Yisroel Pensack: Berkeley Mohel Battling Oral Cancer Wrote Rosh Hashanah Poem

This poem by the seriously ill mohel and Torah teacher Rabbi Chanan Feld was read to his Beit Midrash Ohr HaChaim congregation in Berkeley by his wife Jody on Rosh Hashanah: 

Rosh HaShanah
words from Rabbi Chanan Feld [HaRav Chanan Velvel Simcha ben Bryna]

We’re asked to be expansive.  Peer and project far
   beyond for another 365 days.
Another cycle of limudim, moadim, parshiot, life cycle
   events.
Posture of hope, confidence…our tshuva will be
   accepted….This is just the beginning!

The polar extreme of being consumed by the moment,
   the focus on each breath, sometimes every millisecond.
Sometimes those moments on the other side of
   our time and space.

Is it the dreamer’s imagination, flying unfettered
   over the days to come
Or the mindful one mining the moment of now,
   who experiences the true pulse?

Truth:
Rosh HaShanah is the head of a circle
   No beginning, no end
From "briat HaOlam" to the "geulah shleimah," one
   continuous flow

Eternity in each present, a year in each day,
   the entire universe in each second.

What will be our year to come?

Take a moment….Gaze on a loved one.
   Appreciate your community,
Your surroundings, the kedushah of Shabbat
   and Yom Tov.

Take a moment and feel my love for each and everyone
whose help, tehillim, tefillot, concern allowed me to
   write this.  One whose humbled spirit feels utterly
    grateful to all

That’s what our year will be, the eternally
    present love of HaShem.
That’s the moment of your now and year to come.

       Shana Tova Umetukah.
May Our Righteous Redeemer usher in Redemption
        for
     Klal B’nei Yisroel

                                   B’ahavah!

                                    Chanan