This Rosh Hashana, Be Afraid. Kind of Afraid.
Rosh Hashana is nigh, and Yom Kippur is right around the corner. You know what that means - the Annual Jewish Anxiety Festival is in full swing! If you weren’t whipped up to a frenzy during the past thirty days, you still have another ten days to put your life in order.Rather than focusing on specific behaviors that we should or shouldn’t be doing, let’s focus on relationships. Our default relationship with God is influenced heavily by how we were parented. Think about this for a moment. Was your upbringing fear-based or love-based? And currently, what motivates your relationship with God? Is it fear or love?
If it sounds like I’m being cynical, I’m not (well, maybe a tiny bit oozed out. Sorry about that). I’m actually just trying to get your attention. Let’s look at the upside here. Anxiety can be a very good thing. We all need a little anxiety to get us going.
Think about it. Without anxiety, would you prepare for a job interview? Study for a test? Practice a speech?
You wouldn’t. Why should you? You’ll do fine. You’re smart and talented. And, without preparation, you may fall flat on your face. Anxiety is what propels you to prepare, to put away the smartphone and pull out your notes.
All those examples - speeches, tests, interviews - have one thing in common: deadlines. We all want to do well, and a hard deadline can light the fire under us to make sure that we’re ready. Well, God knew what He was doing. Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are quite the formidable deadline.
If that works for you, great. Get working on your character, and stop reading this piece.
For everyone else, though, there’s a slight problem.
Anxiety is healthy, yes, but only up to a point. Think of the relationship between your productivity and your anxiety like a bell curve (college statistics...talk about anxiety). Once your anxiety reaches an invisible threshold (the top of the curve), your productivity drops. You become too anxious to get anything done, and you suddenly find yourself procrastinating.
The same thing applies when we think about the severity of Rosh Hashana and the judgement of Yom Kippur. If we are anxious about our future in a healthy way, we can work to change. But if we are too anxious, we’re sunk.
And so I suggest that you be afraid, but not too afraid. Be anxious, but only anxious enough. Calm your chopped liver. Be productive this holiday. Connect with God, and know that He loves you. He only wants you to be anxious if that helps you come closer to Him.
May you continue to grow in your spirituality and in your relationship with God in this New Year. Shana Tova to you and yours!