In the intensity of Rosh Hashana or Yom Kippur, it is almost easy to decide, “This year, I will show up as my best self.”
Then the regular weekdays start rolling. Along with our habits and thought patterns that can keep us stuck in vicious cycles. And the people around us, the challenges we face – it’s all the same.
In a certain sense, Yomim Tovim are like the “pre-games,” and now we’re in the real game. Regular life.
How will this year actually be different? How will we show up with our better Self shining more brightly? Is it actually possible?
Hashem gives us Shabbos Beraishis, a Shabbos filled with tremendous Light and empowerment, to carry us into the year ahead with greater strength.
Every Shabbos is like a pitcher that’s filled to the top. It pours Light and energy into the entire week ahead.
This Shabbos is called “Shabbos Bereishis,” because we read the first parsha of the Torah, known as Beraishis. It is also the Shabbos Mevorchim of Cheshvan, the Shabbos that pours blessings into the month ahead.
This Shabbos, Shabbos Bereishis, is the first “ordinary” Shabbos, and the beginning of the entire year’s real, regular, non-Yom-Tov life.
If every Shabbos is like a pitcher, this Shabbos is a massive, mega-bucket, a tank that spills over into every day, and every minute that's coming up this year.
The Rebbe RaYatz said, “How we establish ourselves on Shabbos Beraishis is how the entire year ahead flows.”
Whatever you put into the pitcher, that’s what pours out of it.
So too this Shabbos, as we absorb the Light and empowerment that Hashem is giving us, and as we make firm decisions about who we are and how we engage in our lives and relationships, we are filling up our pitcher for the year ahead. As we establish ourselves this Shabbos is how the entire year ahead will flow.
So, let’s make this a wonderful, meaningful, elevating Shabbos!
Let’s take some time to say Tehillim, learn, reflect, connect with ourselves, with our Creator, with our Purpose. And let’s share the joy with everyone in our lives 😊
Wishing you a good Shabbos and a good Chodesh!
