Parshat Shoftim: Elul
This week, right before Shabbat, is Rosh Chodesh Elul – the beginning of the Hebrew month of Elul. That means we are exactly one month away from Rosh HaShana – The Jewish New Year. Elul is not just an arbitrary, nice, round, one-month-and-counting anticipation of the big day. No, Elul has meaning in its own right.
Most big things in life are like this- the big day and the prep for it. No question that a wedding is life-altering. But it is moreso because there is much work and anticipation beforehand. The weeks, and even months of preparation have meaning, significance and importance in their own right. Of course it’s all tied to the wedding day itself, but a crucial component nevertheless.
The same goes for Rosh HaShana. The whole month leading up to it has an essential role that makes the day even more special and meaningful. In some ways, Elul is a mini-camp to the High Holidays much the way sports teams get ready for Opening Day.
To understand what Elul is all about, we need to reacquaint ourselves with what Rosh HaShana is all about. Why is the first day of the Hebrew month, Tishrei the Jewish New Year? What historically happened that we designate this day to be the New Year? Not anything Jewish actually. Tishrei 1 is Rosh HaShana because God created Mankind on this day. It’s Adam and Eve’s birthday.
Rosh HaShana is also called Yom HaDin – Judgement Day. Not only because God judges us for another year but because this is what we often do on our birthdays. We judge ourselves. We look inward and introspect.
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house
With a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself,
“Well, how did I get here?”
-Talking Heads
During Elul and on Rosh HaShana we ask ourselves, “Well, how did I get here?” What have I done? Where have I gone? Where am I going? What do I still want to do? Is what I am doing align with my life goals? Or did nothing really change from last year, or the year before, or the year before that?
Same as it ever was, same as it ever wa
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Because the last thing you want in life is for it to be the “same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was”.
Elul is prep time. According to Jewish tradition, this is the month when God is closest to us. He is there to reach out to us once we take the initiative and reach out to Him. And sometimes even when we don’t – but He extends His hand anyway. It’s the time of year where He is there to help us accomplish our goals and dreams as we work to realign them to be better than in past years.
To remind us that this is so, every day during the month of Elul, after the morning prayer service, we blow the Shofar. The Shofar – our morning alarm clock to awaken us from our sleep. Our sleep of procrastination, or lack of confidence, or whatever else that prevents us in believing what we know is truly good and meaningful and will really make a difference in our lives and in the lives of others.
Yes Elul is meant to be a serious time to prepare for a serious day. Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur are called Yamim Noraim – The Days of Awe – for good reason. But there is a totally different side to Elul. We never lose sight of the fact that אלול – Elul is also an acronym of the phrase, אני לדודי ודודי לי – I am to My Beloved and My Beloved is to Me. That ultimately our relationship with God is one of love, care, warmth and connection. And just as a parent only wants for their child’s good and welfare, so too God wants the same for us.
God is closest to us in Elul. He is there to help us reach our goals and dreams and make them happen. To help us find and live by our true convictions and to leave aside the things that distract us from achieving our purpose. To once again set things right and go along the proper path of Goodness and Truth – for yet another year.
You may ask yourself, “Where does that highway go to?”
