For kiddush on Rosh Hashanah 5782

Today begins what Torah calls Yom HaZikaron- tonight we remember

We remember - the 100s of times we lifted our cups

We forced them to overflow with wine

Wine- the symbol of our joy

The emblem of abundance

And I have been thinking of empty cup - the cup before we opened the corks and caps

A cup that each week stared into -

Wondering if we could fill it

Maybe we didn’t want to -

didn’t think we could access it

Or even deserve the joy

And so tonight - we bless the fact that we filled it anyways

We poured everything we had -

The bitter and the sweet

And we let our blessings mix with our plagues and curses and transform into joy

When we make our kiddush blessing tonight

Let us bless that choice

The choice to push ourselves toward joy

To fill an empty cup

To taste sweetness

To allow ourselves to be filled back up again

With joy, or something like it.