This coming week ushers in the week of Elul. We are in the midst of a seven-week journey from Tisha b’Av to Rosh Hashanah, a time of moving through grief and brokenness into the possibility of true “turning” (teshuvah) and repair. Practices during the month of Elul include blowing the shofar each morning; reciting Psalm 27; making amends with people whom we may have harmed in the past year; giving tzedakah; and visiting the graves of loved ones.
There are many wonderful drashot, plays on words, related to the Hebrew word “Elul,” which is made up of the Hebrew letters Alef-Lamed-Vav-Lamed. These include understanding “Elul” as an acronym of the first letters of words in verses that speak of “YHVH opening up your heart and the hearts of your offspring” (Deuteronomy 30:6) and “Sending gifts, one person to another and to the poor” (Esther 9:22). My favorite is this line from the Song of Songs: “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine” – Ani L’dodi V’dodi Li” (6:3). In rabbinic tradition, the Song of Songs—an extended love poem—was understood as describing the relationship between the Divine and the people Israel. Elul, then, becomes a time when we turn towards our Source, our Beloved, and It turns toward us. We have special access the divinity within us and around us as we move towards the new year and the Ten Days of Teshuvah/Turning.
I like to think of this as not having to go it alone. As I witness the pain and suffering in the world around me; as I aspire to keep my mind and my heart open when there is so much that makes me want to shut down; as I strive to take responsibility for my own mistakes and do repair where it is called for—in all of this, according to our tradition, I’ve got Something that accompanies me and holds me. Whether you understand that Something as God, as Mother Earth, as an inner wellspring of resilience, as a Love which connects each of us to one another and to all beings on this earth (or all of the above!), we are not alone. We can turn towards that Source, that Power, and towards one another, as we move towards wholeness. Jewish tradition is adamant that the real meaning of teshuvah is that we can become like new, at any moment. This time of year is simply a propitious opportunity to start the process.
As we enter into this Shabbat approaching Elul, may we each feel the promise of true turning, and open to the ways in which our own spirits can be nurtured and our hearts opened on this journey. And in honor of Labor Day, may all the work of our minds, hands and heart be blessed, and may all the labor done by others which sustains us be blessed as well.
