I was newly married—to a Rabbi, no less—and it was towards the end of Yom Kippur, and I was leaving to go back to the final service called “Neila,” which means “locking” or “closing.” Everything that was going to happen in the coming year was being decided now, and this was my last chance to get it right.
“What should I be thinking of?” I asked him.
“You should be thinking: ‘Where do I want to be at this time next year?’”
And he didn’t just mean geographically.
The Talmud teaches us: Change your Makom (place), change your Mazal (destiny). We saw this very much when our son, Zev, moved to Israel. It was just before Rosh Hashana 2022, the height of the pandemic, and he decided to leave Toronto, where he was in school, and make Aliyah to be closer to family in Israel. That clarity and courage changed everything.
With the help of many (yes, it takes a village), he got into Israel, joined an online ulpan to up his Hebrew, met a girl (!!), and found his career path in a tour guide course through Haifa and Hebrew Universities. Now he is married and couldn’t be happier.
G-d can’t get you there unless you know where you want to go. Now is the time to do the work, and what I do personally every year is now available to all. Here is a link to the work pages that break down different aspects of our lives: relationships, spirituality, physical well-being, finances… Print them out and use these to make your personal plan, pointing you in the right direction in these and other areas of your precious life.
That is how we can change our place and destiny without even changing zip codes.
I just looked back at my sheets from last year, and it is incredibly shocking how many things came true. I am filled with incredible gratitude and ready to sit down and plan the year I hope and pray G-d grants me.
Shana Tova. May you all be blessed with incredible clarity in every aspect of your life, and the courage to live your clarity.