Titzvah

09/28/2009

Today, is the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.
It is on this day we ask for forgiveness for the sins which we have done in the last year to others, ourself and to the lord.
We fast away our sins to once again, make us free to start the new year.
Just as Rosh Hashana opened THE BOOK, the book is closed on Yom Kippur and judgement is past for how we will do for the following year.

Today's serman my Rabbi spoke of hope. A hope for the following year.
He told us a story about a doctor who was diagnosed with the very spacific cancer which he has treated so many other of in his own practice. On his way home he picked a dafadill and when he got home, he planted it in his yard. He did not believe he would see the flower blossom but he hoped he would. After many month of chemo therapy and other painful procedures, he did in fact, get to see that flower blossom. He was able to see it blossom for many years to come. For it was hope he had and it was that, which kept him going.

My Rabbi also spoke of hope vs being obstamistic.
He also spoke of Mosis who saw the burning bush in the desert and how the lord spoke his true name to mossis. This word is translated to be "I will be one I will be" A future tense. Giving Mossis hope for his people. Hope is a future tense word. You can not hope for the past and the "now" because if you hope, what are we hoping for? That which is in the future. The future may be 10 years ago from now but the future, can also be 10 minutes from now.

I love the word hope and fell inlove with the word when I was in my advance graduate program taking a class on school counseling. I have told this story before but it is worth sharing again. I will warn you though, it does not have a happy ending.

The year was 1998, in a little town in the state of Origan a somemore student in highschool named Kip,never felt as he belonged. The way he dressed, the way he acted, the thoughts that were in his head and in his personal journal. He never had hope. He knew that he would amount to nothing. He was not smart. He was not strong, although he tried to play for the football team. He never had dreams, goals or hope.   His father thought at the age of 12 that it would be good to do something that would bond him and his son. He bought his son his own gun. He taught him the danger of a gun and showed him how to lock it up and that it would only be used on the shooting range with his father next to him. The son got to be very good at target shooting on the range with his father.

Mean while, in school, Kip was still a loner. Until one day he saw this beautiful lady who's name was Hope.  She was in the class ahead of him, wearing black. He thought that he would never get a chance to be with her.

She was a smart lady who although had friends, liked to be a little different and never knew of anyone like herself untill she was approached by this guy who was wearing black too. She heard of him from  around school. He was "wierd" and "quiet". No one would talk to him but when he walked up to her, she'd
figure she would give this kid a chance.

Over the next few months Kip's attitude was getting better and his grades were too. His parents knew that it was because of this girl he was seeing.

In his journal he wrote that he found Hope. He found a reason to believe and to live.

However, he started to get obsessed with Hope. He had to know where she was at all time. Hope warned him that he needs to back off a bit. However, he did not listen to Hope and soon, Hope broke up with him.  

He was left without hope again. He figured there was no point in living any longer. He took one of his many guns he had collecting, shot both his mother and father as they were coming home from work indevisually. The next day he drove to school, walked into a class room with a loaded gun and preceided
to fire a round. A football player wrestled him to the ground and knocked the gun from his hands. ... 8 high school students along with his own parents were shot dead.
He pleeded insanity, the judge gave him life.

please, never lose hope. She will always be in your heart and mine.  

I have lots of hope for this coming year for not only myself, but my friends and family as we all as indevisuals and as one, go forward in our lives.

Titzvah = hope in Hebrew