Many of us may recall from childhood the well-known Dr. Suess book “Horton Hears a Who.” The story tells of a huge elephant who can hear the voices of the people of Whoville who live on a tiny speck of dust on the smallest fragment of clover. Even though Horton is so big, the Whos cannot see him, and the Whos are so microscopic, yet Horton can hear them.
Horton does everything to protect the Whos as their world experiences calamities even though his life is threatened. They both encounter parallel distress testing their fortitude. It isn’t until the people of Whoville shout as loud as they can crying out “WE ARE HERE!” that they are spared.
WE ARE HERE!
HENEINI! - I AM HERE!
These are the words Abraham responds with when G-d calls upon him to sacrifice Isaac in the story of the Akeda, which we read on the second day of Rosh Hashanah. Up to this point, he had faced many tests of faith in G-d. Escaping death for his belief in monotheism, being a stranger in a strange land, famine, wars, the captivity of Sarah, and ultimately Isaac’s end. Albeit Abraham is far greater than the fictional Horton and the Who’s, it is the example of the word HENEINI that matters most when we are called upon to the important moments' life throws at us.
HENEINI - can make all the difference in the world.
In our Machzors, we find an account from Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who as a child, became sad when he read the story the Akeda. His rabbi asked him, why he was upset, to which Rabbi Heschel replied, “what if the angel had been late to save Isaac’s life?” His rabbi responded, “Angels are never late. The question is ‘are we on time?”
As we enter Rosh Hashanah, we always take time to reflect on the year behind us, and the year ahead. How many times have we said “Heneini” this past year? Did we show up when called upon? Did we hold the door for the person behind us? Did we help make the minyan? Did we volunteer when we could at HEA? Did we greet the stranger on the street with a simple smile of acknowledgement? Were we there when our community needed us most? Were we humble? And what will we do to make it “count” in the months ahead?
The most important line in the Horton story is "A person's a person, no matter how small". I want to take that a little further. “A mitzvah is a mitzvah, no matter how big, and no matter how small.”
Let us welcome this year of 5784 not only with joy and sweetness, mazal and good health, but with kindness – No Matter How Small.
L’shana Tova!
If you would like volunteer this year at HEA, please sign-up HERE.
