Chavurat Lamdeinu
Prayer - Study - Community
           GPS's
Rosh Hashanah AM, 5768.Day 2
Sept. 14, 2007
Chavurat Lamdeinu, Madison NJ
Bruce Stein
                                                     GPS's

  I am chair of the Temple Sinai Caring Committee. The committee aids congregants
who are sick or have lost a family member. One of the ways we help is by bringing a
meal to the family. About a month ago as I was driving a wonderfully aromatic pasta
dinner to a congregant’s home, I was thinking about what I could say in my Rosh
Hashanah talk. I didn’t have to concentrate on getting to my destination because I
had my wife’s Garmin C330 Streetpilot Global Positioning System aka GPS.  The GPS’
s voice even sounded like my wife but with a much less frantic tone.
By the way, Jeanne says it is the best gift she ever got. It’s also the best gift I ever
got. Anyway, I began to think it would be great if we could enter our life’s destination
and the GPS would tell us how to get there with a confident calm voice. Maybe that’s
what a wife is for?  
  This device would be especially useful at this time of year when we are supposed
to be thinking about the shortcomings in our lives and trying to figure out how to do
better in the New Year. When the GPS sees you didn’t turn when you were supposed
to it says “recalculating”. How about a GPS that would let you know when you are
taking a wrong turn in your life and calmly says “maybe you should recalculate”. The
High Holy Days are a time for recalculating your position in the world,  your
relationships with other people. Only you don’t have a GPS unless the “G” stands for
God?  Aren’t the satellites that enable the GPS to work located in the heavens?
  Think about it! The God Positioning System.  What a concept! But wait, isn’t  this
Judaism? Isn’t  prayer the equivalent of entering your destination? Isn’t asking God
to give me the wisdom to make the right choice equivalent to I want to get to 366
Maple St in New Providence, how do I get there? Are the GPS directions of turn right
and turn left the equivalent of your conscience or God telling you what you should do
when you need to make a decision?  What’s the right thing to do?  
But how do you know your GPS is telling you the right thing? When I first started
using my Garmin C330 Streetpilot GPS I didn’t believe it knew better than I how to get
from A to B. But after a few times I started having faith in its directions. Especially
when it got me from the hardware store in Morristown to the granite store in
Plainfield. How do you know the God Positioning System will get you to your
destination? Like the Torah says, the prophet who is right is the real prophet. So
what do you do? Do you listen to God? Do you give him a couple of directions, i.e.
prayers and see where it takes you?
  These are questions we all must answer for ourselves by ourselves.  As Ruth said
yesterday, gaining access to God is a difficult thing.
But since I know that having faith in God is not an easy thing I propose an
intermediate step. As the many midnight movie TV salesmen of the 50’s used to say,
“Tell you what I’m going to do”. If you come to Chavurat Lamdeinu for a Shabbat
morning service we will give you  your very own GPS, the 5768 model of the Gais
Positioning System which is guaranteed to ease you into the more complex God
Positioning System or your money back.  
    Be the first on your block to have the C5768 Spiritual Pilot Gais Positioning
System.  I’ve had mine for ten years and it works!

   L'shanah tovah to all!