I’m not much of a TV watcher, but Abe and I have loved watching the Great British Bake-Off, a delightful PBS show now on Netflix. In this UK reality show, contestants compete in all types of elaborate baking tasks. Each contestant has their own work station, equipped with a KitchenAid stand mixer, an oven, stovetop, and every size bowl and spoon you can imagine. Additionally, each station has a proving drawer.
The proving drawer is used in almost every single competition, and it’s often the pivot point for success. When the judges taste the final product, they’ll often comment that it wasn’t in the proving drawer for long enough, or perhaps it went in too late, or maybe for too long. More often than not, a contestant gets poor marks because of a problem with their utilization of the proving drawer. It demonstrates just how fragile their baked goods can be. One minute too long or too short, one degree off, can change the outcome drastically. It’s all about stopping, no more stirring or adding ingredients, just to sit and reach its intended state.
We too are fragile and need some proving. On Rosh Hashanah, we are reminded of the fleeting nature of our lives. How are we proving ourselves? Maybe we’re rushing ourselves through a difficult period of life without taking stock of what it means for us. Perhaps it’s not recognizing the inner strength that we have. Maybe we’ve stagnated in a particular area where we wanted to make change.
Rosh Hashanah asks us to think about the ways that we are being reflective about the lives we want to live. These two days, which our rabbis refer to simply as one yoma arikhta, one long day, is intended to be a proving of sorts. May the days ahead lead us to become the best version of ourselves we can be. May they offer us the right amount of time and space to reflect on what we’d like the next year to look like.
I look forward to seeing you in shul, and I wish you and your family a sweet, happy and healthy new year.
