Welcome to “Elul Thoughts,” 5778!
Every year a group of rabbis collaborates on a series of emails intended to get us ready for the High Holy Days. These are intended to be brief thoughts about the themes of the High Holy Days, because just like when we exercise we cannot jump in and grab the heaviest weights, so too when working on the self-improvement involved with the the act of Teshuvah, we should not begin with the heaviness of Yom Kippur. Our souls need time to warm up to this most sacred moment on the Jewish calendar.
This year we have written on the theme of “improvement.” Rabbi Yehuda Halevi (12th Century Spain) suggests concentric circles of the universe, and that we must first work on our innermost circle (the self) before we can work on our family and community, and only once we have taken care of all these things can we tackle improving the world. On that note, we have organized our offerings in these circles, beginning with thoughts on self-improvement, followed by family, community, and world. We hope this year’s Elul Thoughts bring you the warm-up you need for a successful Teshuvah process as we enter 5779 together.
Chodesh Elul Tov! (Happy Elul!)
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