Notice that the first words from God refer to what we will now have to do in order to survive. Eve was sentenced to labor in childbirth. And I d do it again in a minute if I could. And just ask Noah how he feels when he picks his sweet peas off the vine, or presents us with cherry tomatoes for our dinner salad. Yesterday was about rest.
Today is about work, for Jewish reality requires work.
You and I are living, breathing documents, and what we do counts. What we do matters, to ourselves, to our families, to our community and to the future of Judaism. Don t think for a minute that what we do here in shul gets us Brownie points in the world to come if we make these High Holiday services virtually the only Jewish reality of the year. While the poetry and the majesty of the music may be a taste of what we could do if we did this all year round, it is not a substitute for year-round Jewish living. But you already knew that.