Elul 10: What Do I Pack? How do I “Be Prepared”?

Hiking up a mountain can be hard work—it takes strength, courage, perseverance, and just a little faith. It takes being prepared—remembering the first aid kit, the water, the flashlight, matches, the Swiss Army knife, the helmet, the cell phone. The rewards can be spectacular. The Israelites were told to “Be prepared for the third day. Wash your clothes. Do not go near a woman.” The women were prepared too. They remembered to bring their tambourines with them into the wilderness. This attention to detail always amazes me. How did they know they were going to have something to celebrate in the wilderness?

When I go camping frequently I pack too much. I also learn how little I really need as I strip down to the bare essentials that will fit in my car, my canoe, or my backpack. How much do any of us really need? As I pack my own house this week, how much is too much stuff? Do I really need 50 wine glasses? Maybe. Six sets of dishes for my kosher home, plus one extra dairy set just for Michigan football Saturdays? Books–do I still need all those books? Most of them. Yes, even the cookbooks despite having so many recipes online now. Maybe not the tour guides to Israel from 1985, a trip I never took that year. What about all those hats, gloves, scarves, t-shirts? Do all these things lead to a spiritual clutter? Maybe. But I find it difficult to part with many of them.

What do you need to do to prepare for this spiritual climbing? What do you need to bring with you? Perhaps a prayerbook, a Bible, your journal, a pen, treasured friends?