1 Tishrei Rosh Hashanah: Understanding Cats

I speak fluent Cat.  For most of my life, I’ve lived with these furry companions, learning to read the complex signals in the turn of an ear, the flick of a whisker, the brush of a tail.  From our cats, I learned that true listening can be done with eyes as well as ears, and also with the heart.

Over the years, I’ve learned that listening fully, both to humans and to cats, requires me to set my own words and expectations aside.  When I practice inner stillness, allowing what I’m hearing to enter my being, I become a far better companion.  This kind of awareness is especially important as Rosh Hashanah draws close.

We’re entering the season of teshuvah, our time to “return” to our best selves by making amends for past missteps.  Whether I’ve slighted a friend or failed to heed the Earth’s urgent messages about climate instability, repair begins with the same practice: setting aside my assumptions and truly absorbing what’s being communicated.

A Hasidic story of the Yehudi (Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak) makes a similar point.  Once, as he and his disciple Peretz crossed a meadow, they heard cows lowing and geese rising in flight, honking with a clap of wings.

“If only we could understand what they’re saying!” Peretz cried.

“When you can understand what you yourself are saying,” his teacher answered, “you will understand the language of all creatures” (adapted from Buber’s Tales of the Hasidim).

The Yehudi knew what my cats have taught me: deep listening needs both external attention and internal awareness of my own biases and shortcomings.  Without both, we miss important details and deny ourselves the opportunity to bring our best selves forward.

This kind of mindfulness lies at the heart of real teshuvah.  When relationships need repair, I must listen carefully to understand the impact of my actions so that I can decide on the most authentic and helpful reply. 

Our relationship with the Earth deserves a similar focus.  Climate change speaks through the language of extreme weather and ecosystem disruption.  Meaningful response – environmental teshuvah – requires us to examine our own patterns of consumption and commit ourselves to improving our relationship with the natural world in healthful ways.

As we enter Rosh Hashanah, the threshold of the New Year, we’re called to practice this art of deep listening with renewed intention.  May we open our whole being to our loved ones (of however many feet) and to our planet so that we can respond with loving intent, bringing healing and renewal to the year ahead.

Rabbi Josh Breindel joined Beth El on July 1, 2018. Previously, he served nine years as rabbi of Temple Anshe Amunim (TAA) in Pittsfield, Mass. He earned a B.A. in philosophy with a minor in classics and a concentration in legal studies from Brandeis University. Settling in the Boston area, he served as education consultant at Kerem Shalom in Concord, core instructor for 11th-grade students at Prozdor of Hebrew College in Newton, and assistant director of education at Temple Shir Tikvah in Winchester. After completing master’s degrees in Jewish studies and Jewish education, he was ordained at Hebrew College in 2009.

Rabbi Breindel has particular interests in Jewish storytelling, theater and folklore, and he’s passionate about Jewish science fiction and fantasy — he leads the online Jewish Fantasy and Sci-Fi Book Club that’s open to all. You can follow him on Facebook at RabbiJoshB.