Elul Thoughts 5777-Elul 1/August 24

The Hebrew month of Elul is the last month of the Jewish year. As such, it is considered a month of spiritual preparation for the High Holy Days. Special meditations are added to the daily service for some, known as S’lichot, or penitentiary prayers. (*The Saturday before Rosh Hashanah is also known as S’lichot, and it is used as a night of contemplation and study.) For several years, a group of Reform rabbis and educators has collaborated on a series of Elul Thoughts, shared with our congregations in a daily email, and accompanied by a daily Tweet. This year we are highlighting colleagues from the Orange County Reform Community. We are happy to share them with you.

This year’s Elul Thoughts include contributions from:

• April Akiva R.J.E, Director of Religious School Education, Congregation B’nai Tzedek, Fountain Valley, CA
• Rabbi Heidi Cohen, Temple Beth Sholom, Santa Ana, CA
• Rabbi Sarah DePaolo, Shir HaMa’alot, Irvine, CA
• Rabbi Stephen J. Einstein, Founding Rabbi Emeritus, Congregation B’nai Tzedek, Fountain Valley, CA
• Rabbi Rachel Kort, Temple Beth El of South Orange County, Aliso Viejo, CA
• Rabbi Brad Levenberg, Temple Sinai, Atlanta, GA
• Rabbi Eric Linder, Congregation Children of Israel, Athens, GA
• Rabbi Alan E. Litwak, Temple Sinai, North Miami Beach, FL
• Cantor David Reinwald, Temple Beth Sholom, Santa Ana, CA
• Cantorial Soloist Jenna Sagan, Congregation B’nai Tzedek, Fountain Valley, CA
• Rabbi Nico Socolovsky, Temple Beth Tikvah, Fullerton, CA
• Rabbi Richard Steinberg, Shir Hama’alot, Irvine, CA
• Rabbi Daniel Treiser, Temple B’nai Israel, Clearwater, FL
• Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, Congregation Beth Israel, Colleyville, TX
• Rabbi Kvod Wieder, Temple Beth El of South Orange County, Aliso Viejo, CA
• Rabbi David N. Young, Congregation B’nai Tzedek, Fountain Valley, CA
• Rabbi Gersh Zylberman, Temple Bat Yahm, Newport Beach, CA

 You can follow any of us on Facebook or Twitter.

If you have missed any of these daily emails or want to go back and remember something from earlier in Elul, feel free to read them all at http://tinyurl.com/elul77.

Elul 1/August 23
We have come once again to that sacred time on the Jewish calendar where it is appropriate to take stock of the many blessings in our lives and to offer our thanksgiving to God.

When reflecting upon the blessing for this particular day I realized how apparent it is that we as a congregation have much for which we should be thankful. We are thankful for our successes.

We are thankful for our leadership, for professionals and for our lay leaders, for those who gave up a lunch or a dinner or missed a game or a gathering with family or friends to help make the Jewish world thrive.

We count our blessings that we had much joy since last year- some of us got married, some had children, some had children who became Bar or Bat Mitzvah. Some of us assembled here became grandparents for the first, second, third, or more time. Some of us found new employment and some of us retired.

We count our blessings that the tragic events that touched our lives were made a bit more manageable because of the presence of community. We are thankful, O God, what when we needed them most, we were blessed to never walk darkened paths in solitude.

Indeed, on this first day of Elul, we acknowledge just a few of the many ways in which God has blessed us since this time last year. May we be blessed with abundance in the next as well.

(Rabbi Brad Levenberg)