them; to continue the great traditions which
Abraham had established and not to slide back to the ways of Terah, the idolatrous father of Avraham. Isaac at first couldn't take the pressure.  Although he passed the test of the binding of Isaac with flying colors, not even flinching at his father's attempt at slaughter, he then
disappears, takes a time out, and goes to be with his mischievous but
spiritual brother, Ishmael in Beer Lahai Roiy (my theory). He misses his mother's funeral and is not even involved in selecting a proper bride,
as his dad does all the work. When he does establish a family, he again
toys with the murderous and worldly ways of his son Esav. Only Rivkah, a baalat teshuva, one who came to Judaism later in life, was able to save Isaac from himself and pass the scepter to Jacob.

Jacob too stood in danger of falling prey to the ways of Great Grandpa
Terach as he was forced to spend time in Terach's home town in Haran.  There he begins to stoop to Laban's level as he dreams of new ways to finagle some new sheep out of the deal. If G-d hadn't called him home, he may have become a yored, one who permanently gets lost in Diaspora, though he had intended only to stay a while.

In short, it's not easy to maintain a holy legacy, a holy mood, or a
spiritual high. We are all faced with the challenge of Isaac and Jacob.
How does one keep the flames of Judaism going? It is so hard to be good all the time. We even have a certain innate resistance to the idea of being a good boy and girl and doing everything as Momma would have ordered it. It's not easy to be a Jew. It's not easy to bear the
responsibility of maintaining the high Jewish standards to which we are held. It's not easy to maintain the highs of the High Holidays. But
Isaac and Jacob succeeded with the help of G-d, and so can we. Hanukah challenges us to rededicate ourselves (Hanukah means dedication) to all the ideals of the High Holidays, to rekindle the flames in case they've become extinguished.  As Jews, we have no choice but to be up for the
challenge.