In respect for Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, we will not be sending you an Elul thought tomorrow so that you can be at rest from your email and other social media. So please enjoy both of these thoughts today!
Shabbat Shalom!
Elul 10/September 1
This summer, I had the opportunity to attend a baseball game with my congregation's brotherhood. With thousands of my fellow passionate Angels fans, we cheered and clapped as our team scored run after run. At one point, the opposing team's catcher made an error, allowing our runner to score. As the crowd went wild, my clergy partner, Rabbi David Young, remarked, "Fascinating..in this sport we get so excited when the other team makes a mistake..."
It got me thinking...as we approach the high holy days (lovingly referred to by many clergy as our spiritual olympics), what does it mean to cheer for other's mistakes? Do we make proper teshuvah when we delight in the errors of others? Do we give those who have made mistakes the time to reach out to us and make teshuvah?
This Elul, I'm remembering that failure is the greatest of all teachers. Failure allows us the opportunity to reflect, and grow as we look towards the future. Yes, I do in fact believe that we should delight in the failure of others; not for what those failures might do to improve our own personal development, but what they can do for our interpersonal and intrapersonal spiritual development. I will be taking this Elul to personally reflect on my failures as well as my successes, looking towards the future with the goal of rejoicing in the prospect of a brand new year. What opportunities could your future hold if you approached those that you might have failed this year, with an open heart and a willingness to grow and reflect together?
(Cantorial Soloist Jenna Sagan)
Elul 11/September 2
I love artichoke hearts. If I am looking over a restaurant menu and I see a salad that includes artichoke hearts, it will likely be my choice. At home, we often include artichoke hearts in our salads, as ingredients in pasta dishes, etc. You get the idea.
I have been asked the following question more times than I can count: “Rabbi, why do High Holy Day services have to be so long?”
Years ago, Dr. Trude Weiss-Rosmarin, z’l, editor and publisher of the Jewish Spectator, made a radical suggestion. She opined that since most people are not so fond of LONG High Holy Day services, why not offer a nice meaningful half-hour service and then have the congregation break up into small study groups for the rest of the day? I don’t know if many rabbis took her up on the thought.
Yes, there is an important place for study in Judaism, but prayer also is central to our way of life. But…why so MANY prayers?
I have come up with an answer. It is…the ARTICHOKE.
Don’t be thinking right now of the artichoke heart, but of the entire artichoke.
What is the PURPOSE of the High Holy Days? It is to have a change of heart, leading to a change of behavior.
But, how do we enter the process? With this conviction: I am OK. You may not be, but I surely am. We humans are so adept at rationalizing our behavior. We put up layers and layers of explanations and excuses.
How to cook an artichoke? Steam it…for a LONG time. Get the hard leaves to soften. Then, you can peel them away…and get to the heart.
That’s it. The LONG services are meant to soften the hard leaves of our rationalizations and our excuses. Finally, with God’s help, we can get to the heart…change it, and move forward.
(Rabbi Stephen J. Einstein)
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