Fwd: Chapel Talk

[Seth Kaplan]

Daniel was asked to give a talk about the High Holidays at his high school. 

He gave the following remarks in front of over 500 students, teachers and administrators in the Upper School. 

Thought I'd share this with the group and wish everyone L'shana tova. 

- Seth D. Kaplan, M.D., F.A.A.P.

TLC Pediatrics of Frisco 

Frisco, TX

214-618-6272

Begin forwarded message:

From: Daniel Kaplan <dmkap...@icloud.com>
Date: September 19, 2017 at 6:04:15 PM CDT
To: Kathryn Kaplan <kathryn...@yahoo.com>
Cc: Seth Kaplan <sdkap...@gmail.com>
Subject: Chapel Talk

Forgiveness

    “Look around, look around, at how lucky we are to be alive right now.” Perfect words to describe my feelings at this moment. With natural disasters barraging this country and countless acts of hatred tearing us apart, all I can feel is relief that I am still alive. Many times I have thought to myself, “Why am I alive, when so many good people are not? What have I done to deserve second and third and even more chances than I can count to live?” But I can’t dwell on that. At least not now. I don’t believe that you have to deserve a second and third chance. Life is too short to hold grudges and in the present, were reminded of that fact constantly. You see, forgiveness, it’s not deserved, it’s given. But before we just give forgiveness, we have to ask ourselves, what even is this word that can mean so little? What does it actually entail? Is it just accepting someone’s apology or is it talking to someone who you haven’t in awhile because you’ve been in a fight?

Think of your worst enemy. A person who for some reason, you just don’t like. Perhaps you got into a bad fight and stopped talking to each other. Or maybe, it’s someone who got you into trouble even though you didn’t do anything wrong. Now what would you do if that person apologized. Most people would respond, “It’s ok” or “It’s no big deal,” but most people would not say it with the sincerity that I believe counts as a sign of forgiveness. God teaches us to love our neighbor as we would love ourselves and also to love our enemies. This means that when someone asks for forgiveness from us, not only should we give it to them, but we should try to build on to our relationship with that person. We should get to know that person better so we can learn from our differences and make the world a better place. That’s forgiveness.

On Thursday, the Jewish calendar will restart, and we will celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the new year. Now, normally on the new year we make some kind of New Year's resolution: something we want to achieve or change in the upcoming year. In Judaism, one resolution is already made for us. A week after Rosh Hashanah, we will observe Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Many times over the observance we will repeat the words of the al chet prayer, “For all our sins, God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, and grant us atonement.” We do not say, “Grant us atonement because…” We simply ask. You see, a reason why we should forgive our enemies is because we do bad things too, whether they’re inadvertently done or purposely done, but we do them, and the thing is, we don’t normally repent. Maybe in church or synagogue we do, but to the person’s face, I doubt that happens often. Yom Kippur gives us a chance to come together as a community, hundreds of Jews, under one roof, there for one purpose, to ask for forgiveness. And we are not just there to ask for forgiveness from God. The amazing thing, is that since we are all gathered in one space, we can go up to someone and tell them that we are sorry. That we wish we had done things differently and that in the future, not only will that thing not occur again, but maybe this could be what was needed to spark a friendship.

As I said before, life is too short to hold grudges. This is emphasized in the Unetaneh Tokef prayer which reads, “On Rosh Hashanah it is inscribed, and on the fast of Yom Kippur it is sealed: How many shall pass away and how many shall be born, Who shall perish by water and who by fire, Who by earthquake and who by plague, Who shall have rest and who shall wander. But repentance, prayer and righteousness avert the severe decree.” Repentance, prayer, and righteousness. Do any of those words resonate with you? Do you embody what it means to be a forgiving and righteous being? And then there’s the third aspect, prayer.  What brings us to prayer? In two days, for me and many others around the globe, it will be the cry of the shofar which represents so much more than the coming of a new year. It represents the purity and power of God who is quick to forgive, even though we may not deserve it. In a few minutes, we will listen to the blast of the shofar and when you hear it, I have a challenge for you. Think back to that person in your mind who you didn’t like so much and play out in your head how you would forgive them. When you leave this room, go out and give that person a second chance, not because they deserve it, but because life is short and we have to make the most of it, and the only way that will happen is if we have the ability to forgive.

[Melanie Rubin]

Wow! That is amazing. So wise, so articulate.

Thank you for sharing Seth. 

Let's indeed make the most of it.....Happy and healthy to all!

xoxo

Melanie

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