Shanah Tovah from Progressive Field
On September 3rd I went to an Indians game (thank you, Robert Rosenthal!). It was a great game, with Mike Clevenger pitching beautifully for seven innings against the White Sox. The Tribe was playing well - up 5-2 after a three-run homer from Roberto Perez, and judging by the mood in the stadium, everyone seemed positive that the Indians were going to get the W.
Carlos Carrasco came in from the bullpen in the eighth inning to close the game, and the crowd went wild. They were cheering him on for his comeback to baseball after missing three months due to a Leukemia diagnosis. Convinced by the confidence of the crowd that this game was already in the bag, I decided to beat the post-game traffic and left the stadium early, figuring that I'd catch the final inning of the game on the way home.
Guess what happened? The confidence ended up turning into over-confidence. Chicago hit back-to-back homers and ended up winning by a final score of 6-5.
I have been thinking about this a lot over the past few weeks as a lesson of the danger of feeling overconfident.
On Rosh Hashanah each and every one of us undergoes an annual review from the Master CEO. While it's important for us to be forward-focused and think of ways to improve for the upcoming year (Rosh Hashanah resolutions, mitzvah challenges) it's equally important to look back on the previous year and focus not just on the negativity (there's plenty of time for that on Yom Kippur!), but also on the areas of our lives that we improved over the previous year. Those are great spiritual milestones for us to be proud of, both to take advantage of as springboards for another year of personal growth, as well as for us to feel confident that G-d will judge us favorably on this Judgement Day.
But proceed with caution. Confidence is important, but overconfidence by resting on our laurels can be perilous. In truth Rosh Hashanah is a paradox. It is both a Day of Judgment and a day of celebration; a healthy balance of joy and confidence, tempered with an awareness of the weighty nature of the day is in order. Let's coin a new Rosh Hashanah term here: Cautious Confidence!
On behalf of Ruchi and myself, I would like to wish our entire community a happy and a healthy new year. May all of our prayers be answered and may it be a year of growth, success and peace for all of us, for all of Israel and for the entire world. Shanah Tovah!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Koval
