On Fridays, we email two Elul Thoughts, out of respect for those of us who choose not to look at email on Shabbat. We wish you a blessed and restful Shabbat and hope you continue finding inspiration in our Elul Thoughts.
Rabbi Deana Sussman Berezin
Our journey towards the High Holy Days begins long before Rosh Hashanah. It actually begins at Tisha B’Av. And with it comes the invitation to recognize the key places in our lives that need realignment, a chance to turn towards something new. The work of teshuvah begins now.
Rabbi Alan Lew, z”l, taught that we begin by facing what is broken rather than turning away from it. Only when we sit amidst our own crumbling walls, amidst our own grief, can we become conscious of how to move forward in a new way.
Over the course of a year, we harm and we experience harm. We are sometimes unkind. We wound people we care about. We wound ourselves. We do not walk away from those experiences unchanged. And so, the question is not Have I been changed? Rather, we ask, How have I been changed?
Elul invites us to sit honestly with that question. Where do we bear the imprints of heartache upon souls? Have our experiences made us more guarded or more compassionate? More fearful or more courageous? More withdrawn from community or more willing to reach out?
Our experiences shape who we are. Heartbreak leaves its mark. But through the work of teshuvah, we still have a voice in who we become.
May this time of reflection and renewal give us the courage to see what is broken, the wisdom to learn from it, and the strength to realign ourselves as we walk a new path.