Reality shows abound on our television sets.

Everyone it seems is offering solutions to change our physical surrounding and being from construction shows that transform homes to radical makeovers that transform bodies. Tummies are tucked to remove fat, Botox is injected to remove wrinkles, and with the swing of a hammer, anyone can alter a room. If one has the means, it appears that altering one’s physical person or space is easily attainable.

If you enter Temple Beth El’s David Silverman Social Hall, you will see that we, too, have spruced up our physical space. Desperately needed new and beautiful carpets are being installed and comfortable and well-designed chairs are being purchased. As we are polishing our floors and cleaning our windows, you can sense that another New Year is swiftly approaching.

While we embrace changes to our physical space, we have a harder time changing our inner space – our souls. The ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are a time for such internal change. In the course of procrastinating on my preparing for these imminent Days of Awe by watching reality television, I got to thinking, what would it take to have a radical internal makeover? What would it take for us to truly change as human beings?

For most people, radical internal makeovers only occur as a result of life crises – the diagnosis of an illness, the loss of a loved one, or the separation of a spouse. Yet, we do not need to wait for the worst to happen for us to modify how we act. The work of the Days of Awe, taken seriously, can bring us a better future.

What I have learned from those home improvement shows is that sometimes an outside observer can see potential in our homes that we never see. While the High Holidays are not reality television and we cannot hire architects or plastic surgeons to tell us how to change, we can rely on our tradition to lead us through an honest self-reckoning of our lives. We can rely on those who are closest to us help us become the persons we are yet to be.

So here is my suggestion for a minor refurbishing of your soul during this season of change: ask several people in your life (perhaps a spouse, a child, a colleague, a neighbor or friend) one way that they think you need to change. Ask the same question of yourself. Think about who you are. Think about who you would like to become.

Just as seasons change and years pass, our goal as Jews is to change too. With the coming of this new year of 5765, may all of us be able to change for the better.

Judy Schindler
Rabbi