It is All a Choice

This past week, depending on where you live, you may have felt a shift in the air — a hint of autumn creeping in. The calendar seems to know: school is starting, the Jewish month of Elul has begun, and Labor Day is nearly here. The cool breeze feels energizing, but it also carries that familiar flutter of anxiety about the busy season ahead.

For me, this is the best time of year. It’s a reminder of the choices we make every single day.

Earlier this year, I listened to Bruce Feiler’s Life Is in the Transitions. He challenges the myth of the linear life, showing instead how we each live through “lifequakes” that upend our plans. His central idea is simple but profound: the stories we tell shape the lives we lead. How do we grow? What do we control? Where and how do we choose to show up?

As a storyteller at heart, this resonates deeply. Jewish life itself is rooted in storytelling and choice — from thrice-weekly Torah readings, to family rituals, to mitzvot and community. We don’t just remember; we actively create meaning through our place in the story.

Each of us decides which values, traditions, and commitments we carry forward — and which new ones we bring into the world. Just a few days ago, I witnessed this power of choice firsthand: a dear friend and his family marked a ritual I’d never seen before, and may never see again. In that moment, they embraced learning, tradition, and leadership — fully and publicly. It was simply beautiful. A blessing of my life, for certain.

And like this friend, I ask you to choose a life of meaning. Choose leadership. Choose Judaism (or your own guiding framework).

I’ll leave you with these questions: What will you choose? How will you tell your story?

We can’t choose everything. But when we focus on what is in our hands — rather than what is not — we create change: for ourselves, for our loved ones, and for our communities.

Shabbat Shalom and enjoy the long weekend,