We all get a second chance

Rabbi Sarah Mack

There was much to see at the summer Olympics this year: Simone Biles’ incredible gymnastics victories, the amazing swimming feats of Katie Ledecky and the Israeli delegation’s achievement of a record seven medals.

I happened to tune in when a young runner from Mozambique was disqualified for a false start. Escorted off the track sobbing, “I sacrificed everything for this.” The zero-tolerance false start policy is perhaps one of the cruelest rules in sports. Simply jumping the gun is enough to completely dash Olympic hopes and dreams before the race has even begun. One small mistake can destroy the chance to even compete in a given year.

In the 2011 World Championships, a far more high-profile runner was disqualified for such a transgression: Usain Bolt. Despite his devastating miss, he still went on to capture gold medals at the 2012 games and defend his record in Rio in 2016. Some of his records still stand even after this summer’s games.

We are reminded that even the fastest man in the world has a false start sometimes.

We all make mistakes that in the moment seem life altering and cruel. Jewish tradition reminds us that we do have a second chance. Each year we have an opportunity to start anew.

As Maimonides teaches, “Each one of us is fit to be righteous like Moses, our teacher, or wicked, like Jeroboam (an evil king). Each of us, upon our own initiative and decision, tends to the path we choose” (Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Teshuvah 5:2)

Maimonides reminds us that we can choose how we respond to the obstacles in our path. There will be false starts along the way, but we are primary navigators of our voyage through life. Not a single one of us will make it through this journey unscathed. Rabbi Scott Corngold (z”l), a friend and mentor, was a rabbi at Temple Shaarei Tefila where I was a rabbinic intern in 2001. The Rosh Hashanah after 9/11 he wrote, “Judaism has never pretended that most people are not deeply flawed. That’s surely what this annual appointment with God over the High Holy Days acknowledges. But our tradition teaches that our very imperfect selves can do good acts, heroic acts, redeeming acts. And, in the end, it is those deeds that matter most. In a literal sense they define who we are and what we can become.” Imperfection need not hold us back from moving forward as our best selves. Our mistakes do not prevent us from trying again and again until we do get it right. There is an urgency to our efforts in a broken world that needs every last bit of righteousness.

The Hebrew month of Elul began this past week. This sacred time affords us the opportunity to reflect, pause and begin again as we enter 5785. In the month of Elul, we offer the words of Psalm 27 in prayer, asking God to lead us on the level path and be with us when we do have false starts. Let our own mistakes imbue us with compassion for others when they get it wrong.

During this month we also sing the words “Hadesh yameinu kekedem” often translated as “renew our days as in old”. That is our prayer in this season of repentance: Eternal One, return us to the starting line so we may begin again, knowing that our false starts, our missteps and mistakes need not impede a bright future.

SARAH MACK is the senior rabbi of Temple Beth-El, in Providence.