Ecclesiastes teaches that ‘to everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven.’ We are very much in the season of milestones. Over these coming weeks we will watch as our children and grandchildren graduate from high school and college. Some will move on from middle school, while some will finish medical school. Some will complete years of study to embark at last on their professional career.
A major milestone was marked at KI this past Thursday, Confirmation. A stellar group of tenth graders stood tall on the bimah to lead our Shavuot service, as hundreds of KI teens have done over the course of our history. This year’s class was enthusiastic, energetic, curious and inspiring. They each gave a short speech, covering topics ranging from antisemitism to Israel to the importance of forgiveness, the meaning of prayer in their lives and their connection to God. They all noted that they feel incredibly close to their KI community, even more so as a result of their Confirmation year.
To watch our son Elijah, stand at the pulpit at Confirmation was very special for me and for Lisa. It was also rather surreal. How is he suddenly sixteen? Where did the time go? In the words of Fiddler on the Roof, ‘When did he get to be so tall? Wasn’t it yesterday when they were small?’
Many of us are feeling such emotions these days. Time is moving quickly. Our world is unfolding all about us at the most frenetic pace. To be a parent in the stands at graduation, or a grandparent seated at Confirmation, is to know that time is indeed moving, even faster than we would like sometimes. This is why these milestones matter. They help us to pause time, even for a moment, and reflect on where we are. They help us think about how far we’ve come. Those little kids running in the backyard are now ready to live out their own adulthood, with their own sensibilities, their own identity, their own ideas and aspirations.
Milestones matter in Judaism. Bar and Bat Mitzvah. Confirmation. These help us to acknowledge that our time is a gift; it is precious. Our lives cannot be all go, all frantic, all the time. We have to do as our tradition teaches, marking the sanctity of time. We do this at the end of each week when we welcome Shabbat. We do this and the beginning and end of each year when we mark Rosh HaShanah. These are occasions that remind us that our time is sacred and to use our limited time on this earth for good and for the good.
During this special time of year, let’s do our best to acknowledge the great blessing that is time and to thank God together for the opportunity to use our time for love, for compassion, for gratitude and for hope. Amen.