We jump on planes so casually. We get on in one place and a few hours later step off somewhere completely different, often thinking more about the delay, the cramped seat, or how long it is taking to get our luggage than about the wonder of what just happened. On my last flight, a family boarded alongside me with several children who had never flown before. Their excitement was bubbling over. They wanted to see everything and understand everything. As I watched them, I turned to the person next to me and said that all I had been thinking about was our hour delay. Somewhere along the way, what was extraordinary had become ordinary.
In this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tavo, Moshe tells the Jewish people, “Pay attention and listen, Israel! Today you have become a people to Hashem, your G-d.” Why “today”? The Jewish people had already entered into a covenant with Hashem. Our sages explain that these words teach us to experience our relationship with Hashem as though it is being formed anew each day. Not as something inherited from yesterday, but as something fresh and alive today. This idea takes on even greater meaning as we approach Rosh Hashanah, when we renew our bond with Hashem and celebrate the creation of Adam and of the world itself. In a sense, creation begins again, and so can we.
The countdown to Rosh Hashanah is on, with less than three weeks to go. Perhaps part of preparing is simply learning to see with fresh eyes again. We become accustomed to so much in our lives, our families, our blessings, our Judaism, even our relationship with Hashem. Like boarding an airplane, we can forget how remarkable it all really is. Rosh Hashanah reminds us that we are not trapped by yesterday’s habits or yesterday’s perspective. The world is being created anew, our relationship with Hashem is being renewed, and we are invited to renew ourselves along with it. Maybe this year we can bring back a little of that childlike wonder and recognize the extraordinary hiding inside the things we have come to see as ordinary.