Rabbi Allison RH Conyer 2025 RH PM sermon

Rabbi Allison RH Conyer

Temple Beth Israel

The place where it all began
It was early in the morning. The sun was only just starting to rise. Raisel was both nervous and excited. Unlike everyone else in her family, she liked surprises and solving mysteries. But this one seemed bigger than usual, and she didn’t know what to make of it.

As she lay in bed, she began replaying the event in her mind. Last month, a kind, but oddly dressed stranger appeared at their door. Her son, who was home visiting for the week, answered the door. Nonchalantly, he called her downstairs, saying that she had a visitor.

As Raisel walked down the stairs, she saw him. The stranger. Oddly dressed, with kind eyes and a subtle smile. He looked familiar. By the time she made it to the door, he was gone. But he left a note.

The note was written on pearl white paper, that, when held up to the light, sparkled with different colours.

On this paper was a cryptic message:
Come to the place where it all began,
Where skies stretch wide and seas meet land.
The sun sinks low at the horizon’s span,
A golden light, the day’s last stand.

She repeated the message over and over again until she memorised it. And, as if the paper knew, the words faded away, and all that was left was pearl white paper.

She shared the message with her family to see if they understood, but they were no help, and were way too preoccupied with their own lives to fully appreciate the peculiarity of the situation.

She called her friend, who suggested that she phone the police, but, for some reason, she felt safe and unthreatened by this unusual summons.

Come to the place where it all began,
Where skies stretch wide and seas meet land.
The sun sinks low at the horizon’s span,
A golden light, the day’s last stand.

As the sun rose, she got out of bed and asked herself – Where what all began? So,

Where skies stretch wide, and seas meet land.

Obviously, the beach, but which beach.

The sun sinks low at the horizon’s span,
A golden light, the day’s last stand.

Ok, at sunset, but when?

As the day continued, Raisel felt more and more agitated. She found herself easily distracted.

Come to the place where it all began…

Why was she so obsessed with this?

The phone rang. It was her father. He sounded panicky. Eventually, he was able to speak and told her that her mother had a serious accident and that she must come right away.

Raisel dropped everything, told her family she was going to see her mum in hospital in her hometown, a three-hour drive away. By the time she arrived, her siblings were there with her father. They told Raisel that her mum slipped while she was walking down the outside stairs and hit her head. She was currently unconscious.

Raisel was in shock. Her mum was a dynamo, invincible. No simple slip was going to knock her down. She went in to see her mum, who looked so peaceful.

She sat with her mum for a while, holding her hand. Telling her stories of her busy life, of the kids’ crazy adventures. She intentionally left out the state of the world.

As she looked up towards the door, she saw, in the hallway, what she thought was the back of the kind, oddly dressed man that came to her house last month.

No. It couldn’t be. She walked out the door and looked down the hall. It was then that she saw something familiar. It was a photo. A photo of her as a baby.

That was odd. Did her father bring her baby photo with him to the hospital? And put it in the hallway? That didn’t make sense.

No. It was her baby photo, along with many other babies. She looked around and realised that this was the hospital in which she was born.

Then, it clicked.

Come to the place where it all began…

Her life. Her birth. This is where it all began. She looked at the hospital window and understood.

Where skies stretch wide, and seas meet land.

You could see the beach from the hospital window in her mum’s room.

The sun sinks low at the horizon’s span,
A golden light, the day’s last stand

As the colour of the sky began to change and the sun began to drop, she knew where she had to go. She told her mum, still unconscious, where she was going and that she’d be back soon.

She walked tentatively towards the seashore, feeling silly, a bit nervous, and oddly excited. She didn’t know what to expect. But she went to the place where it all began, as the sun set in the sky’s expanse.

With a chill in the air and a chill down her spine, as
The sun sunk low at the horizon’s span, and
the golden light disappeared at the day’s last stand.

And so, she stood…alone…in the darkness. Through the sounds of the waves, she could hear a whisper of her name. And she waited…ready…open for whatever was to come…

Here we are. Tonight. Each of us summoned. Acknowledging the place where it all began.

