by Sari Krosinsky
Daily Lobo Columnist
One year ago today, I wrote a column about Rosh Hashanah - the Jewish new year - and Yom Kippur - for lack of a better translation, the day of atonement. Years being what they are, the last has come around to its close again and ushered in the new.
This week is now doubly one for reflection, both in preparation for Yom Kippur and in recalling the events of Sept. 11. Some points I made a year ago bear repeating in this light.
Though called the day of atonement, Yom Kippur is not about sin. The Hebrew word generally translated as sin is chet, which is actually an archery term that means "missing the mark." In allegorical terms, there's a lot this simple term can tell us about life.
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1. You cock your arrow, take aim, feel the tension of the string against your fingers, release, watch the arc of the soaring arrow and ... the arrow hits the tree several feet to the left of the target. Chet. It's all right, the tree will live. Without thinking, you return to your former stance, pull back, release and ... hit the same tree. The tree will still live, but it's starting to get a little ticked off. And if you ever want to hit the actual target, you're going to have to review your past missed marks, try to figure out why you missed and redirect your aim.
2. Again, you cock your arrow, but this time you're thinking about how pissed off you are about that stupid thing Susie said to you the other day. For a few minutes, you forget to release the string. When you remember, you realize too late that your arms dropped a little while you were busy dwelling on Susie, and the arrow thuds uselessly into the ground.
The events following the publication of that column provided ample proof that nobody ever listens to my advice.
The very next day, some terrorists missed their mark so widely they brought down not a tree but thousands of human lives, without coming anywhere near hitting their goal. In the months that followed, the U.S. government set out on a hasty campaign, barely pausing to take aim, bringing more death, again without hitting their goal of causing an end to or even abatement of terrorism.
In the realm of less grand events, people quarreled and hurled epithets for no better reason than that they disagreed on the method of fighting terrorism. Where we could have had patience, sought understanding and empathy, learned something from our disagreement, we spent useless arrows shooting each other in the foot.
Then, there are all the mundane, ordinary missed marks. Being careless of friends. Speaking cruelly to family. Hurting loved ones. Neglecting ourselves. Somehow, those are the missed marks that weigh on me far more than any political debate. Those are the ones I must take responsibility for myself.
We are, after all, only human. Our aim will never be perfect. But this week, regardless of one's religion, might be a good week to reflect on how we can improve our aim.
Great events await our arrows. Iraq is next on the chopping block, and though the final decision rests with others, we must each decide what role we will play, and whether we believe this aim is true.
And we must go on living our lives, with all the hurts and pitfalls they present. It is worth a moment's pause to let go of angers that cloud our perception, discover where and why we've missed our marks before, and steady our aim for the future.
This week's homework assignment: A midrash is a story that is based on events in the Bible, but that fills in the gaps in the stories written there and sheds light on the underlying significance. Write your own midrash - using the Bible, your own sacred text, or history. Then, follow your own damn advice. Send it or not to Sari Krosinsky at michal_kro@hotmail.com.
