Neal Harris’ notes on Rabbi Frand’s Teshuva Drasha: Painting Your Masterpiece.
The metaphor of Yonah is not just to think about our faults. We need to think about our mission. That’s Yonah. We live in an era today where the phrase “mission statement†is said hundreds, if not thousands of times a day. Everyone is talking about their “mission statementâ€. Fortune 500 companies and also ma and pa businesses have their “mission statementâ€. Yonah’s mission statement was to go to Nineveh. What’s your mission statement.?
Jonathon Rosenblum on Mission Possible.
By identifying the point of intersection between our talents, passions, and that which the society needs, we can begin to identify the mission for which we alone were created.
Rabbi Yaacov Haber on Shabbos Shuva.
This Covenant requires us to search our souls deeply for ways in which we can improve ourselves and improve the world. It requires us to identify any weaknesses that we may have, and make a project of strengthening ourselves.
Rabbi Noson Weisz on Apocalypse Now?, written right after 9/11.
We have surrendered a great deal for the sake of the illusion of being able to control our own fate without anyone’s help. Let us be wise and voluntarily abandon the illusion now. Let us do teshuva this Yom Kippur and stand before our Creator and inform Him that He has shown us enough. There is no need for more – we get the message. Please spare us the rest.
Rebbetzin Heller on Asking G-d for Forgiveness.
TZARARNU: We afflicted others.
Even in situations where harsh words are demanded, whenever we go beyond what is called for, we are accountable for the pain suffered by every unnecessary word. While we may be just letting off steam, our victims may believe every word that we say. The result can be a tragic diminishment of their self-esteem.
