Richard Morris
Teshuva! Yes, that is right: Teshuva, baby!
During this month of Elul, when returning to and strengthening our Judaism is front and centre, I wanted to share some thoughts about my own personal return to my Judaism and also something about ... words.
When I was doing stand-up comedy in New York and Los Angeles, and pretty much everywhere else across the country and Canada, beginning in the 80's, I was in a whole other world ... baby! A headliner in comedy clubs, guest comedian on national network television talk shows, the opening act for star performers in Las Vegas, Atlantic City....
I heard a lot of interesting words in those years. But mixed in with the sometimes atrocious, word-rabble, a good word did happen to slip in, teshuva (literally, in Jewish terminology: return).
And whereas the word teshuva is a constant, many words and terms are generational, fleeting. Current words like: goosh, rad, tickety. Huh? For anyone over a certain age, be comforted, I had no idea what these words meant either!
But as words are used to describe all sorts of things in all sorts of ways, religion - many times - is described unflatteringly. And before I started learning about and experiencing my Judaism again, I stood with the large number of Jews who might have used certain words to describe religion in general, and Judaism in particular, as: un-cool, stuffy, strange, restrictive. Talk to many Jews about Judaism and you'll get all sorts of looks from them. Believe me, not looks of: oh, please I'll put down my phone and talk to me more about religion!
But as someone who, indeed, was fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to start learning about my Judaism again, I now take a second look at some words that might have been written about other things - but can also, interestingly enough, relate to Judaism. Maybe these words, these song lyrics, might sound familiar to you:
"Come back ... come back ... come back to where you once belonged." Or how about: "Come back, baby, rock 'n roll never forgets."
Yes. Through the years, the answers, the ideas, the nods, somehow seem to have been contained in popular song lyrics! They've already been out there. It's just a matter of hearing and seeing. But when I was not practising or expressing my Judaism it never occurred to me that these songs might, indeed, have some meaning in Judaism as well.
So, as a Jew, I got to thinking: if rock 'n roll never forgets, I wondered if, maybe, Judaism never forgets either. Hmm. Come back, baby, Judaism never forgets? Hmm. Doesn't sound right.
But it is right.
Words.... Do you think the collective Jewish people were gathered together at Mt. Sinai with the words: "This is gonna to be goosh?" Uh, uh, I don't think so. But it was goosh! That is, among it's definitions: Cool, important. And whether you get the idea from the words of rock 'n roll songs - or from today's rap - or from friends and family - or from the Sages or rabbis - or from yourself.... Now's a perfect time to think about coming back to
Slice of LIFE
where you once belonged. To yourself.
To your real self. That's what teshuva is.
In the 80s, I had the chance to put on Tefillin one Friday afternoon on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles. I hadn't put on Tefillin since my Bar Mitzvah.
The young rabbi who offered me that chance, as it would happen, years later became the rabbi of a Chabad shul in Manhattan near where I lived. I went there without knowing who the rabbi was at that time and, amazingly enough, through conversation, we soon realised that he was the one who helped me put on Tefillin on Fairfax Avenue all those years before. And not only do I see him now at the synagogue's services, he remains a strong influence in my life to this day: Rabbi Shlomo Kugel, Chabad of the West Side (of Manhattan).
So if you're Jewish, this month of Elul, right before the Jewish New Year, is a great time to sincerely think about coming back to your Judaism - because that's without question who you really are, really! And not only is that goosh (something worth looking into) ... it's also certainly the shiznik (something great)! You won't hear the rabbis using these short-lived words in the synagogues, but that is where you will hear deep-seated words that will hopefully encourage, hopefully inspire, and hopefully offer-up some new hope and direction for the coming New Year.
I wish us all a meaningful Elul, a Happy Rosh Hashanah - and G-d willing, this will be the best year yet! In those words - or in any other words, like: far out! (For a definition, ask your parents or grandparents.... Oy!)
Richard Morris was one of the original eight writers and a frequent guest comedian on NBC's Late Night with David Letterman, and is the author of the book: Funny You Should Think About a Return to Judaism. He currently performs his entertaining outreach program Comedy and Coming Home at Jewish venues and events, and can be reached at: [email protected]
