Are you familiar with the excitement that comes with new beginnings?

I remember the flutter that was in the air the first few times we had a Minyan. The words of prayer were so meaningful. What enthusiasm! How unique! What a breakthrough! I felt that G-d himself came down to our synagogue to answer Amen.

Same feeling was the first time we sent Shabbat food to a remote village for a volunteer. Just imagining her singing "Shalom Aleichem" in hinterlands to which a Jew has never been before, raised the bar of my excitement to new levels.

So it was when we completed our Torah scroll; the first Brit Milah held here; yes, even the first burial, and at many points along the way when we did something new.

It's happening again now, as we're going to conduct the Seder in Sihanuokville...

Dozens of Jews from different parts of the world will sit together around a long table, eat Shmurah matzah and sing "One is our G-d in heaven and on earth" in Sihanuokville! We did it on the way out of Egypt, we did it in the desert for forty years, we have done it in the holy land and in the diaspora, East and West; under occupation and torture, and in the presence of leaders and ministers; basements and ghettos, palaces and hotels, in water and fire, poverty and wealth, with the community, the family, in company, and in silence. This year in Sihanuokville as well.

This excitement that comes with new beginnings carries a message to our daily lives.

We live in a frame, according to certain standards. Some are set by our parents and teachers, some by our surroundings, some by our weaknesses and we tend to believe that some are the fruit of our efforts. Ultimately, each of us holds certain standards. In the religious realm, for example, all of us are religious to a certain degree: for one it’s Shabbat, for another it’s kosher, for a third it’s holidays and for the fourth it’s Yom Kippur. Same goes about the opposite direction, everyone has things that he does or does not do, without feeling guilty. Yes, it’s the right thing to do, it's necessary. But I'm just not there. It's not my standards.

Brothers and sisters, let's look for the excitement. The excitement does not come from the standards. It will come with a new step. Something we have not done until now. The adoption of a higher standard. It does not have to be something major. It could be a small step, but new and exciting.