Amanda Griffel

Amanda Griffel
On Rosh Hashanah before the sounding of the shofar we sing the words, 'from the narrow
place I called to G-d, who answered me with expansiveness.' Note that our breath within
the shofar follows the same path. It begins at the narrow end of the shofar, a place of
tightness and constriction, and emerges at the wide end, a place of openness and
expansiveness.
Now more than ever, we live our lives with a constricted sense of what is possible. We
move within the narrow limits set by choices that we made long ago, or by circumstances
that we never chose at all. Real change, teshuvah, begins with the realization that we
have more freedom than we thought, that we need not remain trapped by the status quo.
In the act of teshuvah, we move from the narrowness to expansiveness, like our breath
within the shofar. Also like that breath, teshuvah gives voice to our deepest longings and
aspirations. In seizing our freedom, we unlock our hearts. We find our truest selfexpression.
May this season of teshuvah help us all find our freedom. Shanah tovah