Shanah Tovah! I'm very happy to see all of you again. This is one of my favorite times of the year, when I look out from the Bima and see all of your faces. I can remember when I first came and it was so overwhelming to see all these faces and not know who you were, but now when I look out I see familiar faces, faces with stories; faces that I've laughed with and cried with; faces that I have come to love. As we come together for the start of a New Year, everything is touched with anticipation, with potential, with promise. We are a people who hopes, in spite of everything that happens, regardless of all of life's disappointments, we are a people constantly hopeful. Rosh Hashanah is an opportunity for a new beginning, for a fresh start, a do-over. The question is what will we do with this opportunity?

Jewishly we call this opportunity Teshuvah, a Hebrew word not so easy to translate, that most often is rendered as Repentance or Return. Teshuvah is our opportunity to transform ourselves from who we are to who want to be. Teshuvah is central to Judaism; it touches on our relationship to God, our interpersonal dynamics and even our moral character. Teshuvah is our acknowledgement of our free will, confirmation that we can change our future; our path is not fixed and frozen.

So how do we repent? The great medieval rabbi, Maimonides, teaches that the process of teshuvah begins when we acknowledge that we have made a mistake, we regret having made it, we seek to fix it, to set things right or if we cannot at least to offer compensation and then finally vow not to do it again. It is the traditional Jewish way to approach change, but it is not so easy to do. As anyone who has experienced a 12-Step Program can attest, unless and until one sees a problem, no change can or will take place.

But this is not the only way to achieve teshuvah, Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav made a different suggestion. He suggests we begin by recognizing what is right and good in someone. "'Know!' He writes 'You must judge all people favorably. Even if you have reason to think that a person is completely wicked, you must search until you seek out some bit of goodness, some place in that person where he is not evil. When you find that bit of goodness and judge the person that way, you may really raise him up to goodness. Treating people this way allows them to be restored, to come to teshuva...'"

It has been written, Here, Rabbi Nachman offers a gift for those of us who struggle to let go of grudges, to see beyond the frustrated personality traits of friends and relatives, to open our hearts to people who have hurt us in the past. Sometimes, Rabbi Nachman acknowledges, full forgiveness is too hard to achieve in one go. And yet, this does not need to discourage us entirely. Even taking one step, seeing one good element in another human being, is a worthy exercise, because our small step will help enable that person to change.

Let me tell you a Chassidic story that Shlomo Carlebach used to tell, that was shared with me by my friend and colleague Rabbi Herman Savitz, to illustrate this point. Two orphans once became engaged and the entire community banded together to make their wedding. However, on the day of the wedding, an anti-Semitic policeman threw the groom in jail and demanded the huge sum of 10,000 rubles from the Jewish community for his release. Their leading rabbi, the Alter Rebbe, realized that the only source for that princely sum of money was Ze'ev the Miser, a man notorious for cutting himself off from the community and never giving tzedakah. In fact, he had threatened to shoot anyone who came by looking for money.

Realizing that he had to help this unfortunate couple, the Alter Rebbe approached the home of Ze'ev the Miser, who was shocked to see anyone coming to his door. The Alter Rebbe spoke, "Forgive us, we wouldn't have the audacity to ask you for help, but we have no choice. This young orphan boy's wedding is tonight; the police chief arrested him for no reason and will not release him unless we raise 10,000 rubles."

Ze'ev the Miser got tears in his eyes. "This is a most heartbreaking story. Certainly, I will help you!" He went into his office, came back and gave the Alter Rebbe one penny – one lousy, filthy penny. Instead of jumping down the Misers throat for this miserly gift, the Alter Rebbe instead spoke warmly and lovingly to the Miser until the Miser pleaded that he wanted to do more – and he gave a second penny. Instead of displaying impatience or disapproval, the Alter Rebbe praised his giving whatever he gave. Finally, out came a ruble, then 10 rubles, then 100 rubles, then 1000 rubles until he had given over the 10,000 rubles they needed. The Alter Rebbe shook the Miser's hand and ran to the police officer to give him the 10,000 rubles to free the unfortunate young groom.

Meanwhile the policeman decided to run away with the money, so he drank a glass of vodka to celebrate his new fortune. Then he had a second vodka and then another until he was drunk; he jumped on his wagon with the money and was racing out of town until he crashed into the bridge at the edge of town and bag with the 10,000 rubles flew out of the wagon and landed at the feet of Ze'ev the Miser who was at the wedding near the river. The old Ze'ev surely would have kept the money, but now he gave the money as a wedding gift to the couple.

Later someone asked the Alter Rebbe how he knew what to do with the old miser to get him to give the 10,000 rubles. The Alter Rebbe explained, Ze'ev the Miser only had the strength to give one penny, but no one would take just one penny from a man with his wealth. By accepting that first penny with love and appreciation, we gave him the strength to give a second and then a third. The more he gave, the more he wanted to give until he had given the princely sum of 10,000 rubles.

Shlomo Carlebach typically concludes: "The deepest Torah is that much as you need physical strength to do work, you also need spiritual strength to do a mitzvah. And it is up to us to welcome little deeds as a way of opening people up to be able to give/do so much more."

We become agents of change for others; teshuvah becomes an interactive process whereby our actions facilitate the change in others. We know that all life is interconnected, so this becomes a new way to look at teshuvah. I find comfort in thinking about it in this way. So often life can feel overwhelming, all the obligations that we have upon us. Change can feel so, so hard to do. We need to be reminded that change is within our grasp. The challenge is beginning.

There is another story where a rabbi on the eve of Rosh Hashanah asked his students, "How far is it from east to west?" One student eagerly responded, "Hundreds of miles!" Another shouted, "Thousands!" A third proudly replied, "22,000 miles, the circumference of the earth!" The Rabbi shaking his head calmly spoke, "My friends, the distance from east to west is just one step; all you have to do is put one foot forward & turn yourself around to be facing the opposite direction."

The challenge is in seeing the solution, if you're out there with your measuring tape, then you won't reach your goal. You have to be able to change your perspective to see the solution, never an easy task. Once you can see the answer, then achieving it becomes at least manageable.

It is important to remember that often it is the small step, or the little act that makes a huge difference. There was once a little boy wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so one day he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and root beer; and started off on his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old woman in the park. She was sitting on a bench just staring at some pigeons. The boy sat down next to her opened his suitcase and took out a root beer. He was about to take a drink when he noticed that the old lady looked hungry, so he offered her a Twinkie. She gratefully accepted it and smiled at him. Her smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered her a root beer. Once again, she smiled at him. The boy was delighted.

They sat there, the two of them, all afternoon, eating Twinkies, drinking root beer and smiling, but they never said a word. As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the old woman and gave her a big hug! She gave him her biggest smile yet.

When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?" He replied, "I had lunch with God." And before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what? She's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"

Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home; her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face and he asked, "Mother, what did you do today that made you so happy?" She replied, "I ate Twinkies in the park with God." And before her son responded, she added, "You know he's much younger than I expected."

We have come this day to seek God, but we also come to meet and speak with our fellow Jews, we help create and are a part of a loving and sacred community. We never know where we will find God nor when we will help others to find God, but the teshuvah, the turning, we seek to bring change into our lives is a path that we can travel together. A very personal path that can be a shared adventure as each of us seeks to become the person we are meant to be. May you find your path for the coming year and may your trip be filled with smiles.

Wishing you a Shanah Tovah, a good, a very good New Year!