Rabbi Debra Rappaport will be leading this year’s High Holidays services
Greetings! As I write to you, we are at the beginning of the new moon of Elul, the month that precedes the new moon of Tishrei – also known as Rosh Hashanah. ELUL is known as an acronym for the phrase Ani L’dod v’Dodi Li – I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine. Who or what is the Beloved to whom we need to return this season?
The work of this season is called cheshbon ha-nefesh – taking stock of our own souls and our relationships. Where have my actions not been true to my values? Where do I need to make amends and/or change course? Teshuvah – making amends where appropriate and returning to our best selves, to the ineffable Beloved, is the other part of our season’s work.
Though we are new to one another, we may share some of the same sentiments… for example, wondering as the season approaches, How have I changed? What difference did all of last year’s resolve make? Or, What more can I do to stem the destruction and injustices I see around me?
Believing that we can change, and that repairs can be made, matters. It forms how we choose to show up to every moment. The Talmud (Pesachim 54a) describes teshuvah as a possibility created even before the world itself was created! The possibility of choice and change exists in our very essence. Not just regarding the big things but in every moment. Not just as individuals but collectively. Think of how a tiny course correction on an ocean liner leads a ship to a different landing place. Likewise, tiny moments of showing up differently in our own behavior can change our life’s trajectory – and hopefully our country’s and our planet’s – for the better.
MyJewishLearning.com offers some ideas for practice for the month of Elul. If you’d like to do some learning and reflecting together, please do join one of the High Holy Days workshops starting September 18. Sign up here!
In any event, I am truly looking forward to meeting you in person, and making the journey of the holy days together. In the meantime, may all have a nourishing Elul.
L’shalom,
Rabbi Debra Rappaport
