By DAVID IZRAELEVITZ
Los Alamos

In the Jewish tradition, Rosh Hashanah is not only the yearly observance of the beginning of our world, but also when God performs a conditional assessment of our behavior during the most recent year. However, the Heavenly verdict is not final until ten days hence, on Yom Kippur, and for year 5784, the final opportunity of Yom Kippur begins tonight. This holiest day of the Jewish calendar, a day of prayer and fasting, is also the date of final introspection, atonement and forgiveness, when, according to one tradition, God forgave the Israelites for the sin of the Golden Calf. Before Yom Kippur ends, we remind ourselves that on Rosh Hashanah it is written, but not until the end of Yom Kippur, is it sealed.

A New Year observance certainly compels us to think about cycles. A natural cycle is the yearly one, but there are other cycles that come to mind at this time. We recall past generations and the ethical direction they bequeathed us, we reach out to future generations and their opportunity to learn from our acquired wisdom and mistakes.

Those are circles in time, but I find that there are many other circles that I think about during this special season. My circle of friends, the community around me. The so-called circle of life is not just the cycle of birth and growth and maturity and death; it is also those relational concentric circles around us, our immediate family, our extended family, our friends, the greater Los Alamos community, and so on. At different levels and at different times and in different ways, these circles envelop us. Sometimes it is for joy and celebration, sometimes it is comfort and support or even protection.

But I also remember that life is not just a set of concentric circles. It is more like a spirograph drawing, like one of those medieval chain mail woven from interlocking circles. It is a mishmash of intersecting circles of different diameters, centered on many points. Each of us is at the center of many circles, but also at the intersection of many more, maybe an infinite number. And when you are part of a circle, you are part of a greater whole, one of those wonderful “the whole is larger than the sum of its parts.” 

So I want to leave you with this thought, which is appropriate for this season whether one is Jew or Gentile. I hope to think less about being the center of circles, and more about being on the circumference. What circles do I belong to? Who is at their center? Who is also on this circle with me? Who has been on one of my circles, and have I been on one of theirs? Who relies on me, as I rely on others? And most of all, I hope to become part of a few more circles.