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by Marc Rosenstein
(Originally published in Galilee Diary and Ten Minutes of Torah)

When people ask me what prompted me to become a rabbi, I often tell them about my love of Jewish learning, or Israel, or a desire to help, or some such noble pursuit. The truth is, what really prompted me to become a rabbi was Chuck Taylor sneakers.

Every year for 30 years, I’ve sat in a temple sanctuary on the High Holidays and watched a movie. It’s a movie only I can see – flashbacks of all the times I recall over the past 52 weeks when I didn’t measure up to the standards of my head, heart, and soul.

Last year, my rabbis asked me to give a speech on Yom Kippur afternoon about creating a day of ultimate tranquility on the "Sabbath of Sabbaths." I expressed my

Last month, I received this "Voice Use Update" email message from my cell phone company:

Last year at this season, something surprising appeared in my inbox. It was a response to a challenge:

“Describe a significant experience that has happened in the past year. How did it affect you? Are you grateful? Relieved? Resentful? Inspired?”

A new year is a time to reflect, a time to repair, and a time to renew.