Running the Bases Towards Rosh Hashanah

Since coming to United Synagogue in 2010, each year has been like a strange baseball game for me where runners never leave the basepath once they get a hit. I run full speed into home, and instead of going to the dugout, I turn the corner and head straight for first base again. The High Holidays force me to finally get off the field and sit down.

Today as I head for the bench, I'm thinking back at how I rounded the bases in 2012-13:

• Traveled to Boston, Boca Raton, Birmingham, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Toronto, meeting about 400 people I never knew before.
• Spent 156 hours on retreat with 55 new and incoming synagogue presidents.
• And about 10 days on retreat with 70 United Synagogue staff and volunteers.
• Met 50 times with the team of staff and volunteers who have planned United Synagogue's Centennial Celebration.
• Answered 1,000 questions. Make that 2,000. And a number of them were trick questions designed to be posted online somewhere to prove a point I wasn't making.
• Wrote fewer blog posts than I did the previous year, but more reports and proposals.
• Thought 2 million thoughts. A day. Usually about synagogues and the people in them.
• Took a real vacation for the first time in three years. 

Tonight, I'll take my seat in the dugout. I'll have 10 days to reflect on what difference it made that I traveled so much, answered so many questions, and thought so much about things related to work. Before I judge my efforts harshly, telling myself that I should have spent more time on something else like volunteer work, exercise or sleep, I'd like to count, with gratitude, the blessings that came from all that base running:

• The stories of many of the people I met were interesting. Some were inspiring and unforgettable, and changed how I view the purpose of life.
• I learned that some people who ask difficult questions are not asking trick questions. I can find out the difference if I engage them instead of avoid them.
• When I spoke my mind, I was heard. When I disagreed, I was given the benefit of the doubt. When I asked for help, I got it. 
• I laughed thousands of times. 
• When I finally came home, I had a family and friends who were happy to see me.

Whether your annual game is baseball, rugby or ping pong, I hope that Rosh Hashanah begins your time out - to find a quiet place on the bench to take a breath, a sip of wine, and a moment to reflect on how your particular sport has changed you from one year to the next.

L'shanah tovah u'metukah.