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The Short Vort- -“Now You Are All Set” (9/5/10)
The Short Vort
Good Morning!
Today is Sunday the 26th of Elul 5770 and September 5, 2010
Now You Are All Set
The year was 1967 and the Red Sox were playing the Cardinals in the World Series.
All of the boys in the class knew about Carl Yastrzemski and Bob Gibson more than they knew about their pesukim in Chumash.
First day Rosh Hashanah was October 5, 1967 and the Red Sox defeated the Cardinals at Fenway Park 5-0!
In Brooklyn a small young child is experiencing his first Rosh Hashanah when he can go to Shul by himself.
As the young boy makes his way to Shul, he decides to explore the different rooms and crannies of the Shul before making his way to sit next to his father.
There are two minyanim going on in the Shul; the upstairs minyan with a Chazzan and the downstairs ‘over-flow’ minyan where things move a little quicker.
Being that his father has ‘tickets’ downstairs, the little boy decides to wonder upstairs to check things out.
He enters the large Shul where all are the men are decked in Talleisim and seemingly engrossed in tefillah.
As the boy takes a few steps into the room, he decides to be one of the ‘big men’ and grabs a talis to wrap himself in. As his body is not quite big enough to accommodate the large Talis, it hangs improperly and begins to fall off.
An older gentleman approaches the boy and gingerly assists the boy in putting on his talis.
The older gentleman adjusts the boy’s talis, and then gives him a siddur and proudly announces to the boy, “Now you are all set!”
The boy looks at the man somewhat quizzically and wonders to himself, “What exactly am I all set for?”
It’s been almost 43 years since that incident occurred in my life.
And I still do not know the answer to the question, “What exactly am I all set for?”
Meaning, how often on Rosh Hashanah do we do exactly as the elderly gentleman did to me 43 years ago?
We have all the clothes and all the moves, we have all the outer trimmings which allow the person on the outside to assume that ‘we are all set’; however, are we really ‘all set’?
Is that what Rosh Hashanah is all about?
Wearing the Talis in the exact proper way and opening the Siddur to the correct page?
Does that cause us to be ‘all set’?
It’s been 43 years since the elderly Jew adjusted my Talis in Brooklyn; I did not feel ‘all set’ backthen, and I still do not feel ‘all set’ today.
Three days and counting….