If you had to pick the single most essential personal quality to be working on right now, what would it be?  Let me place this question in a context by sharing three recent conversations.

One was from a beloved long-time member who really misses coming to services on Shabbat morning.  She misses it so much that she has counted exactly how many Shabbatot it has been since she was last in shul.  At the time we spoke, she had not been in shul for 25 Shabbatot.

A second was from a wonderful couple that told me how much they used to love the energy of coming back to services on Rosh Hashanah.  They have had the same seats, in the same pews, near the same friends, for years. It just won’t be the same this year, they observed.

A third was with a high school parent who shared their teen-age daughter, upon hearing that the Newton high schools will be all virtual this year, lamented that her high school experience has been, in her words, “ruined.”  She points to all the things that she used to do, has not done since March and will now not be able to do again for a full year, including not seeing her friends every day. Hence her dark verdict, ruined, and her father is at a loss for how best to love her through it.

Follow this link to view the sermon and watch the live streaming version on our website https://www.templeemanuel.com/rabbi/rabbi-wes-gardenswartz/stamina-when-you-are-in-the-shadows/