Today is Rosh Hodesh Elul. The beginning of the new month of Elul. We know the word Rosh, from Rosh Hashanah, the head of the new year. Rosh means head. It also means summit. So Rosh Hodesh is the head of the new month. Traditionally, it was a half holiday for women. Maybe, because as the midrash teaches, the women didn’t give up their gold for the golden calf. Maybe—but where did that gold come from? Their Egptian neighbors. Another explanation is that Rosh Hodesh mirrors women’s natural cycles of the waxing and waning of the moon.
Many of you know that I am a supporter and spokesperson for Women of the Wall, who for each Rosh Hodesh since 1988 have gathered at the Western Wall to pray. Women have an obligation to pray, no matter what the men of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation may tell you.
Rosh Hodesh Elul takes on special significance in the Jewish calendar. It is now 40 days to Yom Kippur. Let the marathon begin! Elul is seen as an acronym for “Ani L’Dodi v’Dodi Li, I am my beloved and my beloved is mine” from Song of Songs. The rabbis teach that this book, one of only two that doesn’t mention G-d is an allegory between G-d and the Jewish people. We are beloved of G-d. G-d so loves us that G-d will take us back in love. This period of renewal and reflection is about our relationship to G-d.
Today is the day that tradition says Moses went back up Mount Sinai to receive the second set of tablets. He came back down with them on Yom Kippur—40 days later.
These 40 days, then, are a period of preparation.
A friend of mine earlier today posted a picture of his last latte before break-the-fast. It is part of his preparation to give up coffee between now and Yom Kippur. Don’t worry. That’s not part of my preparation. But why does he do it?
- To get closer to G-d?
- To really feel the angst of the period?
- To be some how ascetic, giving up espresso in latte but not coffee?
- To make more time for what is really important?
- To mirror or practice the fasting of Yom Kippur?
These were some of the answers. In reality, he does it for a much more practical reason. Giving up coffee avoids that Yom Kippur caffeine withdrawal headache. Many of our congregants also give up coffee prior to Yom Kippur but for much shorter time periods.
How do we prepare then? How do we return? What do we return to?
This is a chance for reflection and introspection. It is a more internal preparation than the physical preparation that is Passover—although for many there is a physicality in preparing festive holiday meals, inviting people and hosting. And the cleaning. Oh, the cleaning. Maybe I will get the Passover dishes put away before Rosh Hashanah this year.
On Rosh Hodesh Elul we begin to add things to help us prepare.
- We begin to blow the shofar at every morning service. It works as an alarm clock. A wake up call. It also helps the shofar blowers practice.
- We add Psalm 27, the psalm recited now throughout the “penitential” season.
- On the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah we add “Selichot” more penitential prayers. This year it falls on Saturday night, September 1st which is also Labor Day weekend. Maybe this is the real work of Labor Day. This year we will be watching Coco, enjoying some Mexican refreshments and talking about Yizkor, the memorial prayers.
Often we talk about preparing for the High Holidays in terms of tefilah, teshuvah, tzedakah. Prayer, returning and righteous giving. You’ve started on the tefilah portion being here this morning.
Teshuvah is a complicated concept to translate. Return. Repent. Reconcile. Repair.
Rosh Hodesh Elul provides us the opportunity to “get right with G-d”, to repair our relationship with G-d. I am not sure I like that language. Does our relationship to G-d need repairing? For most of us, probably not. We just sang in Hallel, “Pitchu li sha’arey tzedek, Open for me the gates of righteousness.” That’s what is emblazoned on our ark covering. And we are assured that the Gates of Righteousness are always open. For most of us our relationship with G-d probably suffers from benign neglect. It may be a symptom that our lives our somehow out of balance. This period of preparation provides the opportunity to get the balance back.
One way of working on that relationship with G-d is to study something. Many of you are newer and may not know that I wrote a book for these 40 days. Climbing Towards Yom Kippur, the 13 Attributes of the Divine. https://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Journey-Towards-Yom-Kippur/dp/150084585X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1534080863&sr=8-1&keywords=Climbing+Towards+Yom+Kippur
It provides an opportunity to read something short each day and then journal about it. It is based on the text of the 13 Attributes of the Divine, the very attributes that Moses learned on his journey back up Mount Sinai.
“But on this very first day of Elul, Moses was scared, exhausted and more than a little angry. He seeks some Divine reassurance from God — and he gets it. It is God who will go before him and lighten his burden, giving him rest.
The first questions of the book for you to write about or ponder are:
- What does it mean to you, to have God lighten your burden?
- What burden would you put down?
- What would you give up carrying?
- What does it mean to rest?”
This year, I am pleased to announce that two of my short essays are included in a brand new book, out just in time for this season of preparation. Earth Etudes for Elul, written and edited by my friend Rabbi Katy Allen. She looks to heal our relationship with the earth as we approach Rosh Hashanah, the birthday of the world. https://www.amazon.com/Earth-Etudes-Elul-Spiritual-Reflections/dp/0990536165/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1534080952&sr=1-1&keywords=Earth+Etudes
The Talmud teaches that for sins against G-d, Yom Kippur atones but for sins against another person Yom Kippur does not (Yoma 8:9) . This period of preparation then is also about getting our relationships right with the people around us, with the people who matter most. We ask forgiveness for those we have hurt—most of the time without meaning to. If we earnestly ask three times, the obligation is fulfilled and the issue then is with the person who had been wronged. This year we may need to look at how we heal those relationships in concentric circles. In our own households and families, with our friends, with our neighbors and even with the stranger, the sojourner who lives within our gates.
Sometimes, the work of healing relationships is very painful and is not accomplished before a loved one dies. Sometimes, we believe that our loved ones who have passed on can intercede in someway for us. That is why many have the tradition of returning to the cemetery either during Elul or between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. We have a tradition here of Kever Avot on the Sunday between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur at the Bluff City Cemetery.
Use this time period to “sort out difficult relationships (with people, organizations) that drain you of your creative energy. Think about what kind of closure you need in order to move forward into the next year.” (from Journey, A Journal of Jewish Feminism, published by Ma’yan: The Jewish Women’s Project.) That will also help provide some of the balance we seek.
Others have the tradition of studying. What could be more Jewish. Our administration has the tradition of reading This is Real and You are Completely Unprepared. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000Q67H5E/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 I read it for the first time last year and will be reading it again now. I read How Good Do We Have To Be, by Harold Kushner, https://www.amazon.com/Good-Have-Understanding-Guilt-Forgiveness/dp/0316519332/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1534082809&sr=8-3-fkmr1&keywords=how+good+is+good+enough+kushner …every single year.
This year, we have the opportunity to do some study together. One is a in-depth look at the Book of Jonah starting this afternoon after services. The other is a Hebrew class, Rosh Hashanah 101 so that the words of the prayers will be that much more meaningful and accessible.
Many people have the tradition of giving tzedakah at this season. One thing to examine is how we spend our time and money reflect your vision—your values and your priorities. As we examine each of these areas in our lives our balance is returned and we enter the new year refreshed and reinvigorated. When we hear the sounds of Kol Nidre on Erev Yom Kippur we can stand before the heavenly court and the earthly court and know that all of our vows from this year until the next year will be forgiven.