We don’t have to be here, but we are.
A series of life events led us to this moment.
By choice or by fate, we are here.
Did we receive a cryptic message luring us to this moment?
Is there a cypher in our life’s path that brought us to this spot?
If you close your eyes, can you hear the faint call of your name?

Five thousand, seven hundred, and eighty-five years ago today is when it all began. The world was created.

בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃
In the beginning, God created heaven and earth—Where skies stretch wide, and seas meet land.
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים יְהִ֥י רָקִ֖יעַ בְּת֣וֹךְ הַמָּ֑יִם…
God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the water… (Gen. 1:6)
… “Let the water below the sky be gathered into one area, that the dry land may appear.”…
וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ לַיַּבָּשָׁה֙ אֶ֔רֶץ וּלְמִקְוֵ֥ה הַמַּ֖יִם קָרָ֣א יַמִּ֑ים…
God called the dry land Earth and called the gathering of waters Seas… (Gen. 1:9-10)
The sun sinks low at the horizon’s span,
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים יְהִ֤י מְאֹרֹת֙ בִּרְקִ֣יעַ הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם
לְהַבְדִּ֕יל בֵּ֥ין הַיּ֖וֹם וּבֵ֣ין הַלָּ֑יְלָה…
God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate day from night; they shall serve as signs for the set times—the days and the years. (Gen. 1:14)
A golden light, the day’s last stand.
וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם אֶחָֽד
And there was evening and there was morning, Day One. (Gen. 1:5)

Five thousand, seven hundred, and eighty-five years ago today, the world was created, and so were we.
The idea of us. The possibility of us. When we were birthed, our images were kept in the walls of Heaven, alongside all of G-d’s children.

Every year, we receive the invitation to celebrate together. Sometimes the invitation arrives with unusual messengers or is dressed in odd ways. But, if we look closely enough, we can see something familiar that draws us back to this place.

Sometimes we are prepared. Other times we are not.

We many come with others, celebrate with others, but we always stand at the horizon alone.

We stand at the cusp between light and dark, between day and night, between this year and the next.

We meet the Creator, our Maker… the G-d who was, is, and will be.

We walk through time, being fully present, as we remember and reflect on the past, while preparing for our future.

We come to the place where it all began to begin again.

We are one with our past since the inception of time to receive a message that only we can see and hear. But take heed and pay close attention, because soon it will disappear.

Looking out at the white foam on the water, sparkling now in the moonlight, Raisel felt an odd sense of calm within her. She was neither afraid nor excited. She felt a sense of clarity and lightness that came from a clear conscience, a clean heart, and an acceptance of her life’s journey and her part in the bigger picture of the lifespan of the world.

She walked confidently back to her mother’s hospital room, where her father and siblings were gathered around her bed. She smiled and leaned over her mother, seeing her face in her mother’s face, seeing her as a child, a teenager, an adult, a mother and a grandmother. She gave her a kiss on her forehead and whispered in her ear –

“Thank you. I’m sorry. I forgive you. I love you.”

At that moment, her mother opened her eyes, looked around at her family, turned to Raisel and said:
“Y’h’yeh b’seder – It’ll all be ok.”

And they all knew that she was right. Whatever comes, whatever happens – y’h’yeh b’seder – It will all be ok in the end.

Come to the place where it all began,
Where skies stretch wide, and seas meet land.
The sun sinks low at the horizon’s span,
A golden light, the day’s last stand.

Tonight. Here we are. Each of us summoned. Acknowledging the place where it all began.
We don’t have to be here, but we are. A series of life events led us to this moment.

And so, we will stand, each of us alone, in our darkness, in our light. Through the sounds of the shofar and the prayers in our hearts, let us hear the whisper of our name, calling us back in time, grounding us in the origins of creation, awakening our souls to the present moment, and preparing us for whatever is to come.

Ken y’hi ratzon – May this be G-d’s will.

Shana Tova.