Rosh Chodesh Elul 5771

The first faint sliver of the new moon is about to become visible, and it is an auspicious ‘moonth’ that is upon us: the beginning of a focused journey into the Holy Days of Awe.  The month during which this occurs is Elul, the month before Rosh Hashanah, and traditionally it is a time of sacred study and reflection. Each weekday, following morning services, we blow the shofar, in order to hear the ram's horn call to us, in its primal abrupt manner, “Wake Up!" 

As many of you probably know, the word Elul is an acronym, (spelled alef-lamed-vav-lamed), standing for Ani L’dodi V’dodi Li, "I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine” from the text of the Song of Songs.  Why would this month have that name, and why from that text?  One answer is that, as we begin to sift this past year through our lens of self-critique, we want that sifting to occur within a loving, compassionate relationship, and not one that is punitive and scolding. The Song of Songs is a celebration of a loving, lusty relationship between grown-ups.  It is characterized by a yearning to see the beloved’s face, and to feel the closeness that is possible as lovers, or, as the Rabbis understood it, between Gd and the Jewish people. Thus, while we are charged during Elul with relentless self-examination, it occurs within a relationship that is thoroughly grounded in compassion and a desire to return to a life that is unencumbered by callous and witless behavior. 

I find that we are all accustomed, from a very young age, to begin new things in the fall: school, jobs, or merely that our outdoor chores shift from planting to harvest (and lots of garden cleanup!).  How wonderful it is that we are given an opportunity, through the work that is available to us during the month of Elul, to ‘change the spark plugs’ in our spiritual and ethical selves.  To arrive at the Rosh Hashanah services without doing some of this preparation can render that experience rather hollow and unconnected to our deeper selves.   

So, each week until Rosh Hashanah, I’ll be sharing with you some thoughts and suggestions that will assist us in doing some of this inner shifting. And what is our work?  Identifying and reconnecting to the standards by which we yearn to live; thoughtful consideration of how we have strayed from that path; and planting the seeds for our spiritual and behavioral renewal. This is the essence of the High Holiday season. When one genuinely grows, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz teaches, one’s personal truth must surpass all one’s previous truths so that, by comparison, they are truths no longer.  Teshuva  (from the Hebrew word, to return) demands that we pursue our individual truth at all times.  Our goal is to always aim for greater heights of awareness that must be manifested in our actions, and to be constantly struggling and striving to do and be better.  It is not enough to just be. 

I look forward to this journey that we’ll take together over the next 4 weeks, when the new moon of Tishrei will appear in the sky. On that first night of Rosh Hashanah, we’ll meet in the sanctuary, made holy by our presence and our commitment to our teshuva.  

Blessings, 

Rabbi Jan Salzman
Rabbijan@ohavizedek.org