Rosh Hashanah Message: Dr. Terry Segal

What if each of us took the challenge to become a star in 5784? What would that mean?

I looked up the Oxford dictionary definition of a celestial kind of star. It is “a fixed luminous point in the night sky, which is a large, remote incandescent body like the sun.”

For me, these words conjure an image of an inflexible, stationery bright light that others may see but that is far away, distant, and removed from the main center of the population. That doesn’t sound like the kind of star I’d want to be.

Another definition of star references the celebrity kind. This is a “person who performs brilliantly or prominently in a particular endeavor or event.”

Each of these seems to require a specialness, unique qualities that separate and elevate them above the others. I think it’s time for each of us to shine brightly, with our own distinctive skills and talents, but all unified, toward a greater good.

Well, guess what I discovered? That the beautiful, glowing stars in the sky are not each made of isolated material and, like people, are all made from the same stuff.

According to Universe Today, Space and Astronomy News, all-stars begin from clouds of cold, molecular hydrogen that gravitationally collapse. The cloud collapses and fragments into many pieces that become individual stars. Then, the material collects into a ball that continues to collapse under its own gravity until it can ignite nuclear fusion at its core. Nuclear fusion is a process by which two light atomic nuclei combine to form a single heavier one while releasing massive amounts of energy. There is a pressure pushing back against the gravitational collapse of the star, and that pressure is light.

We cannot collapse further into oblivion. So, here’s our task. We must first recognize that we all arrived here filled with Hashem’s light. The darkness tries to extinguish that light but when we combine forces, release negativity; and acknowledge unity and sameness instead of opposition and division, we create the power to ignite the world with G-d’s glow.

Please join me in shining in 5784 to make our world a place of peace and radiant joy.

May it be a “bright” year.

Dr. Terry Segal is a licensed psychotherapist, Ph.D. in Energy Medicine, author, and mixed-media artist.