Rabbi Batsheva Appel
During our preparations for the High Holy Days, our focus is on repentance. We reflect on the past year, a cheshbon hanefesh, holding ourselves to account. We reach out to those whom we have wronged and make restitution. We ask for forgiveness. We resolve to never do these things again.
And we fail in our resolve. Our repentance is often imperfect and incomplete. Not always, but often enough that we each know the sting of failure.
Fortunately, repentance does not require perfection. It requires that we keep trying to do better, to be better, to not get stuck in the repetition of those actions that require forgiveness. We read in our machzor, the High Holiday prayer book, that the gates of repentance are always open, meaning our repentance will always be incomplete, that we will always be repenting.
Acknowledging this is not the same as the admonishment: “If a person said, ‘I will sin and
repent, and sin again and repent,’ they will be given no chance to repent.” [Mishnah Yoma 8:9]
It is rather an acceptance of the imperfection and beauty of humanity. Human fallibility and
mortality are part of the High Holy Days. We accept that the coming year is a mystery to us, we can never know what our lifespan will be, and our responsibility is to mend the things that are broken or imperfect, particularly our relationships with others. We live our lives as imperfect beings, who can atone for their actions and attempt to do better.
Elizabeth Bloch
ELUL, the last month of the Jewish year, the month just prior to Rosh HaShanah is a month-long daily opportunity for introspection. Our Talmudic rabbis teach us that ELUL is an acronym for the verse Ani L’dodi V’dodi Li – I am My Beloved’s and My Beloved is Mine, from the biblical book of Shir HaShirim – The Song of Songs, attributed to king Solomon. Shir HaShirim is written like poems about a love story between a man and a woman. Just like the loving relationship between two beloveds, our sages have taught us that so is the relationship between God and Israel (the Jewish people). Just like the loving relationship between a parent and their child, so it is between God (parent) and Israel (God’s children).
According to our tradition, during ELUL we must seek hitorrerut – Inspiration. There is also a sense of urgency to wake up from our slumber, the mundane, the minutiae. Our sages tell us that deep and meaningful reflection on the relationships in our lives, the love, the care, and the possibilities, can inspire us. Once inspired they tell us to take action immediately toward strengthening loving and caring relationships with our spouses, parents, children, community and our God. Delaying action will likely lead to No Action.
May this month of ELUL bring us all the hitorrerut to take action towards building loving and balanced relationships of love and support with our beloveds, parents, children, community, and our God.