Elul 16 5781

 Elul 16, 5781/August 24, 2021

Rabbi Laurence Malinger

Reflection--A Time of Transition

Here's the thing about transitions: Most of the time you don't know you are about to go through it until it has already happened. Nobody ever knows the name of the period of time they are actually living through until someone decides that that period is over. The one thing they did not have in the biblical period was a Bible. Once they had a Bible, then the biblical period was over; it could have a name, and it was called the "Biblical Period.” Nobody woke up in the late Roman Empire and said to their beloved spouse, "Honey, you know, I was feeling Late Antique last night, but it is definitely Early Medieval this morning!" 

We typically mark transitions when it is too late to mark them, and then we can't do anything about them. With this period of reflection during Elul, we mark a transition while it is happening. The great gift that Judaism holds out to us it to be mindful of the phases of our lives, so that we don't rush through them thoughtlessly, so we take a moment to think about what it is we are going to need for the phase of life that is opening up before us, what is it we need to do to close the loose ends that are behind us. 

As we prepare to celebrate the new year, what are your dreams? What are your concerns? And how are you going to make the transition needed to address these and other issues?