The Hardest Question to Answer

We just finished the holiest day of the Jewish year, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Throughout the day, we pray and ask questions of ourselves: Where did we go astray? How can we do better in the coming year?

One question kept popping up for me, as I know it does for others: How do we change? What makes us more likely to do what we know we should do?

The answer is different for each of us, but a few ideas resonate in Jewish wisdom and my own experience as a rabbi:

1. Inspiration: An inspiring vision of success draws us toward it. A parent or grandparent might see themselves spending more time with their children or grandchildren, so they make a change to start exercising or eating better.

   A couple might picture the house they live in with their future children, so they start saving more money.

   In the Hebrew Bible, the vision of the Promised Land draws Moses and the Israelites to it. They endure 40 years of wandering to get there. What draws you to change?

2. Information: A vision draws us toward it. But we can get there faster if we have a good map.

   Sometimes, like the Israelites, we need to wander for a while before we get to our destination. But sometimes we need to move quickly. If we want to achieve better health, we need to know what exercises and foods work for us. The more we know, the more efficient and less confused we are.

   In the final book of the Torah, Deuteronomy, Moses gives the Israelites detailed information on the way they should govern themselves when they enter the Promised Land. Moses knew he would no longer be there to lead them, so the more information they had, the more likely they would be to stay true to God's instruction.

3. Faith: Even with inspiration and information, we still are only human. We fall down. We resist. We get in our own way. Sometimes we need to leave a little to God.

   Faith is not certainty. It is, as Rabbi Jonathan Sacks put it, "the courage to live with uncertainty."

   In other words, we are certain God is with us, no matter what happens. We can take risks and do difficult because we know God is with us. And with that courage, we know we can become the person God wants us to be.