How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?

by Rabbi Ed Rosenthal, Founder and CEO

A man was on his way to a concert in New York City. Being from out of town and somewhat disorientated, he stopped another person on the street and asked: “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?”  The other person looked him in the eyes, and with a wry smile said: “Practice.” 

We will soon be entering the Hebrew month of Elul, the month preceding Rosh HaShanah and the New Year. Elul is a month of preparation. In many synagogues, the Shofar is sounded every day throughout the entire month to help us prepare for Rosh HaShanah. The custom of sounding the Shofar is based on the famous words of the Rambam (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, 1135-1204):

עוּרוּ יְשֵׁנִים מִשְּׁנַתְכֶם וְנִרְדָּמִים הָקִיצוּ מִתַּרְדֵּמַתְכֶם וְחַפְּשׂוּ בְּמַעֲשֵׂיכֶם וְחִזְרוּ בִּתְשׁוּבָה וְזִכְרוּ בּוֹרַאֲכֶם

Wake up, sleepers, from your sleep! And slumberers, arise from your slumber! Search your ways and return in repentance, and remember your Creator!

                                                                                       Mishna Torah: Laws of Repentance 3:4

By sounding the Shofar every day during Elul, the intention is to motivate the individual to examine their behavior and their ways, take account of their lives and prepare for true “repentance.” In this context, repentance means to change our negative behavior. I have always found the question of preparation to be interesting. What does it mean to prepare for something? Merriam-Webster defines “Prepare” as: to make ready beforehand for some purpose, use, or activity; to put in a proper state of mind.  

A musician can practice for years, but if they don’t take the audition, they’ll never make it to Carnegie Hall. Similarly, we can hear the Shofar every day throughout Elul, but if we don’t actually change our negative behavior, then the preparation was for nothing. 

If you have been reading this newsletter, whether for a month or for a year, then you know about the damage that plastic pollution is doing to the Ocean. If you’ve been reading this newsletter, then you know that overfishing is emptying the Ocean. If you’ve been reading this newsletter, then you know that PFAFs (forever chemicals) are poisoning our water. But if you’ve been reading this newsletter, then you also know that information without action is like practicing a musical instrument without taking the audition. Information only becomes knowledge when that information is actualized. We can talk about plastic pollution forever, but until you personally remove plastic and other debris from your local waterfront, it was just another interesting article in the Tikkun HaYam newsletter. Just like a traditional Tashlich; you can throw as many pebbles as you like into the water to caste off the negativity from the previous year, but if you don’t make an effort to actually change your behavior, you’ll just be making splashes. 

So, consider this your Shofar for Elul. Maimonides said “Wake up! Search your ways and return in repentance, and remember your Creator.” I would add: Remember that our Creator given us a gift of a perfect Creation…but WE are not being good stewards of that gift. With all the information you have received, now is the time to turn that information into knowledge by taking action. 

Our Reverse Tashlich is taking place in a few weeks. It’s scheduled for September 6^th (the Sunday before Rosh HaShanah), but because the holidays this year all fall over weekends, we have extended the period to hold your Reverse Tashlich from August 23^rd until Simchat Torah. Any team that holds a cleanup during that period, and registers on our website, will be considered a Reverse Tashlich and part of the global movement. To register a team or to find a team near you CLICK HERE.  If you can’t join a team, then help us advance our work by making a meaningful contribution to Tikkun HaYam.

There are others ways to turn information into action:

• Buy a reusable water bottle and stop paying exorbitant prices for water in plastic bottles.

• Pack food in reusable containers instead of single-use plastic bags.

• Utilize reusable shopping bags and say no to single-use plastic bags at the grocery store.

• Reduce your consumption of fish and meat.

• Of course…join a Reverse Tashlich Team to start the New Year off properly.

These are all simple ways to make a difference, and to wake up from our slumber to make the world a better place for everyone; and making the world a better place for everyone is just one of the ways that a Jew welcomes the New Year.