L'Shannnah Tovah! And welcome to the 10 days of Awe the time between the Sounding of the shofar, and the day of repentance: Yom Kippur which begins this Wednesday night. Even though we are in a new year, 5786, this week we continue the last book in our Torah cycle: Devarim. This weeks portion, is Ha'Azinu; means “give ear”, and we find Moses is turning over leadership of Israel to Joshua. Have you ever gotten into trouble and looked up at Ad-nai and said, “How could you let this happen to me?” When we do this, we are trying to blame Ad-nai for our bad choices and the situations that we have gotten ourselves into. In Parsha Ha’Azinu, we are reminded in Deuteronomy 32:4-5: 4 The Rock—blameless is His work. Indeed, all His ways are just. God of faithfulness without iniquity, righteous and upright is He. 5 Did it corrupt Him? No! The blemish is His children’s— a generation crooked and twisted. We should never blame our perfect Ad-nai for the actions of a corrupt, crooked, or twisted human - especially if that human is us. So for the last official time this year we will be playing our old favourite: The Responsibility Game! This weeks activity is something that we do fairly regularly because it is the best way to gain confidence in out ability to respond well to the challenges of life. During these 'Days of Awe', reflect on the taking responsibility for the messes we have created in our lives and how we can grow in the coming year, and if you have ever wondered how you can increase your maturity, and what it means to take responsibility; this one's for you. There is also a super fun activity book just for our fantastic Brit Ahm yeladim. Ask for permission to download and print the lesson and activity for the week and learn about the promises of G-D. (links are below attached to the cartoons of children.)