A difficult time

I haven't posted anything for a while here. Part of the reason is that I've been very busy with work, another is that I've realized that I have a lot less original to say than I thought I had when I started this blog! I had composed a nice post about the fifth anniversay of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, but it disappeared into cyberspace somewhere between pressing "Publish" and its appearance.

I've also been saddened by repeated evidence of improper behavior among my fellow Orthodox Jews. Kashrut scandals, sexual abuse scandals, agunah outrages, riots, property disputes that spill out into the non-Jewish media and court system -- all make me worry, two days before Rosh Hashanah, how HaShem will judge us. My rav suggested that the publicity should remind us of how close any of us, even the most outwardly frum, is just one act away from very serious moral and ethical offenses. I will be thinking of that during the Yomin Norayim this year. It will be a time for reflection for me.