9/10/2001 was one of the happiest days of my life. We celebrated Ben's bris at home -- I feel honored to have witnessed my son being brought into the Jewish people and their covenant, and I felt the presence of my grandfathers as we gave Ben their Hebrew names, Chaim (life) and Velvel (wolf).
The mohel gave a wonderful teaching about how it takes just one person to change the world, and each new soul brought into the world has an equal chance of being that one. I was filled with joy and hope for this new little life.
The next morning, 9/11/2001, I woke to what I thought was Bob Edwards reading a fiction excerpt on NPR's Morning Edition.
The first tower had just fallen.
"It's just gone," the on-scene reporter said.
I spent the day cuddling my new baby in the back of our TV room, wondering what kind of world we had brought this precious life into.
But I still remembered what the rabbi said, and I whispered to Ben, "Maybe you're the one."
But just in case he's not, you and I should be "the one" too.
The Jewish New year is around the corner, and it's the time of year when we Jews reflect deeply on the past year, consider what we have done to damage and heal the world and those we share it with, and make plans for the next year.
Why not plan to try and be the soul that saves the world?
What can you do in this next year to make a difference?
What will you commit to?
May we all do our part to bring peace and wholeness (shalom and shalem) to ourselves, our family, our neighborhoods, our cities, our states, our country, our world.
Shanah Tovah.