Taylor Swift and Rosh Hashanah

What do you take this text to mean? Do you agree with it?

How can we learn to show up in life from this text?

Match up songs from Red with these verses

1. State of Grace
2. Red
3. Treacherous
4. I Knew You Were Trouble
5. All Too Well
6. 22
7. I Almost Do
8. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
9. Stay Stay Stay
10. The Last Time
11. Holy Ground
12. Sad Beautiful Tragic
13. The Lucky One
14. Everything Has Changed
15. Starlight
16. Begin Again
17. The Moment I Knew
18. Come Back... Be Here
19. Girl at Home
20. State of Grace
21. Ronan
22. Better Man
23. Nothing New
24. Babe
25. Message in a Bottle
26. I Bet You Think About Me
27. Forever Winter
28. Run
29. The Very First Night
30. All Too Well

"You Belong With Me" Taylor: You guys!
"Out Of The Woods" Zombie: Stop making that surprised face, you're so annoying.
"Shake It Off" Taylor: Yeah, you can't possibly be that surprised all the time.
"LWYMMD" Taylor: What's with that bitch?
"Out Of The Woods" Zombie: Don't call me that!
Fearless Era Taylor: Y'all!
"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" Taylor: Oh, stop acting like you're so nice! You are so fake!
Biker Taylor: There she goes, playing the victim again.
Met Gala 2014 Taylor: What are you doing?
Cheetah Taylor: Getting receipts, Gonna edit this later!
2009 VMA Taylor: I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative...
All: Shut up!

Evolution -- The Story of Rev Zusha

In the late 1700s, every day rabbinic students crowded to the beit midrash—the house of Jewish religious study—in Anipoli, Ukraine, to learn from the mystical Hasidic rabbi Zusha.

One day, Zusha did not appear at the usual hour. The students waited and, finally, rushed to Zusha’s house to check on him.

They found the rabbi in his bed, too ill to get up. He was dying and he was terribly upset. His students felt confused.

Student: “Haven’t you taught us that all living things must die, that it is natural? Why are you upset?”

Rev Zusha: “Yes, it is natural to die. All living things must die,” he said.

Student: “Then you have no need to be upset. You have lived a life with as much faith as Abraham. You have followed the commandments as carefully as Moses.”

The rabbi summoned his strength to answer his students.

Rev Zusha: “Thank you,” he said. “But that is not why I am upset. If God asks me why I didn’t act more like Abraham, I’ll say because I am not Abraham. If he asks me why I didn’t act more like Moses, I’ll say I am not Moses.”

Then he paused and looked at his students. His eyes filled with tears.

Rev Zusha: “I am upset because I have been wondering, if God asks me why I didn’t act more like Zusha, what then will I say?”

What does Zusha mean by this?

How do you think his students responded?

How can you tell when you're being yourself?

Taylor Swift Lyrics

You’re on Your Own Kid

'Cause there were pages turned with the bridges burned

Everything you lose is a step you take

So make the friendship bracelets

Take the moment and taste it

You've got no reason to be afraid

You're on your own, kid

Mirror Ball

I want you to know

I'm a mirrorball

I'll show you every version of yourself tonight

I'll get you out on the floor

Shimmering beautiful

And when I break it's in a million pieces

----

And they called off the circus

Burned the disco down

When they sent home the horses

And the rodeo clowns

I'm still on that tightrope

I'm still trying everything to get you laughing at me

I'm still a believer but I don't know why

I've never been a natural

All I do is try, try, try

I'm still on that trapeze

I'm still trying everything

To keep you looking at me

Because I'm a mirrorball

I'm a mirrorball

I'll show you every version of yourself

Tonight

Question...?

'Cause I don't remember who I was before you
Painted all my nights
A color I've searched for since
But one thing after another

….

Can I ask you a question?
Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room
And every single one of your friends was
Making fun of you
But 15 seconds later they were clapping too?

Anti Hero

It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me
At tea time, everybody agrees
I'll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror
It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero

Look What You Made Me Do

But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time
Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time
I got a list of names, and yours is in red, underlined
I check it once, then I check it twice, oh!

...

I'm sorry
But the old Taylor can't come to the phone right now
Why? Oh, 'cause she's dead (oh)

Fifteen

When all you wanted
Was to be wanted
Wish you could go back
And tell yourself what you know now

...

'Cause when you're fifteen,
Somebody tells you they love you
You're gonna believe them
And when you're fifteen

Don't forget to look before you fall

I've found time can heal most anything
And you just might find who you're supposed to be
I didn't know who I was supposed to be
At fifteen

Daylight

And I can still see it all (In my mind)
All of you, all of me (Intertwined)
I once believed love would be (Black and white)
But it's golden (Golden)
And I can still see it all (In my head)
Back and forth from New York (Sneaking in your bed)
I once believed love would be (Burning red)
But it's golden
Like daylight, like daylight
Like daylight, daylight

Me!

I know that I'm a handful, baby, uh
I know I never think before I jump
And you're the kind of guy the ladies want
(And there's a lot of cool chicks out there)
I know that I went psycho on the phone
I never leave well enough alone
And trouble's gonna follow where I go
(And there's a lot of cool chicks out there)

...

I'm the only one of me
Baby, that's the fun of me