Adath Jeshurun

Rosh Hashanah Clos­ing Prayer

Rabbi Laura Metzger

So many peo­ple have asked for the prayer with which I closed the sec­ond day Rosh Hashanah ser­vice, I’m shar­ing it here. I can no longer find just where I orig­i­nally saw it. It’s ascribed to Rabbi Charles J. Shoulson.

Here are my res­o­lu­tions, day of Rosh HaShanah:

I will live for one day only,
and not try to solve the whole prob­lem of life at once.

I will adjust myself to what is,
and try not to make every­thing over to suit me.
If I can­not have what I like, I will try to like what I have.

I will try to be agree­able, cheer­ful and char­i­ta­ble,
to praise peo­ple for what they do,
not crit­i­cize them for what they can­not do.
I will try not to improve or reg­u­late any­one but myself.

I will get peo­ple off my nerves, and not get on theirs.

I will find a lit­tle time for quiet, to relax,
and to real­ize what life is, and can be;
to think about God, and get a bet­ter per­spec­tive of myself.

I will look at life with fresh eyes and dis­cover the great won­der of it!

I will know that as I give to the world, so the world will give to me.

AMEN!