Embrace Change

Most of us don't enjoy the change. Better to use my current phone and not get it updated, because I know how to use it.

I enjoy my Microsoft computer and regardless of how many people tell me to move to a mac, I stay with what I know. Perhaps just to avoid the change.

Change however is inevitable. When it happens, or when we are forced to make a change, we need to do what we can to make it a change for the positive.

The first mitzvah of the Torah, brought in this week’s Torah portion, is to bless the new month and to count the Jewish calendar according to the lunar cycle.

The lunar cycle is an integral part of the Jewish way of life.

I am not an astronomer, however, it’s clear that the moon constantly changes. The sun, on the other hand, is overall steady.

That Hashem made this the first mitzvah that He gave to the Jewish people as a nation teaches us how important it is to embrace change.

Everything is always changing! As life continues, we can try to resist the changes, or we can embrace them. By embracing the vicissitudes of life and finding that they are a blessing for us, they end up being a positive change. The mind shift makes us and the world around us more connected to each other and to G-d Almighty.

Have a good Shabbos,
Rabbi Kushi Schusterman