This week, we start reading the Torah from the beginning. Literally. Bereishit - the beginning of time.
Each year, we complete the cycle, only to start it up again. Why? Once we've heard the stories, studied the laws, celebrated the holidays, why the need to put this song on repeat?
How many times can you read your favorite novel, watch your favorite series, or eat at your favorite restaurant? Isn't it time to put this one down for a while?
The key to this mystery is happening this week. The World Series.
Each year at Spring Training the teams begin an exacting regimen of preparation. Each year on Opening Day, the players suit up in their uniforms. For 162 games, they show up to the stadium for nine innings of play. And each October, the nation watches as the best teams face off in a battle of wills and skills.
And whether it's the most decorated team, or it's the Chicago Cubs with a 108-year dearth of championships, one thing is clear. Every team shows up, ready to give it their all. Each year, and in fact, each game, has the potential for unprecedented excitement, historic achievements, unforeseen twists and turns. Pundits, players, and fans find newfound enthusiasm over and over again.
It's Opening Day. The Torah is back in play for another season. Give it your best shot. If your team didn't succeed in finding meaning in the Religious School of your youth, now is your chance. If you've heard it all already, show up in your freshly pressed jersey, knowing that with this game, there is always a surprise.
A curveball of a question to lob at the Rabbi, a groundout of something that you thought you knew all about, the thrill of playing a different team today, or perhaps a homerun message that will resonate with your life.
Wednesday, the season begins with a fascinating new course called Torah Studies that will challenge what you already knew, inform you on things that you didn't, and breath new life into this timeless pastime. It's the bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, with 2 outs. And you're at bat.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Dovid Bush
ב"ה