Friday, September 30, 2016

27 Elul/28 Elul 5776

In respect for Shabbat and the many of us who choose to give our email a rest as well as ourselves, we are offering two Elul Thoughts--one for today and one for Shabbat.

Shabbat Shalom!

Us and the World
A man once cried to God, “Lord, the world is in such a mess – everything seems wrong.  Why don’t you send someone to help and change the world?”  The voice of Adonai answered, “I did send someone.  I sent you.”
This is a time to ask for forgiveness, seek mercy, and pray for life.  We ask God for a year of health and holiness and joy.  This is also a time where we do more than ask because we have work to do.  We work to reflect deeply on our past, we work to bring healing to ourselves; we work to find a true sense of wholeness and completion in our lives.  During this month of Elul we work to understand that God has sent us.  It is up to us to help and change the world.  This is a time to accept this sacred task.


28 Elul/October 1

As we travel through the days of Elul, it is possible that we will encounter painful memories of ourselves and our actions; regrets, mistakes, things we wish we didn’t say… A common response to pain and trouble is that time heals all wounds. The Jewish response is that by itself, time only serves to put more space between our past selves and our current selves. In other words, Time dulls all our wounds. But time does not heal anything! Healing takes effort, concentration, intent and desire. It takes a commitment to acts of t’shuvah. It takes this month of Elul.

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